I sank the floating restaurant! Happy Mid Autumn Part 2

The following day,
went to temple to give offerings to the monks for the full moon.

Mid Autumn is not celebrated in Laos,
but full moon is.

I totally had difficulty sitting down the Laotian way,
as it is impolite to point one’s feet at the monks, or the statues of the Buddha.
After 10 minutes, I thought my legs belonged to someone else’s.
Quite surreal, I tell you.

Anyways,
didn’t prepare anything,
so bought something from my friend.

Overall,
a nice experience,
if a little overcrowded.
I can imagine the That Luang festival in November,
the extent of the number of people,
as monks from all over the country would descend to the capital.
The Laotians call it, the Buddhist Lent.

So,
come visit!
________

In the afternoon,
Mee and friends brought me to Som Ngeum,
a floating restaurant by the river bank of the Nan Ngeum river.

Along the way,
we went to pick some flowers and it is said that these normally 4 petal flowers,
would bring good luck to the person who plucks it,
if it is 6 petals!

I found 2 of them!

But I dont really believe lah.
So they flew away,
gone with the wind.

The next day,
the Lehman Brothers and AIG in the US crashed….

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Took some Lord of the Rings kind of photos.
Love the sun’s rays streaming through the leaves.

Nice.
____________

Sat on the pick up on the way to the river.
It was so wonderful to feel the wind rushing through.
I always loved sitting at the back of pick ups.

I think flying is something like that.

But the sun surely baked me and my friends a tad shade darker.

Woot.
___________

Reached the restaurant and we waited a while before securing a table at a small part of the floating restaurant.
It was full house,
to say the least!

Then I found out from my colleague that Laotians like to visit the river during festive occasions like this.

Anyways,
we sat down,
and just when the food was arriving,
the waitress told my friends something in Laotian,
and they looked at me worriedly and dragged me off that part of the boat.

When we finally settled down at the main resturant,
Beckham told me,
the restaurant was sinking!
Ops!
Looks like someone needs to lose some weight…
_________

Took a river cruise after lunch.
The gentle rowing of the ferry lulled me into a slumber.

Also played cards and won about 10000kip (about S$2).
Which I gave all to the ferry boy.

I mean,
the fun’s in the playing!

Had an overall very wonderful and interesting day,
that offered me a peek into the social life of a Laotian.

Woot.