Finally the day for the big Songkran parade. I guess this is a Lao thing, because parades don't feature in Thailand's celebration. The parade is a mess, as is to be expected, but interesting nonetheless. In the neighboring countries, Songkran is best known for religious ceremonies in the morning, water fights all day and getting drunk at parties at night. A formal parade, complete with perhaps the world's only remaining hammer and sickle symbol and marching young communists, doesn't really blend with this spontaneous fun.