Am I part of the problem?

Luang Prabang is one of the most popular destinations in Laos and a UNESCO World Heritage site for a very good reason. Culturally and historically, there is so much worth preserving: beautiful temples and statues, a royal palace, colonial architecture and villages that still maintain and practice age old traditions.

We had a really great time bicycling around the area. We found cute riverside cafes, crossed the Mekong on bamboo bridges, shopped at the colourful and lively night market, enjoyed a sunset cruise, climbed to the temple on top of Mount Phou Si and more.

Tat Kuang Si

Bamboo Bridges in Luang Prabang

One of the highlights was the day we rented a scooter and went to Kuang Si, a gorgeous waterfall an hour outside the city. In fact, I think we hit up almost every major “to do” in Luang Prabang in our four days there…save the most famous: The sunrise alms giving ceremony.

This is one of the top “attractions” in the city. Young monks (with their bright orange robes) pass through the streets collecting alms — donations of sticky rice — from local residents. If I understand the tradition correctly, the alms-givers believe it will earn them favour in their next life, while the monks themselves rely on the donations to feed themselves in this life (at least historically. I’m not sure if this is still the case in modern times).

Many travelers have described a quiet and solemn tradition that they felt privileged to witness. However, I felt incredibly uncomfortable about going to see this ritual and opted out.



First, getting out of bed before 6am is a Herculean task for me at the best of times. But getting out of bed at that hour for something that is so controversial was definitely not happening.

In my pre-trip research, I learned that many local residents and monks feel that the true meaning of the alms ceremony is being overshadowed by the tourist circus that had come to see it.

Although the number of tourists who are disrespectful and rude is small, they are very disruptive. And the sheer popularity of observing/participating in this ritual has a ripple effect. Tourist’s photographs make others want to come and see the tradition for themselves, and in some areas, the number of tourists participating in the ceremony outnumbers the locals. I’m not sure what the tourist to true believer ratio needs to be before a solemn religious practice becomes a tourist spectacle, but whatever that threshold, many feel it has already been crossed.

Wat Xiang Thong

Even though I would have done my best to be among the many who are nothing but quiet and respectful, I still felt weird about even being there. Just as I do my part to curb the demand for ivory or animal furs by not purchasing them, I simply did not want to be a part of this particular problem in Laos.

But oddly enough, even though I tried to avoid the alms giving, it found me! It turns out that the ceremony happens all over Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and at all times of day. We stumbled upon mid-day alms processions in bustling city markets as well as countryside versions where monks went from house to house on the back of a truck!

So I left Laos not really giving a second thought to the alms giving controversy. But now that I’m back on home turf and since van life gives you plenty of time to think about things, I’m really struck by my own hypocrisy.

One of the many statues along the path up to Phou Si

I don’t know why I felt so uncomfortable about just observing this particular religious ceremony in Luang Prabang, when I had no compunctions whatsoever about participating in much the same thing just weeks earlier in Thailand!

Was releasing a lantern in Chiang Mai any different from giving sticky rice to monks in Luang Prabang? In Chiang Mai, I did my best to honour and respect the spirit of the tradition of course, but truth be told, that wasn't what motivated me. I did it because it was fun, the “thing to do” in Chiang Mai and a great photo op. So why would one action feel intrusive and disrespectful while the other felt joyful and inclusive?

Was it because of the sheer number of people that were doing it in Chiang Mai? Was it because we seem to place more value on religious practices that are quiet and solemn? Was it because the Thai people haven’t been vocal about their ambivalence towards tourists participation? It didn’t even occur to me until I started writing this post…but maybe the reason why the public lantern launch in Chiang Mai had been cancelled is because Chiang Mai wants to try and bring the festival back to its roots?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and I still can’t decide if I have contributed to the spectacle-ification of Yi Peng and Loi Krathong!