I must admit, Laos exceeded all of my expectations. From the people to the food, landscapes, waterfalls & mountains, it is fantastic.

Before I arrived, I had done some research on the tak bat (the morning collection of food in Luang Prabang by the resident Buddhist monks.) I knew it was something that I wanted to witness, so I set my alarm for 5 am to the displeasure of my wife.

The tak bat begins at 5:30, so if you want to witness it, you must get up early. I tried my best to be quiet, as I gathered my gear and left our room to walk the chilly streets of Luang Prabang. I scouted a temple the previous day that was away from the more touristy parts of the city and quickly walked to its location. I intentionally avoided the tourists as I wanted to see this ritual without distraction. Setting up on the opposite sidewalk, I waited patiently for groups of monks coming from the 80+ temples in the city to walk past.

For centuries, the monks have walked the streets in silent meditation while locals place gifts of food into their bowls. The locals position themselves on the sidewalk at least 15 minutes before the procession starts. They mostly sit in chairs, but some kneel in respect. As each monk approaches in their saffron-clad robes (ranging from rich orange to red), the locals graciously place a portion of fresh sticky rice into the bowl that hangs from their shoulders. This is a symbiotic relationship. Feeding the monks and alternatively receiving the blessings, tak bat supports both the monks (who need the food) and the almsgivers (who desire spiritual redemption). Again, all in silence, respect on all sides, and amazing to witness.

This image was taken when it was still mostly dark. Some streetlights were illuminating the temple, but the sun was still below the horizon. My wish was to capture the monks in motion and the low light helped me achieve this result. I played around with some different settings and liked the motion blur produced with a 1/8 second shutter speed. Then I took several images of passing monks with the white temple as a backdrop. It is interesting how much movement is captured in just 1/8 of a second. With limited light in the scene, the monks themselves almost fade away, leaving only their brilliant robes reflecting light. I increased the original exposure in processing to brighten the scene and reveal more detail.

I stayed here for approximately 2 hours until the procession finished. As the sun rose and lit the area, I captured some sharper images of the participants. For those interested, I have included some of these images below.

Lao woman staying warm while awaiting the next group of monks in the procession.

Lao woman offering rice to one of the monks

This image is from our past trip to Bhutan…another portrait of one of the people that I found so inspiring. We found the people of Bhutan to be welcoming and warm everywhere that we went. It seems to just be their nature, part of their culture.

We met this gentle soul while hiking up to the Khamsum Yulley Namgyal, an important and beautiful temple that overlooks the Punakha Valley. Looking ahead as we walked through the rice fields, we could see him spinning a prayer wheel that marks the start of the ascent up to the temple. When we arrived he greeted us with a smile and welcomed us to this sacred place…his sacred place. We discovered, with the help of our guide, that he is the head monk and the caretaker of the temple.

After offering us a blessing, he encouraged us to continue our hike up to the main temple. He seemed genuinely happy that we were there to visit and we, in turn, felt fortunate that our timing allowed us this chance encounter.

I don’t often take portraits of people, but this was an experience I wanted to capture. Before leaving, I mustered up the courage to ask the monk if I could take his photograph and he happily agreed. With the light now above the mountains to the east and illuminating one side of him, I took this one image.

When I look at the image, I since the serenity and kindness that he possesses. Perhaps this is simply because of our personal encounter, but I hope that you can also see this in his eyes and expression. I also hope that if you visit Bhutan, you get a chance to meet him as well.