October 24, 2025
Today we were up early, before 6 to go downtown to offer alms to the monks food for the day.
Offering alms to monks is a fundamental practice in Buddhism that sustains the monastic community, allows the laity to accumulate merit (tam boon), and reinforces spiritual and community bonds. Laypeople provide monks with their daily necessities, such as food and medicine, in a gesture of support for their life of religious practice and teaching. In return, the monks often offer blessings, and the act is believed to bring spiritual fulfillment and a more peaceful life to the giver.
Pan had already set up an area along the monks’ known path with stools, scarfs, biscuits and sticky rice. When Pan put Ollie’s scarf on, Ollie goes, “MOM! Do I look like a Roman??!!” We noticed lots of tourists doing this but also a ton of locals lined up with bamboo baskets filled with sticky rice. Pan said the locals make this offering every single day at sunrise. Some of the monks or monks in training were the same age as Ollie! We didn’t count but Pan thinks ~75 monks walked past our route this morning.
Back at hotel we had an early breakfast and some quiet time before getting scooped up again by Pan to head into town. Since we skipped it yesterday, we started today’s outing by climbing the 328 steps up Mount Phousi. Ollie forged ahead and made a point to beat the rest of us up the steps. Len needed some encouragement but made it up with relative ease. They were selling live birds to set free as an offering to the Buddha— the kids begged for us to buy a bird but we repeatedly declined.
After stopping for coffees, we were on the road again to head to Kuang Si waterfall. The distance was relatively short but the road was rocky and full of potholes which made for a crazy bumpy ride. I barely drank my coffee for fear of spilling it.
We parked in the lot to learn that we then would get on an electric cart to drive up a hill towards the waterfall. The kids were thrilled to sit in the way way rear facing seats with Kyle but his enthusiasm for the nausea inducing ride didn’t match theirs.
To our surprise there was a small exhibit of rescued moon bears at the waterfall’s entrance. We picked up a few sweet Free the Bears t-shirts for the kids to support the cause. We made quick work of the small hike to the main waterfall, snapped a few pictures and then walked back down so Kyle and the kids could take a dip. We were told that in dry season the water is a super bright blue color but since it was closer to wet season, the water wasn’t as vibrant. Kyle and the kids didn’t care though and enjoyed their quick dip. There was only a bit of yelling at the children to please stop swimming right in front of the waterfall current.
Lunch was at a waterfall adjacent restaurant where we played Uno and fought the kids’ exhaustion onset. Len was feeling especially testy and refused to eat his lunch (spaghetti bolognese) and the back-up dish that he requested (side of broccoli). I also caught the boys fighting on the stairs after they went off for a solo bathroom trip. After a quick stop at a Buffalo ice cream stand, we started the super bumpy and uncomfortable drive back to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, Kyle took the kids to the pool to keep them awake and power through the remainder of the afternoon. I stayed back to coordinate getting motorbikes delivered to the hotel for our next few days in Luang Prabang. Kyle and I agree the tour days are necessary so we can learn about the country and its customs but we do definitely prefer the motorbike/ solo exploration days.
Our first motorbike excursion in Luang Prabang was to drive downtown for tacos. I told the kids that we should add Mexico to our list so we can eat all kinds of tacos. Ollie said he would eat tacos then nachos then tacos then nachos again and that he’d “be the strongest kid ever!!” Both boys devoured their dinner but were knackered by the end of the meal. We told Len there would absolutely be no sleeping on the motorbike this time!
