Tak Bat — Morning Alms Giving

Every morning at around 5.30am, hundreds of monks and novices from the city's thirty-plus temples walk in single file through the old town streets, collecting alms from kneeling residents. The procession — tak bat in Lao — is one of the most moving sights in Southeast Asia: silent, unhurried, saffron robes glowing in the early light.

Please observe the ceremony with discretion. Stand well back (at least five metres), do not use flash photography, and avoid making direct eye contact with or touching the monks. A small industry of tourist alms-giving has developed — pre-packaged sticky rice sold to tourists to donate — which the monks and Lao authorities consider disruptive to the ritual. If you want to give alms, buy your own rice from a market stall the evening before and ask your guesthouse how to do it properly.

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The procession has been performed every morning without interruption since Luang Prabang was established as a royal city in the 14th century — through wars, colonial rule, the communist takeover, and the transformation of the city into a tourist destination. The monks walk barefoot regardless of the weather. The food collected — mostly sticky rice — is redistributed to the poor and to novice monks who have not yet taken alms themselves.

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