Water Festival in Vientiane, Laos

There is rioting in the streets. Child and adult, foreigner and local alike have taken to the streets with (water) guns and buckets, pales and Super Soakers, all ready to attack at any given moment and at every available opportunity. It is Water Festival in Laos, and we happen to be back in capital, Vientiane for it.

We started in a minibus with 15 other people headed to the bus station and at every corner, there were children and other locals with buckets, Super Soakers, and hoses waiting for us. The windows on the bus were open. Oh, we tried to shut them, we did. But, for some reason, they just wouldn't close. It was as if someone had planned that... Every small town we passed through children and adults alike were tossing pale after pale of water on to the bus (thankfully, we could close the windows at this point). When we got to Vientiane (from Vangvieng), all hell had broken lose and havoc had been reeked. The streets were filled and traffic was held up. It was at this point we all realized that we should probably put everything of value in our bags (thank god for that waterproof Timbuk2 bag). We were pretty wet by the time we got to the third guest house and thankfully we were able to get our stuff safe and sound. Well, as safe as you could get in our situation (i.e. there's no lock on this door). Some of us went out to find food, and by the time we found it, our clothes were absolutely soaked. We had some brick oven, wood-fired pizza. Trevor actually made the pizza that he and I shared. I was really impressed. He apparently worked at a pizza place for awhile, just up until coming here.

The best part of the day was while three of us were relaxing in the room, perusing on the internet, and the other two came barging in sopping wet demanding we come with them. We said, "Nah! It's okay, come get us in a little bit." 10 minutes later... "COME, NOW!" So, we did. Little had we realized, there was a stage set up, flashing lights of all colors and varieties. People were dancing in the streets and by the stage. There was a fire truck spraying water (the guy was holding it between his legs) into the crowd. I was really glad I saved that waterproof bag I bought back in Vangvieng.

Happenstance is a wonderful thing, but if you should ever decide to come visit Southeast Asia during the dry season, do it during Water Festival. Yes. Transportation will be more expensive, but it is well worth it.

Talk to you soon,

Garrett