Auspicious Festivities

A celebration overtook the streets of Tha Thom during Sunday and Monday. Being that our home is fairly central in town and directly across from the temple we had a front-row seat to the happenings. Apparently this Sunday's full moon was an auspicious one and festivals and parties were held in other parts of Laos too. In part, yesterday's celebration was a fund raiser for the temple. They have been constructing a entrance for the past year, but recently construction has halted.

Toy Vendors

Unfinished Temple Entrance

Part of the privilege of having a home across from the temple is that when parties like these happen, we get to enjoy a late night of music. The fact that we aren't entirely fond of loud music stretching into the wee hours of the morning is an understatement. Since having Moriah we place great value on sleep. This festival would also be the first major test of Moriah's sleeping stamina.

Vendor's Tent in our Driveway (Good thing we only have bikes)

Balloon/Dart Game

As sporadic fireworks lit up the sky adding to the musical cacophony with swooshes and bangs, we cringed...but Moriah slept on. Our anxiety was most certainly in vain since both nights she slept like a baby. We are very thankful that she is living up to that saying!

Toys and CDs

Clothes etc.

Lao festivals certainly have a standard style. Booths spring up along the roadside during days prior, selling all sorts of wares. Clothes, shoes, dishes, cookware etc. The toy, fair games and bootlegged cd/dvd shops popped up later. Festival food stands boast delicious treats by wafting their salivating aromas into the air. Sweetened popcorn, eggs on-a-stick, ice cream, grilled chicken feet, duck, dog, pork and other processed meats are all displayed for sale.

Party Area

There is most always a main party area at festivals. The one in Tha Thom is at the town meeting hall next to the temple. Large speaker systems are rigged up. Chairs and tables are arranged to accommodate the party crowd. By 8-9pm the party is usually in full swing.

Kaarina and Moriah Enjoying the Evening

We all enjoyed the festivities at earlier hours and ate a healthy dose of popcorn, grilled duck with rice noodles and ice cream for dinner.

Change You Can Taste

Remember my first experience at the Tha Thom morning market? I documented the dimly lit, early morning, culturally awkward adventure in an earlier blog post.

But now, newly developed in our little town is a market with vendors open all day long. In some ways it feels like a 'Super Store' has come to town. The options still aren't huge, by any means, and yes, much of the produce is damaged after the long bumpy trip, but we are so thankful to be able to walk down the road and buy what we need at any time of the day: cucumbers, tomatoes,.. etc. Even fish and cleaned chickens!

Bustling Day Market

Development has it's pro's and con's in every circumstance, but improved transportation, increased population, higher demand, increased volume of travelers, dam construction and workers, all have brought the need for more food, available all the time. We are enjoying the new flavor and convenience this change has brought to our lives.

To Cambodia and Back Again

To catch up from our blogging negligence here is a quick slide show of our time spent in Cambodia over New Years. We traveled to visit the historic ruins of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. It was certainly a wonder to see the massive stones of a long lost civilization embraced by jungle. If it weren't for the crowds of other tourists it wasn't hard to imagine that we were exploring a lost world in some story book adventure. The following is a sampling of the expedition.