Sabaidee Pi Mai -- Celebrating The New Year The Laos Way

This article originally published in the June 2011 issue of Adventure Insider Magazine. The author readies for battle
With its sleepy, sedated reputation, I expected my recent journey around The Lao People’s Democratic Republic to be a gentle wander through Asia the way it used to be before high rises and KFCs took the place of indigenous hill tribes and wild elephants. Only once I joined up with Stray Travel Asia did I learn my trip dates fell during the one time of year where Laos is not so languid – the annual Water Festival. Laos, Burma, Cambodia and Yunnan, China each celebrate the season in their own way during the second week of April, but it’s usually Songkran in Thailand that attracts the most attention and subsequent splashy (pun intended) photos in Western travel sections. I’d heard conflicting reports about the Pi Mai Laos festivities. Was it a milder, gentler version of Songkran or a celebration worthy of its own story? I set out to see for myself. The Water Festival commemorates the sun beginning its journey north and traditionally is marked with cultural performances and religious ceremonies. Homes, temples and images of Buddha are given a good scrubbing in a countrywide spring-cleaning event. The revered act of watering came from the tale of King Kabinlaphom, who lost his head in a wager with an advisor. After decapitation, the seven princesses kept his head in a cave, visiting once a year to sprinkle it with holy water in the hopes of bringing prosperity and good weather to the land. Today, it’s customary for elders and monks to receive gentle sprinkles of flowered or perfumed water during the holiday to signify renewal and reverence. Once tradition is satisfied, the Water Festival becomes the wildest, wettest party of the year. This is great news for the non-monk because now tradition has evolved so even “falangs” can join in.

Touring with Stray Asia

Loation countryside
Traveling in the region is tricky in April, as trains and buses sell out quickly and accommodations can cost almost double. As a first time visitor, I wanted someone else to help me sort out the details so I chose to meet up with Stray Travel Asia, a hop-on, hop-off tour of Thailand and Laos with several predetermined tracks. I picked the Tom Yum pass, beginning in Bangkok, taking a train to historic Sukhothai and Chiang Mai, and snaking around north and central Laos via bus before a final night in the capital of Vientiane. Known for small groups and a very laid back vibe, Stray Travel Asia manages the transportation aspects of the experience – buses, trains, tuk-tuks, slow boats – and helps to book into (dirt cheap but nice) guest houses at each stop. The rest is really up to the individual. While I traveled straight through on the Tom Yum itinerary as scheduled, I met several folks who stopped for a few days or a week based on whims. It all depends how much time you have. Since the trains to the north were booked up, our initial group of three (guide Anna and fellow traveler Amber) instead took public buses on the way to meet the big saffron-hued Stray bus across the Thailand/Laos border. After a fast bike trip around the sprawling historical park and the night market in sleepy Sukhothai, we made our way to the capital of Songkran, the ancient city of Chiang Mai. There’s plenty to entertain there, like the walled old town, dozens of wats, elephant parks and a famous night safari, not to mention a happening backpacker nightlife. This particular week though, everyone was in town for one reason – to get soaking wet at Songkran. Each stall at the night market offered half a dozen varieties of water guns; it seemed everyone was preparing for the Water Festival. The Tom Yum pass allows for two nights in Chiang Mai, so we were able to sample a bit of Songkran before moving on to Laos. Our first run-in with water was after a relaxing Thai massage. Afterward, we found ourselves trapped inside the spa when a troupe of elementary school-aged kids set up a bunker just outside the door. Though we were able to divert the kids long enough to run screaming down the street and escape a soaking, a little old lady with a hose and a handful of American guys did us in on the way back to the guesthouse anyway.

Getting to know Laos

Loation kids prepare for the party of the year
We escaped Chiang Mai just in time to avoid a complete drenching and made our way to the border, spending a gecko-enhanced night in Chiang Khong, Thailand, before crossing the Mekong and clearing customs in Laos. It was there we met our Stray bus and local guide, Mr. Pon, and began the scenic drive through the Bokeo Province to celebrate the Water Festival in dusty Luang Namtha. Luang Namtha is one of the best places to begin a true Laos trek and many travelers stop here to acquire a guide and head into the jungle. With so much Water Festival activity in town however, we spent the day dodging scattered pockets of kids and teens with water guns and garbage cans full of water, intent on saturating the newest ‘falangs’ in town. A fierce gang of water gun-wielding toddlers attempted to break into our guesthouse room once they saw we were dry and safe on the inside; luckily, they were unsuccessful in their attempts.  We managed to stay quite dry in Luang Namtha, but only due to strategic street crossing and a lot of fast running. In the evening once the random street soakings ended, we sampled phenomenal grilled duck and mango fruit shakes at the market, followed by a bewildering visit to Luang Namtha’s famous Chinese disco for Beerlaos and some bizarre dance moves with the locals. A word to the wise: don’t drink too much Beerlaos at the Chinese disco, because the next day’s bus journey through Oudomxai is like riding the Magic Kingdom’s Thunder Mountain roller coaster for six hours.  Though scenic, the ride is not fun even if you don’t suffer from motion sickness; if you do, bring a bucket. Fortunately for the nauseous, we stopped about halfway to get lunch and de-nauseate. But instead of searching out grub, we spent our time locating the best water guns in order to be prepared for our arrival in Nong Khiaw. Little did we know we’d be soaked (and really hungry) long before we made it to the next stop. As we drove along the rough mountainous roads, smatterings of Laos villagers would appear around the corner, prepared with Water Festival weaponry – guns, hoses, cups, buckets – and thwack! They’d splat our bus, which wasn’t a huge issue so long as we kept the windows closed. Once we had our own water guns however, we turned into a moving four-man war machine, hanging out of the moving bus’ open windows with our guns, spraying giggling children and screaming “Sabaidee Pi Mai!” like vikings on the rampage. Though it means a friendly “Happy Laos New Year,” our vigorous and earnest shouts sounded a bit more like “You’re going to die!” and certainly startled a villager or two along the way. We drove through a larger village a few hours later, hollering and shooting like modern day pirates, when the bus stopped and Mr. Pon abruptly told us to get out. He and the driver were taking a break, right in the middle of the village. That would’ve been good to know before we soaked everyone along the road on the way in! As we got off the bus, dozens upon dozens of children with cups and buckets encroached and immediately war broke out. It wasn’t a fair fight; there were four of us and at least 50 kids. Ladies in the market roared with laughter as the youngsters splashed us again and again; the sleepy village erupted with activity and I’m sure they’ll remember the random epic falang fight for years to come. Between the windy mountain bus ride and the village water war, we looked like we’d been through the spin cycle by the time we arrived at our rustic bungalows in dreamy Nong Khiaw, home to the sleepy Ou River, imposing limestone cliffs and Phathok Cave, where North Vietnamese sympathizers hid during the US bombing of Laos in the 1960’s. Water Festival activity was at a minimum here, so we finally had time to dry off, grab a great meal and play Petanque (a game that remained even after the French ended their occupation) with the locals before crashing hard in our sparse hillside shacks. In the morning, we moseyed down the hill to board a slow boat for a lazy, beautiful six hour cruise up the Ou River to historic Luang Prabang. Rugged and secluded, the ride afforded a view of rural riverside Laos, highlighting the subsistence livelihood of many Laos people. After a brief stop at the Pak Ou caves where the Ou and the Mekong converge, we made our way to Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most romantic locations in all of Laos. Laos has been occupied by everyone from the Japanese to the French, so the myriad of influences at play in the cultural fabric can be seen in monasteries, Buddhist temples and French colonial architecture.

The Party of The Year

Do bring a waterproof camera
Although technically the Water Festival only lasts a few days, in many towns the party (and the soakings) lasts for a whole week. Since temperatures can reach more than 100 degrees during the hot dry season, no one really minds the constant dousing in cold water, but as we learned in Luang Prabang, Laotians have added to the arsenal of liquids to chuck at passersby. We were told to expect shaving cream, baby powder, paint and even motor oil, and did we ever get it. Upon arrival, we found that due to the festivities, the Stray bus couldn’t get into the center of town to bring our luggage or our water guns. We’d have to manage with what we had on. It wasn’t hard to procure buckets, cups and a free hose from our guest house, so within moments of checking in, Anna, Amber, Franz and I were in the street whooping it up, soaking passing motorbikes and tuk-tuks like the locals did and beginning to experience the euphoria of the Water Festival. We ran around Luang Prabang for hours, from hose to hose and bucket to bucket, dousing others and being doused in return, making new friends, dancing to Justin Bieber and Beyonce with groups of raucous teens and seeing the wild side of a normally conservative, quiet society. Only monks are exempt from soaking; I saw people dump freezing buckets of water on completely dry old ladies, tourists with all their luggage and even directly into cars onto drivers who forgot to lock the doors. If you dare show up in Laos the second week of April, accept that you’ll be wet the whole time. And not just wet. I was alternately covered in green, red and blue paint, followed by motor oil, topped off with a splash of baby powder for good measure. There’s no looking pretty on this day. Later on at dinner, once we’d scrubbed off the paint and oil, we all agreed that our day celebrating the Water Festival in Luang Prabang was one of the most fun days any of us had ever had in our entire lives. Early in the morning before the revelers were again rousted for more splashing, the monks passed by in their Stray Bus-orange robes and we departed for Vang Vieng, another riverside town in the throes of celebrating the Water Festival. While the scene here is normally filled with rowdy Westerners tubing from bank-side bar to bar, today was off the rowdy Richter scale as the locals joined in to crowd the shallow river and party the day away. There were thousands of people, Western and Laos, mingling, eating, dancing, drinking and singing, all while completely and utterly soaking wet from head to toe. Again, we met new friends, laughed at the silliest folks, splashed little kids and soaked up the gorgeous scenery around us. Whether or not my journey through Laos displayed the true character of the country, I can’t say. For 51 other weeks out of the year, a trip to Laos would be a lazy jaunt filled with breathtaking scenery and gentle, peaceful people. For that one unusual week though, I felt like a kid instead of a traveler. Nothing else mattered but filling up my bucket and finding someone who really needed a good splash in the face.

Tips for visiting SE Asia during New Year

There’s no way around it, you’re going to get soaked. Pack plastic bags to house anything you don’t want to get wet. Bring a waterproof camera. You don’t want to forget the watergun fights with village kids or the huge day-long celebrations in towns like Luang Prabang, but you just might if you can’t take any photos. Dress conservatively. Despite the wild atmosphere during the Water Festival, Laos is no place to be parading around in a bikini and short shorts. Cover up in light fabrics that will dry easily. By all accounts, Laos is still considered “off the beaten path,” offering everything from rugged mountains to lazy rivers to endless rice fields. Koh Phi Phi was once undiscovered, too, and I suspect it won’t be long before franchise restaurants and hotels spring up here like they have in other Southeast Asia hotspots. Laos is still an ideal destination to stretch the budget for a few weeks, costing around $30-40 a day, and it certainly qualifies as a notch on the obscure country travel bedpost. Visiting Laos www.strayasia.com

Angie Orth
About Angie Orth

Angie Orth is a location independent globe trekker. Born in Jacksonville, FL, and ultimately landing in Manhattan, she recently left a career in travel PR for adventures on the road. She’s passionate about the Florida Gators, trying everything at least once, and storytelling at www.angieaway.com.