Heading down to Jalan Padungan this evening, we started to see little knots of people by the side of the road, and vendors setting up stalls, and RELA guys walking around with traffic cones.

Eh up, we thought, this is showing all the signs of a procession about to happen. And, sure enough, a quick conversation told us that the Wesak parade was lining up ready to go. Honestly, we never know what's happening in Kuching these days...

And it was a little surprising, because the holiday for Wesak Day (which commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha) is not until 12 May this year.

Anyway, we grabbed a cup of tea, and at the first sounds of things happening, went out to watch.

We're great fans of processions, but this was the first of its kind we'd seen. It was a little different from the deities' processions or the Niti Daun parade. Quieter, for sure. The various groups -- hundreds of people in total -- moved calmly along, each person carrying some kind of lamp, often in the shape of a lotus. Some of the floats played mantras and chants, which the walking groups sometimes joined in with.

It wasn't easy to take pictures, the light being low, but here's a bit of an idea:



















I'm always very grateful for these occasions. They're a reminder of all the different worlds that coexist here, very amicably, right under our noses.