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| Three lunar calendar holidays coincided in October and early November this year: Globetrotting through Southeast Asia, Robert and Morrison celebrated Ramadan in Singapore, Deepavali in Thailand, and finally Buddhist Lent in Laos. |
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During the month of Ramadan, Moslems fast between dawn to dusk, but the evening ends with sumptuous feasting. We chanced on Hjh Maimunah restaurant, under the shadow of the city's Sultan Mosque, and savored home-style Malay dishes like grilled chicken in coconut, barbequed fish, and Lemak snails. The restaurant is simple -- more like a down-market cafeteria, really -- but has hosted luminaries from Malaysia's agong or sultan, to Singapore's president. We called in just in time to hear the muezzin's call to eventide prayer from a nearby minaret. |
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| In Bangkok, the wide boulevard in front of our hotel was blocked for the Hindu procession of the revered Phra Mae U-matewi near the Sri Maha Mariamman temple on Silom Rd. Devotees chanted, burned incense, and ported huge trays of fruits and large bowls garlanded with flowers along the street in bone- crunching density. |
| Then, we were off to Northeastern Thailand and land-locked Laos, to celebrate the end of Buddhist Lent, or Awk Phansaa. Lent here coincides with the rainy season, and these final celebrations mark the end of a three-month imposed isolation when monks are forbidden to leave their monasteries, except for food. And like Mardi Gras, it ends with merriment and ribaldry. |
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At Thailand’s boarder town of Nong Khai, locals celebrate an annual “miracle” of fireballs emerging mysteriously from the Mekong river on the full moon. (A Thai Movie entitled "Mekong Full Moon Party" or "Sip-ha Dam Du-an Sip-et" pokes mischievous fun at the subject -- well recommended, and available on CD with English subtitles at any Scorpion Video in Bangkok.) Instead, we took our Globetrotting Gourmet food tour group to Nakhorn Phanom, about five hours drive to the south, where huge billboard-sized floats illuminated with paraffin candles are set adrift down the Mekong. |
| In Laos’ former royal capital of Luang Prabang, a smaller fireboat procession is held, and here the floats are paraded down the streets prior to launching. But the largest event of all is in Vientiane, where teams from across the country compete in long boats. City banks are turned into a local “county fair” and both beer and boating are indulged with abandon, while rock groups compete for attention. |
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