In Luang Prabang every morning there is a Buddhist ceremony called Alms Giving. The Buddhist people line up on the main road and give food to the Buddhist monks. The monks are not supposed to deal with money or possessions so this is a decent part of their food for the day. It's also a way for the people to earn merit for doing good deeds. The monks lining up in their orange robes in the pre-dawn light is quite a beautiful site. I don't fully understand the monks so I'm intimidated and intrigued by them.
Anyway, they come out to collect the food. And all of a sudden the cameras start flashing. They have to put up with people standing right in front of them snapping "the perfect photo"'several times while getting in the way of the line walking down the street. It looked like a freaking red carpet for a celebrity. And they have to put up with that every day. And if they move the ceremony, the government has said it will hire people the carry on acting it out because it's so popular with tourists. This is a religious ceremony. What do you think would happen if people acted like this for other religion's ceremonies?
As the monks filed back into their pagoda, I felt a little dirty. Even though I stayed on other side of the road and kept my flash off. Is the perfect picture really worth the disrespect?
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| This was just a few of the people waiting for them to come around the corner. |
Now I'm not saying I'm the perfect traveler. I'm sure I've committed errors that I'm not even aware of. But I do make sure that my shoulders are covered in temples, my money doesn't go to exploiting animals or children, and I don't expect everything to run by western standards.
I've seen so many people walk in to temples in short shorts and a see through tank top. The cultures of the countries I've been to are very modest in their everyday dress, not to mention their temple garb. I had a girl swear up and down she went to a place in Thailand where the tigers are treated well and not drugged. Then she showed me a picture of her with said tigers head in her lap. Hmmmm.... The Asian cultures aren't big on PDA, yet I've seen groping and make out sessions that would get raised eyebrows in the States.
Yesterday we went on a trip to an absolutely amazing waterfall. The van ride cost 50,000K ($6.25) and the entrance fee was 20,000K (2.50). Just before the entrance, the driver pulled over and asked us for the entrance fee so he could pay all together. This one man from Denmark absolutely flipped out and was yelling at the driver that he was doing something illegal. As it happened, it's quite clear online that there's a fee, and there was nothing sketchy about the request. He was trying to streamline the payment for like twelve entrants. On our way back to the van we heard the same man harassing the driver to come pay for his beers because the driver had taken his money earlier. Then a French couple was half an hour late for when the ban would leave, and this same man bullied the driver into leaving. "This isn't kindergarten. They are late and we need to leave." He then yelled at anyone in the van who protested. His friends best excuse for him? "He thinks he's a Viking."
I'm very sorry for whatever had made him so angry but it's too bad that driver and the French couple had to pay for it.
Now I'm not saying that all of us travelers need to be experts on the cultures/histories/like/dislikes of all the countries that you visit, but while you're looking up places to visit, please take the time to look up some basic do's and don'ts in the countries you're going to. Try to think about what you're supporting with your money. You think their country is important enough to visit, it should be important enough to respect.