Novice monks - with 2 videos of drumming

Saturday Jan 30, 2010.
One of the things I love about Luang Prabang is the large number of novice monks around. Boys come from all around to be novice monks. They don’t have to be a monk for life - often they come for a few years, which serves the double purpose of enabling them to get an education and being an honour for their family. So in the course of a day here in Lung Prabang I see many novice monks - on my way to school in the morning, walking to a café for lunch, in classes (both at the Monk School and at other private schools as well). They swim in the river, climb Phousi hill, walk together to classes or their temples. Some carry umbrellas to keep the sun off of them.. And they participate in the daily drumming and chanting. There seem to be temples everywhere, and monks and novices live at the temples. At the temple around the corner from our guesthouse, they drum at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Here are some photos and video footage of two different drums, both on the same grounds (I think it’s two different temples). It is beautiful to watch and hear

Luang Prabang, Laos

We arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos on January 8, 2010. I was worried it would be a lengthy process to get our visa, which we did at the airport. However, our plane landed at 10 AM and by 11 AM we were at the Cold River Guest House, where we are staying. Our room is on the ground floor and opens to a shared terrace between our room and the rooms on either side of us. We can sit on our (shaded) spacious terrace (see photo) and look out over the Nam Khan river. Many people cook over charcoal fires so it smells like we are camping.

Luang Prabang is a lovely town. It is made up of villages with about 120 houses per village. There are many temples (I think at least one per village). In any case, there are temples everywhere, many of them quite striking. The architecture here is beautiful, and there are many little alleyways made of brick with gutters (see photo – looks like a very Roman approach, although obviously more recent!). The town is very charming and easy to like.
Reminds me a little bit of a ski resort town (only in Asia and without the snow, of course). There are mountains all around us and the architecture is very European. I have been impressed with the quality of the building construction. Very high ceilings, wide open rooms, large windows, lovely tiled or hard wood floors and wood trim. The carpentry is impressive.

The town sits where 3 rivers meet. Our guesthouse over looks the Nam Khan and the main street in Luang Prabang runs parallel to the Mekong River. We are used to seeing people bathing in the river during the day. These are most often kids but sometimes novice monks (who are young or teenaged boys) and occasionally men.

There is a large hill (Phousi Hill) between our guesthouse and the main part of town. There is a temple on this hill and gorgeous views from even part-way up. Ron and I have been going up the hill as a “shortcut” to downtown. Apparently it doesn’t get us into the main part of town any faster, but the exercise is good and the view is spectacular. Here's a photo of Ron at the point on the top of the hill were we cross to go down to the Monk school.


The stairs take us right into the temple where the Monk school is, so it is very convenient for us going to early morning classes at the Monk school. On Thursday morning Ron and I have a Monk school class at 7:30 AM and on Friday morning we have a class at 8:10 AM.

We are walking everywhere and loving it. It gets quite hot during the day (30 degrees C in the sun) but there is a breeze and it is lovely in the shade, of which there is plenty. It is cool (10 to 15 degrees C) at night, so it is very easy to sleep comfortably here.

The animals here seem well taken care of – not fat, but not too skinny either (the cats could be fatter but seem ok). There are cats and dogs at many of the homes and I have even seen two rabbits at one. None of the animals are spade or neutered, so there are lots of puppies and young cats around. They all seem to hang out in front of their homes, which the people do too. The families seem to have very integrated lives. The kids are with the parents while the parents work and the animals are all there too. On Phousi Hill I saw the first kitten I have seen here that truly looks starving - he is black and I think he is feral. So I bought a tin of tuna and left it on the mountain - the next day it was in the same place but empty (Ron says a snake ate it but I'm pretty sure it was a cat - maybe not the one I saw but if not, hopefully his Mom so he can get more milk). Anyway, I've been leaving some dried beef for him (kind of a home-made beef jeky they sell for about 50 cents here) on a regular basis. I'm hooked! Everyone thinks I'm crazy; "it's probably something else that is eating it". Oh well.

It is easy to eat well in Luang Prabang for not much money (relative to North America), but I was surprised by the lack of whole grains. There is white rice and you can get white rice noodles and white baguettes for breakfast. Whole wheat or alternative grains are hard to find. It is possible to get 7-grain bread at a couple of European cafes who cater to westerners, but the locals don’t seem to eat it. There is also a lack of variety in the raw greens. Iceberg or romaine lettuce is used in salads, but that seems to be it. Mind you, the fruit is lovely. I have bought mango so fresh that I can peel it. It is delicious. We have been trying other local fruit (dragon fruit, tamarind, mangosteen, lychee fruit,…). And the peanuts are fresh and roasted here. One café even grinds their own peanut butter (freshly ground) when you order baguette with peanut butter. Delicious! There are also lovely Laos dishes that I am fond of. I had miang the other day. These are do-it-yourself hand rolls (think fajitas) consisting of a leaf of lettuce, with either caramelized sticky rice paste or aubergine (eggplant) paste, on which you put peanuts, lemongrass, rice noodle, coriander, green beans, an edible raw eggplant and chilis (optional), then roll and eat. These are wonderful, and I was thrilled to recognize a street vendor making this the other day when I walked by.

It is interesting to be living out of one room, especially since there isn’t much storage space (a small wardrobe with less than 10 hangers between the two of us and two small tables with a small drawer each). Oh and a few hooks on the wall. Luckily we didn’t bring much with us and aren’t buying much (although I have bought two Lao skirts (called “sin”s) for teaching at the Monk school). We were pleased to find that our guesthouse has hot water! We were led to believe we would have cold water showers only. However, there are electric showers in our bathrooms and every room has a private bathroom. We very much appreciate this luxury. It took a little getting used to the showers, as they are literally just attached to the wall of the tiled bathroom, with no separation between shower and the rest of the bathroom. One gets used to having a wet toilet seat and to not spraying the toilet paper (I was removing it from the bathroom before my shower until I realized I didn’t need to do that as long as I paid attention to where I pointed the shower head and hose - Duh! ).

The orphanage

While we were in Hanoi, we visited a temple (chua Bo De) which operates as an orphanage. We brought two hockey bags and a suitcase fuil of clothes and toys donated by acquaintances in Ottawa. In addition, Queenie had held fund-raisers and used the money to buy essentials such as boxes of cans of condensed milk, and bread. She also donated some of the money directly. I had been given $100 to donate from someone in Ottawa who heard about our plans to visit the orphanage with donations and wanted to contribute.
We had so much to carry we took a cab the few kilometers to the orphanage. It gave me a chance to see the Pink river and outlying areas, which we didn’t see coming in from the airport since we arrived after dark. The street where the orphanage is located was even busier and smaller than what we had seen in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. I wondered how on earth they would fit an orphanage on that street, and was pleased to see the wide open space of the temple beside the river. It is a lovely location.


The first thing we saw on arrival was a bundle of puppies and their mother. Then a group of kids clustered around a cage of 3 cats. I was pleased to see the animals and to see that they were in good shape. I had noticed the lack of stray dogs in Hanoi. Queenie explained that there are dog catchers who gather up strays and put them down. The few dogs we did see were all well taken care of and with their owners. One Chihuahua-type was wearing a sweater and getting on the front of a motorbike with her owner.

We unloaded the donations and took some photos of us with them, then went inside for tea with the nun, where she told us the history of the orphanage, including stats and plans for the future. We were thanked profusely and told of opportunities to help with fund raising in the future. We were invited to meet the kids and tour the grounds, which we did. We handed out loaves of bread and took photos.

There were a lot of very young kids (even new-borns), including a couple with severe disabilities (one boy was missing both legs, one boy had brain damage - Ron thinks possibly hydrocephalic? In any case, he is very low functioning). The living quarters were crowded with many people per room. This was not dissimilar to what we saw in Hanoi in general, but it did support the head nun’s plans to expand to a location she had found kilometers away that could support many new buildings (housing for the inhabitants and also for volunteers). She mentioned that she was looking for donors for buildings. A donor from India had donated $3000 for a building and that building was named “India” in his honour. I got the impression that the $3000 covered the cost of the building.


We were invited for lunch but declined and returned to the Old Quarter. It was a very humbling visit. Ron is typing up a report to GVI, in case they are interested in establishing a volunteer program in partnership with the temple.

We know GVI are interested in having programs in Vietnam. I suspect the biggest single factor that will impact whether they pursue this particular partnership will be whether there is an individual in Vietnam who is willing to make it happen. We are hoping GVI can find someone to champion this cause. I am convinced it needs to be someone who is passionate about the cause, but who also knows the language and understands the formal and informal political and power structures.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Random thoughts and observations from the 5 days we spent in and around Hanoi, Vietnam:

Ron described Hanoi as gritty, and I think that is the perfect word. There are a lot of people, there is a lot of pollution (litter and air pollution from coal and wood fires and diesel engines) and the noise is incredible. I was surprised the first morning to hear what sounded like a public broadcast at 7:30 in the morning. It started with music followed by what appeared to be a series of announcements. I heard it again around 4 (maybe 4:30) PM. I asked, and sure enough the broadcasts come from trucks that provide regional news so that everyone is informed. Apparently this started during the war and has continued ever since.

The traffic in Hanoi is incredible. It seems to behave like a school of fish. It is rare to see anyone stop (other than tourists, that is). The pedestrians, scooters, motorbikes, cars , vans, trucks and buses all seems to flow around each other without having to stop and without any accidents (that I saw, although I am told there are a lot of accidents). I was very comfortable walking in this environment – it seems the trick is to be very clear on your intention and then to carry it out slowly (so be predictable and don’t move too fast). I noticed that the motorized vehicles (for the most part) did not go fast, which I think is wonderful. In Ottawa, everyone seems to be in such a hurry when they are driving!

Hanoi has a college course in hospitality, and it seemed like everyone we met was either a student of the program or a graduate. Hospitality seems to be taken very seriously in Hanoi; the customer service was excellent and they seem serious about continuing to improve it.

We met a Canadian woman named Darlene from a small town north of Vancouver in British Columbia. She is 78 years old and goes to Hanoi for 6 months every year (October to April). She has been adopted by the young hotel staff in about 6 different small hotels. She has taken on a few jobs – the “egg” cook at breakfast, and she picks up post cards to be mailed from the 6 hotels on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The hotel staff all call her ”Mama” and “Gramma” and invite her to their weddings and other important events in their lives. She loves it and I can see why. She is surrounded by her adopted "family" and has an active role in all of their lives. It was inspiring to meet her.

We went on an overnight boat tour in Halong Bay. What a beautiful setting! It reminded me very much of home, although the cliffs rising up out of the water were even more spectacular than say the Thousand Islands at home. Our first stop was a tour of limestone caves in one of the mountains. It was spectacular (huge) and did make me wonder whether there are caves in any of the other mountains.

We then went to a nearby floating village and rented kayaks and toured the area. The scenario was beautiful. The people living in the floating villages are too poor to afford to live on land. The next day we saw a floating village that had a floating school and floating hospital, but the first floating village we saw was too far away to use those services, and so does without. It was very sobering to see the poverty.

The countryside between Hanoi and Halong bay consisted of suburbs, rice fields and farmland (complete with water buffalo and chickens), factories and villages. Like Hanoi, the buildings are very narrow and relatively tall (say 3 stories). Apparently the Vietnamese (at least around Hanoi) are taxed on the amount of road frontage they own, so they are ingenious at having tiny building fronts at street level with larger space behind or above. There is some impressive architecture, but there are also a lot of shacks.

For all my looking, I only saw two horses (ponies). One was a white shaggy cob pulling a cart in the suburbs of Hanoi. One was a white shaggy cob in the countryside. In general, the animals in Hanoi seem well-taken care of. Nothing is too fat, but nor are they too thin.

I did not have trouble finding vegetarian food in Hanoi. The bread tends to be white crusty baguettes, but there are lots of vegetarian options. However, I suspect MSG is very prevalent and was having mild allergic reactions (itchy hives on my back, which is standard for me when I am reacting to one or more things). I suspect the pollution, combined with the MSG and too much white starch was my problem.

We went to see a Water Puppet show at a theatre beside the lake, and I was very impressed. They did a really good job emulating the movements and behaviours of animals. The birds and phoenix, serpents, dragons, water buffaloes and cats were really well done. It was a joy to watch the show. It was narrated and accompanied by live traditional music.

It has been interesting to see that so far Asia seems to have less of a disposable culture. Even the airport at Seoul, Korea had real dishes in the food court, and in Hanoi they used cloth bags for laundry bags at the hotel. It was clear that any container (cardboard box, Ikea bag) was reused over and over again, if at all possible. Here in Laos, they use woven baskets for picking up street garbage. I am encouraged by this.

I was in Hanoi with Ron and Queenie (Quyen , whom Ron used to work with). They went to see a temple on the lake which I was not interested in, so I sat on the shore of the lake to people watch. It was exhausting, because people (mostly teenagers) kept trying to sell me postcards or books. I was pleasantly surprised to be asked by one teenager to help him with his English. He showed me his text book (which scared me – the grammar was tough!) and we practiced a couple of exercises. Then he asked me to read and correct an essay he had written about his pet Duck. It was a charming story (he was clearly an animal lover, which won me over) and I was very impressed with his knowledge of English. For example, I said “we would normally say ‘whether’ here” and he wrote down ‘whether’ and didn’t hesitate on the spelling. It was really fun to help him.