Time to head to Luang Prabang's world class airport as we are leaving for Chiang Mai today, where I will be attending a 3day travel writer's workshop... let's see if you can spot the difference on the blog afterwards ;)

... as hundreds of monks walk by. The younger ones seem to be anxious not to get separated from the other - as far as I am aware you have to be seven years old to be a novice (unless you were taken in as an orphan), but two of the smaller ones look like fresh out of kindergarden. Cute?

And finally there they are... We managed to get up at 5.30 to witness the famous (and completely tourist-infested) alms ceremony, in which the monks wander along a fixed route to collect their food from the villagers (or nowadays almost exclusively from falangs) while being photographed to death. We retreat to a cafe on the other side of the street for a chocolat chaud and a croissant and watch...

A little pastis before dinner ... blessed be the French influence that can be found everywhere in Luang Prabang!

Giant rooster on the National Stadium. Don't expect me to explain!