Originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This morning we woke early - 6am. It was still dark in Luang Prabang and very quiet. Hedda and I quickly dressed and snuck out of the guesthouse. We started walking towards the old city area where most of the Wats are located. We actually weren't exactly sure where the monks would walk by and for a moment thought, "I hope we don't miss them by ending up on the wrong street!" Of course as we later discovered this would have been pretty much impossible. As we got closer to the Wats we saw a few other tourists, so we headed down a side street to a quieter Wat. We sat down on the curb and slowly but the surely the city began to wake up. A few older men and women set up mats and chairs along the road and patiently waited for the monks to arrive. We thought there would be a slow trickle but when they arrived it was amazing. Literally a couple hundred monks lined up, each receiving their daily meal from the townspeople. It was a really beautiful moment to observe. So quiet in the morning... It wasn't some kind of big production. It was so simple, the monks need to eat, so the townspeople feed them. I imagine Luang Prabang's mornings have been passing like that for centuries with little change.