Monks' Alms Procession

In Minnesota I am obsessed with the Amish, in Japan it was with the Geishas, but in Southeast Asia I have taken it to a whole new level and seem unusally obsessed with monks!

This morning I set my alarm at 5:00 AM and was out the door and on my moped shortly thereafter.  Between 5:30 and  6:00 EVERY morning here in Luang Prabang, and many other places throughout Laos, there is this beautiful ritual.  A site to be seen, especially if you are obsessed with monks, like me!

Daily at dawn, 'hundreds' of peaceful saffron clad monks walk barefoot throughout the streets while pious local towns people place offerings of small amounts of sticky rice, wrapped crackers, and whole bananas in their begging bowls.

It is extremely quiet, except for the few tuktuks going by, and seems like a walking meditation through which the monks demonstrate their vows of poverty and humility while the lay Buddhists gain spiritual merit by the act of respectful giving.

It brought tears of joy and gratitude as I watched this special daily ritual and was overwhelmed by both the monks who received the simple offerings and all those who gave.  And I wondered if the local towns people have any other relationship with these monks outside of this morning ceremony.

It is over quite quickly and in less than thirty minutes the monks have all disappeared and the men and women pick up their mats and empty rice baskets and all go behind closed doors and on with their day.....

Tomorrow is another day...

First Attack of the BAD boys!!!

Well....it finally happened!  After nearly four months of safe travels without ANY incidents, I was attacked!!!  (And as I jokingly commented on Facebook, unfortunately, not sexually!)  But this is the scam that the wonderful young man at my hotel warned me about!  I was pedaling along on my bike and two guys came up slowly along side of me, as traffic is always CONSTANT and that seemed to be normal, and the next thing I knew the guy in the back of the motorcycle reached in my front basket and tried to grab my purse right out of it!!!  LUCKILY I had heard of this problem and, although I did not take it seriously, I did always prepare and placed my purse on the bottom and then put my tour book and my much needed map on top!!!  Whew!  After it happened, and SO fast, with instinct all I yelled was, "Good try guys!!!"   And off they sped and so did my heart....

Daeng's Beautiful Thai Jungle

I am blessed to have such a lady like Daeng Klaverkamp in my life.  Her rags to riches life is an inspiring story.  From a poor up bring in Eastern Thailand she has brought herself up!

Her passion is taking care of her entire family, effortlessly!   She is humble and well knows how lucky she is.  Generous beyond belief and is grateful for her journey. And although I do not know her entire story and all of her past, I do know there is much yet to be written.

I was welcomed and shown an amazing time for the one month I spent in Thailand.  They graciously picked me up at the airport at midnight in Bangkok.  We stayed at their condo they keep in Bangkok before heading south to the beaches in Pattaya for several days where Jason and his friend, Jake, joined us.  Then headed on to their 'sanctuary' in the jungles of Na Chaluia.  Her and her husband, Geoff, fondly refer to it as the 'Wild, Wild West!' - "it's lawless!"

Their son, Jason, is a jewel, and is a wonderful blend of both Daeng and Geoff.  I was lucky to have been able to spend some time with him in Pattaya.  There is much love and passion in this family of three.

She set me up to travel and visit her friends and family and for that I will always be most grateful.  It enhanced my Thai experience beyond expectations.

Here are my favorite pictures of my time spent with the beautiful Klaverkamp family on their 80 acre farm where they have cash crops of rubber trees, cashews, bamboo, and palm trees that produce palm oil.  The teak wood they tried to grow did not pan out! But the mushrooms certainly have!  Thanks to them for being such great stewards of the earth and not clear cutting their land like everyone else seems to be doing!

Daeng has been collecting rare hard woods for years and recently finished their guest house built out of it, which I called my 'palace'!  Their main home is under construction at this time and one day I hope to return to see the finished 'labor of love'.

I will miss them, and Daeng's dear mother who I feel in love with, and of course my 'palace' too!  But it's time to move on!  Laos bound!