This weekend is the annual Dragonboat Festival, a holiday celebrating the end of Buddhist Lent with boat racing on the river and a carnival set up along the riverside. The festivities have slowly been gaining momentum, with vendors, rides and games, set up along the river road all this week. I walked around during lunch yesterday to check out what was going on, and was overwhelmed by tent after tent selling anything and everything one could possibly want. For sale: new cars, grilled animal parts, blenders, clothing, diapers, kitchen utensils, pillows, and groceries, among many other things. Tonight and tomorrow I’ll probably go back to shop, join the party, and maybe try my hand at some of the games or the bumper cars. One of my housemates is going to be rowing in the women’s international team on Sunday, so we’ll all be by the riverbank cheering her on and enjoying our first Lao holiday.
A construction site and an intense moonbounce.