Early morning walk

 EARLY MORNING WALK and it WAS early, about 5.30am but I guess that's 9.30am in Sydney and 8.30am in Singapore so it was okay. 

Luang Prabang is in a valley, so Mum explained to me why we couldn't see across the Mekong River because of the fog. And her explanation was right because when the sun came out, so did the blue sky and the horizon.

The Mighty Mekong is just 20 metres from our guesthouse, but it isn't so "Mighty" at the moment, it's slow moving and very very low because it's the end of the dry season. 

The Mighty Mekong?

 Mum and I went for a walk. The town was deserted, except for some monks doing their morning alms collecting and dogs ambling along. 

We had our cameras, so we captured some of the scenes, including walking down to the Mekong Banks with  the telephoto lens camera. 

Mist - fog - low cloud - cotton candy!!!!

Mum walking UP from the Mekong River banks!

As we ventured the quaint, sleepy streets we approached a building that said, "Ecole Primaire". Ecole means school in French (Laos was colonised by France).Mum asked me to convert Primaire into English . . . it didn't go so well, after about a minute and a half I realised it meant Primary, (School Primary).     

Me, pointing to our guesthouse - see how deserted the streets are? And it was about 7.30am then!

From our balcony Mum and I spied orange, saffron, and sienna robes. The monks were strolling by carrying their alms bowls on the way to the endless line of Laotions, to receive their offerings. Giving to the monks is gaining good merit - like gaining good fortune. The offerings are food such as rice. You see, Monks are only allowed to eat in the mornings.  

The view from our window - a French colonial building and a local Lao house.

I noticed that many Women in Luang Prabang wear special, ceremonial skirts that reach the ankle, Sinh. They are mostly made of silk.

Shoes . . . if you haven't already noticed - let me explain.

 Shoes, for those of you who haven't lived in Asia: You don't wear shoes in the house. The guesthouse left out thongs for us, but I added my own. 

My bed - see? I even made it this morning!

That's our room - second from the left on the bottom.

By the way, my maths lessons are continuing. Do you know there are 7000 kip to 1 USD? Well, I do, and I know how much the 350,000 kip cycling & kayaking trip we're doing on Friday costs in USD! Do you? !! 

We're meeting friends this afternoon (who live in Mosman, but also lived in Saigon when we did - the girls went to Mum's school). They're in Laos for holidays too !