As our minivan rounded a mountain pass, a gaggle of giggling teenagers appeared at the fringe of a thatched-roof village.
Hey, I thought, what’s with the buckets and the water guns?
Splash! Ah.
I’d traveled to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to ring in the Lao New Year, but I had only a vague notion of how wet things were about to get.
Spring new year’s festivals are held across Asia, and in Laos the most famous one occurs every April in Luang Prabang, the ancient town on the Mekong River that UNESCO recognized as a World Heritage site in 1995 for its charming blend of local and European architecture. I’d heard from fellow expatriates in Vietnam, where I live, that Luang Prabang’s new year’s bash was not to be missed.
Luang Prabang, Laos: How to get there, where to stay, what to do and more
Now, as our minivan approached the town’s glittering Buddhist temples on a hot April afternoon, I saw sagging pickups shuttling revelers around and blasting bass-heavy Laotian pop music. People danced and shimmied through the streets, throwing colored powder and splashing one another with all types of water weapons. It was a far cry from the image that many Americans no doubt have of Laos, a poor Southeast Asian country ravaged by U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War.
Our minivan stopped in a traffic jam beside what is normally a sleepy riverside promenade. The lighthearted mayhem pulsing outside our windows suggested a hybrid of Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, and a tailgate party outside a college football stadium.
Historically, people have poured water during Lao New Year as a gesture of purification and renewal. Apparently the foreign and domestic tourists who had descended on Luang Prabang for this three-day event were planning to study that cultural heritage — the water part, at least — in great detail.
Splash, squish, splosh! The air was hot and dry, but the pavement was drenched, with green and white powder hovering over the dancers in miniature clouds.
“Eep!” squeaked my friend Erin Armstrong, who hails from greater Memphis, as we raced through a water fight toward the nearest guesthouse. “Yikes!”
That evening, we wrapped our cameras in plastic bags and hit the streets surreptitiously, trying to stay dry. But water snipers were waiting in every cobblestone alley, and soon we were soaked to the bone, caked in colorful powder and laughing like children.
“The energy here is contagious,” said Deanna Reynolds, a 27-year-old English teacher from Michigan, as we stood on the sidelines of a water fight. She hadn’t realized that her vacation in Laos would coincide with its biggest party, but upon arrival she had purchased a yellow water pistol with a shoulder-mounted storage tank in the shape of an elephant.
“What’s with the gun?” I asked.
Reynolds flashed a sly grin.
“I need to be armed!”
Licensed anarchy?
Scholars say that Lao New Year is probably rooted in 14th-century rituals in which people poured water on the Phra Bang, a famous statue of Buddha, in a ceremony that was said to assure the coming of the rainy season and affirm Buddha’s authority. But it’s difficult to define religion in Laos; although the dominant faith is Theravada Buddhism — a branch of the Buddhist faith that spread over centuries from India to Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and other countries — scholars say that many Laotians also worship supernatural entities known as “spirit cults.”
_1329862681.jpg)
Loading...
Comments