Light Festival

On the the 13th of October we celebrated "Bun Awk Phansa" in Luang Prabang, also called the Festival of Light. This is the end of Buddhist Lent, and are very celebrated in the city. The citizens decorate their houses and streets with lanterns and candles and the monks build big bamboo boats that carry candles. On the evening there is Parade with every temple parading with their boat down main street, then passing through Vat Xiet Thong to release the boats into the Mekong. All around the city you can buy candles on banana leaves which you also let out onto the Mekong River and flying lanterns that you let go into the sky.

During the evening I strolled down Main Street watching the parade with the monks and their boats and all the lights and candles and the firecrackers thrown by the surroundings. I then went to the Mekong River where I bought I floating candle from my favorite lady around the corner from where I live and then joined the crowd to put it into the water. The Hotel had prepared a boat cruise where we could observe the festival from the river, but before I jumped on I lit some flying lanterns. Yes, like in Tangled, the movie. Well, the cruise was beautiful even though some men in the back had a little too much too drink. I then ended the evening together with the guys from the hotel at a night club, and also this night turned out to be much more fun than I though it would be.