This post is about responsible tourism. I don't mean travelling in an ecologically friendly manner, or avoiding giving money to governments or organizations that could harm people, or even not littering. I mean the most basic tenet of being culturally sensitive, or: "don't be a huge dick."
Much of southeast Asia is Buddhist. Temples, monasteries and orange-robed monks are a common sight and an important part of life. In fact, given their austere living conditions and the fact they have given up worldly goods and concerns to meditate and to do good, monks are given the same priorities as the elderly and infirm on transit and in daily life. Most young men are expected to live as a monk for at least several months at some point in their lives.
One important tradition is alms-giving. Monks live on zero income, and totally depend on the charity of others to survive. So all over SE Asia (but normally in smaller centres) novices and young monks walk down the street in a procession every dawn, collecting their food for the day in a bowl. People in the community sit on the street with some food, and put a small amount into each monk's bowl. This allows the monks to eat, and is important "merit-making" (i.e. gathering karmic brownie points) for the donors. It's a time-honoured tradition, simple and beautiful.
Unfortunately, given its picturesque surroundings, large number of monks/temples and large numbers of tourists, Luang Prabang has become a major center for viewing such alms-giving. Viewing itself is not a problem, but as our guidebook (and certainly any guidebook) tells us, you should not interfere with the processions or draw unwanted attention to yourself. Monks must be humble and reflective - they should not even take things handed to them directly, and should not be touched without invitation, particularly by women. So take some quiet photos from across the street if you must, but don't get right up next to the monks while they're collecting alms. Don't set off flashes right in their faces. Don't follow them down the street or join the procession - the guidebook specifically says not to follow the procession in your van (!). And if you truly want to give alms to the monks, don't buy the crappy food sold for that purpose by street vendors - buy good-quality food, sit on the street and give it humbly and sincerely, without speaking, and don't use it as "bait" so your partner can pop out and snap close-ups of the monks.
All makes a lot of sense, right? Anyone with an iota of sensitivity would probably do this without needing to read a guidebook, I'm sure.
We got up at 5:30 am so we could take a look at the processions, which start around 6:00. A lot of people were trickling onto the street as early as 5:45.
The only two people in town NOT going to view the alms ceremony. That's OK - I think the oversize hoodie, tiny miniskirt and outrageously high heels would have generated enough cognitive dissonance to cause strokes in several monks.
Just after 6:00, we noticed a parade of vehicles heading down the street - buses, tuk-tuks, scooters, as well as people on foot. This is actually a lull in the traffic. Oh-oh.
Good God where did all these people come from? There aren't even any monks around yet - these are just the people setting up to give out alms (seated, mostly tourists), and people lining up to capture the monks on camera (all tourists). Note that the monks walk down the sidewalk, which is covered with people - the proper spot to take photos is ACROSS THE STREET. And there were enough camera flashes to cause epileptic seizures. Haven't these people looked into this ceremony? Haven't the locals told them what the etiquette is?
A briefly unattended tray of food ready to be donated to many monks.
It gets worse - a parade of fancy new mini buses carted in a bunch of well-off Chinese tourists from their hotel a few blocks away. I suppose that was too far to walk on such a pleasant, cool morning.
Each had a stool, cushions and food already set up for them, and all got to wear a little Buddhist-style sash so they could pretend they were the Bhudda for a day. 5-10 minutes of putting rice in monk bowls while taking thousands of photos, then they piled back into the vans and headed out well before alms-time was over.
The monks start showing up, and this is the scene. Notice how we're down the street and across from the alms-giving? Notice how you can hardly see the monks for the paparazzi swarming to within inches for super-close-up photos? I mean, did Lindsay Lohan just get out of a Lamborghini without any underwear? These aren't zoo animals where you can press your camera up to the glass and snap away! These are human beings! In particular they are human beings who require much more personal space than average, who are partaking in an ancient solemn tradition, and who are collecting charity in order to eat anything that day. How would you like hundreds of tourists swarming around you snapping flash photos while saying your wedding vows, or while making confession, then following you out of the church, still snapping?
A rare moment free from photo harassment. The monks carry a special bowl with a lid. If they have enough or if they don't want what you're giving, they leave the lid on the bowl. If they want to accept alms from you, they move the lid aside and let you put a small amount of rice or other food in the bowl.
People put a lot of things into the monks' bowls that are either not appropriate or not necessary - primarily packaged/processed foods. As you can see above, the monks unload these into baskets provided by certain townspeople - probably those in need of extra food.
Here's what the procession should look like - an even line of monks, silent, humbly accepting alms.
And here's what it really looks like in one of the less-busy areas. Tourists snapping iPad photos from a few inches away.
A group of older monks (they seemed to be visitors) were very happy to be handing out alms to the young novices - they were smiling and friendly and seemed to be providing good stuff. They were also the only people who could give alms while standing (the townspeople all sit down while giving alms).
Finally, exhausted from the fishbowl of attention and the never-ending gauntlet of photo-obsessed tourists, some monks turn down a side street, returning to their temple through a side entrance. But they will be back tomorrow, as will a fresh group of tourists.
I suppose tourism is bringing money to Laotian towns such as Luang Prabang. And the monks might put up with such attention because, well, they're monks and are supposed to rise above such worldly concerns, but also the money might help the townspeople, and some benefits could also trickle down to the temples and the monks. But they should not have to endure an unwanted transformation into the human equivalent of dancing bears each morning.
Tourists suck.
