Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

It was late in the day when I arrived at the Thien Mu pagoda complex in Hue, Vietnam. Most of the visitors had cleared out by this point so the resident monks and their understudies were free to go about their business. This photo was taken in a side room as novices milled about an old wooden table, a few were tasked in setting out the cutlery, others laid out bowls of soup in a neat line. Their heads have been shaved one strip at a time to signify their progress toward monkhood; something earned only through hard work and dedication. I managed to snap a couple of photos before the caretaker, threatened with a supper time delay, hurried me on my way. And like that, the clattering of dishes resumed as if I had never been there. It?s these unscripted moments I find most rewarding.