While almost thirty million international tourists visited Thailand in 2023 and thirteen million Vietnam, neighboring Laos counted a modest three million. A stroke of luck for adventurous travellers, as this landlocked state may lack beaches, but shines with abundant culture, great cuisine, and friendly people.
If monks were to curse, this would probably be the suitable moment. Heavy raindrops pound the red roof tiles of Wat Xieng Muan, one of thirty-four Buddhist monasteries that shape the historic cityscape of Luang Prabang, the old royal capital of Laos. The final preparations for Ban Ouk Phansa, the festival marking the end of the Buddhist fasting period, are in full swing, with young novices adorning the temple courtyard with colourful paper lanterns, just as the sky opens its floodgates.
Although dark clouds had been gathering since late morning, no one really expected rain, as late October is the dry season along the Mekong, and for over twenty years, the popular Festival of Lights had always been spared from precipitation. Hastily, the monks now rescue the fragile lanterns made of transparent silk paper from the water masses and hastily erect a protective tarpaulin over the magnificent, several meters long paper dragon, constructed in weeks of painstaking detail. This masterpiece must not fall victim to the rain today!
