Monk mafia

28/4/11

The Buddhist monks have it all sown up here. They operate like a mafia. At 5 am they wake each other (and the whole town) by banging a drum for 15 minutes. This is the signal for the locals to prepare for the monks daily round. At precisely 6am the monk mafia emerge onto pre defined streets and releave the worshipers of there daily offerings. Women must not touch them , no one can show there feat and everyone has to ware a length of materiel across there shoulders. It's akin to doing the rounds for protection money only the form of protection is less physical more spiritual.

So as any good tourist we were up at 2 minutes to six to watch the procession of 30 monks of verious ages troupe along the street reviving there gifts. It was during this time we realized that James looks quite similar to a monk with his shaven head and slender frame. who knows if Camaron has completely dismantlement the NHS upon our return this could be an ideal area opportunity???

After retuning to bed for a few hours we spent the day exploring the town, tucking into another 10,000kip sandwich and avoiding the rain and my goodness is can rain. One moment its sunny the next overcast and then the rain pours down. This combined with the complete lack of guttering and a propensity to use sheet metal for a roof transforms the street into a waterfall combined with a drumming a festival band would be proud of.