Morning Almsgiving and Market Tour Luang Prabang

Tour Itinerary

2.5 hours morning tour (5.30 – 8.00)

Pick up at dawn from your hotel and transfer to a street where a single-file line of silent, saffron-clad Buddhist monks walk with their alms bowls each morning. Observe or participate in this serene Buddhist ritual of almsgiving, known as tak bat.

Luang Prabang’s many monastic communities are sustained by the local Buddhists who place sticky rice in the monks’ bowls during the daily ritual. Take the opportunity to make a rice offering with the help of your guide, or simply watch in awe as dozens of monks emerge to stroll past laypeople offering flowers and incense in reverence for this sacred observance.

After the monks have passed through, you’ll visit a market that pops up each morning near Luang Prabang’s main thoroughfare. Brush elbows with the locals buying daily fruits, vegetables, meat and spices from vendors who display an enticing array of products from their bamboo mats and sarongs on the sidewalk. Marvel at locally grown chili peppers, miniature eggplants and violet banana flowers used in home cooking, and perhaps try regional snacks like dried buffalo skin and rice-flour chips (own expense). Return to your hotel after 2.5 hours of informative tour.