famous monk
We met this Buddhist monk and his entourage in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Ann and I were walking around the city center and stopped for refreshments at a stand. The monks were the only others there.
One of the monks (the only one, it turns out, who knew even a little English) struck up a conversation with me. Our conversation quickly became a conversation between myself and his master (that's what the English speaking monk called him), with the English speaking monk serving as translator. The master monk is the one in the photo.
I'm not sure if I got everything but I understood that they were from Bangkok, Thailand. Apparently the master is famous for his ability to tell the future. The student monk said I was lucky to have met him. The master monk said that there was going to be a tidal wave in 2012 and that it would destroy a large city (New York, I think it was).
Before we parted ways the master monk blessed a couple of necklaces then gave one to Ann and one to me. The necklaces had this likeness of the master monk tied to them. The master monk said the necklaces would keep us safe. He gave me his phone number and said to call him if I ever visit Bangkok. We said thanks then parted ways, forgetting to ask if we could take a photo.
When we got back to the US I googled the monk's name (it was written in English next to his phone number). Google returned nothing. A few weeks later I broke my necklace.
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