Last night was the Van Loi Heua Foi (Fire Boat) festival.
I went with my two monk friends and a new Japanese friend to the Mekong to make a wish and send our "boats" (made of banana leaves, flowers, candles, and incense) into the Mekong.
Before that I joined in a procession around the temple three times, and then was bathed in sparks as the monks lit fireworks and little clumps of herbs on hollowed out bamboo halves that lined the temple yard.
I have read several explanations for the Fire Boat Festival. My favorite is that it is a burning of the previous years suffering. (Sounds similar to another one of my favorite festivals...)
Another is that it is a ceremony to petition the gods for a plentiful harvest (its origins predate Buddhism).
Khanthon told me it is a way to worship the Naga, serpant-like creatures that live in the Mekong and protect Laos.
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