Day 76 3/12/2014

We got up early today to go to offer alms to the Monks who walk through the Old Quarter every morning.  We bought some sticky rice, fruit and biscuits and as the monks started their daily ritual we handed it out.  We'd been told that giving from tourists had become important to help sustain the monks food supply since most houses in the Old Quarter no longer housed local Lao people but had become shops, restaurants or accommodation.  It was very interesting to see that they clearly had a selection process with 'unwanted' items being removed from their bowls and dropped in baskets just around the corner - hopefully for recycling back into the food chain somewhere nearby.  We went back to our guest house to say our goodbyes to the Heath family who were heading for a two day trip to the Elephant Sanctuary, an early Christmas present for Emily and Grace.  After breakfast at another nearby patisserie we walked a short way to the UXO museum.  It tells of the legacy of the American aerial attacks on Laos dropping millions of bombs and cluster bombs with over 30% failing to detonate, leaving the country littered with unexploded ordinance (around 80 million devices).  There's been a big effort to improve education and clear land for farming however it's estimated that it will take another 100 years to clear the remaining bombs.  Depressingly local farmers are now actually trying to find bombs due to the high price of steel.  We'd spotted quiche on the menu at the patisserie and headed back for lunch.  Afterwards we walked up Phu Si to visit the That Chomsi temple.  It's c100m to the top and we were certainly feeling the effects of the heat when we got there.  Back down we then went to the Royal Palace which was converted into a museum in 1975 after the revolution.  We treated ourselves to Magnum's ice cream on the way back to the guest house.  In the evening we went to join one of the local charities that help improve local literacy.  We spent a few hours in conversation with a number of students with the aim of helping them with they pronunciation.  Later we headed to one of the restaurants on the main street and then had an early night in anticipation of a long journey tomorrow as we headed north to Huay Xia.

Offering alms to the monks

The Heath family, Chris, Grace, Emily and  Karenza 

On top of Phu Si 

Royal Palace Museum