Yes, the rainy season has come around once again and so begins my last season here in Thailand. To kick it off, there was the Isaan Rocket Festival. This special event is held all over Northeast Thailand but is particularly famous in the poorest and most rural province.- Yasothon. Which is where I also happen to live. The idea is to send homemade rockets (safety, schmafety. This is Thailand.) Into the sky in order to encourage the gods to make it rain and so allow a new season of rice growing and planting to begin. It's also an excuse to get absolutely wasted. I've never seen so many drunken men in one small village.
My part in this festival was to dance. Thai dance that is, (lost of intricate arm and hand movements whilst standing in lines and turing on the spot) in front of the whole village in the heat of the day wearing traditional dress. The dance was twenty minutes long and we had to do it three times in different locations. We got through it without expiring (though I'm not sure how as I managed to lose about three stone in sweat.-disgusting I know but, details are important) and had a well earned rest.
Next was the actual rocket launching. We all went off to a random rice field where hundreds of people had gathered on plastic chairs to watch. Rockets were strapped to wooden scaffolding and then fired up into the sky. when the big ones were launched, everybody stood up in anticipation and clapped and cheered as their creations shot up. They presumably came down somewhere too but no one seemed to know where. Anyone whose rocket failed to launch was tossed in the mud. Afterwards, the party continued with stages set up everywhere for karaoke and dancing and there was a big fair with rides and even a ferris wheel. It was odd seeing a small sleepy town become so excitable and busy but I guess rain is so important for farming and most of the people who live here are farmers. (Did I mention I live in the poorest province in Thailand?) Drive for any distance outside the village and its rice fields as far as you can see in every direction.
Well at any rate, all the celebrations seemed to have worked as it's been raining non stop for the past three days. Its great because it cools everything down and, generally just makes for a nice change. However, its not so great when your primary mode of transport is a bicycle!
Sawat Dee Ka.
Well at any rate, all the celebrations seemed to have worked as it's been raining non stop for the past three days. Its great because it cools everything down and, generally just makes for a nice change. However, its not so great when your primary mode of transport is a bicycle!
Sawat Dee Ka.
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