Another important element in the Ekor culture
is the ornaments they wear on their traditional costumes,
and which both men and women use every day.
These are made from cotton, dyed indigo and different shades of blue.
The women's costumes are decorated with complicated embroidery
and the half piaster coins of Indochina,
and they also wear earrings, bracelets and chokers of rigid silver,
made by the silversmiths in nearby Yunnan.
Some time after 11 in the morning, the first man ready to work finally appears.
The first rains will come soon, and the paddies must be ready to plant the rice.
They decided to begin the new year celebrations a few days ago,
and the women's patience is running out.
They not only clean the house, grind the rice, prepare the meals and fetch water and wood,
but are also responsible for educating the children,
and passing on the traditions of their culture.
The Ekor are very respectful of the environment,
and only cut down trees to make new rice fields when a couple gets married.
Every day, they cut only the wood they need to cook and heat,
and although other neighbouring tribes have found a good source of income from selling wood to Thai and Vietnamese merchants,
the Ekor respect the jungle so much that the women, when they have finished cutting wood,
place a leaf in their mouths and sing a song to the forest, thanking it for its generosity.
In the afternoon, the men get together to play Delo, a game so ancient not even the players themselves know its origins.
They only play Delo twice a year, during the new year celebrations, and when the first rice harvest is in.
One of the players throws a wooden top, called a Makan, onto the ground,
and his opponent has to hit it with another, similar one.
The first one to stop spinning loses.
There are no prizes
the satisfaction of taking part is enough, as only men above the age of 16 are allowed to play.
At nightfall, men, women and children sing and perform the traditional dances.
The Ekor are animists, they worship their ancestors and believe in magic and reincarnation.
The spirits are invoked by the sound of the drums,
while the women dance around Pii Bou,
the most venerated spirit of all, the protector of the family and of the rice fields.
The Mekong is the river of Buddha, as we can see from the thousands of temples, pagodas and statues along its banks.
60% of Laotians practice Theravada Buddhism,
which was apparently introduced into the country at the end of the eighteenth century.
Little by little, it was adopted by the people of the lowlands,
who at first resisted accepting this religion along with their own, Pii, the spirit of the earth.
Theravada or School of the Ancients is also called the School of the South,
because it originated in the countries of south east Asia, such as Laos, Cambodia, Burma or Thailand.
According to its followers, the Theravada schools are less corrupt than the Mahayanas or Schools of the North,
in reference to China, Mongolia, Nepal, Tibet, Korea and Japan,
where they produced the first teachings,
and then expanded the doctrine as required.