I am not a fan of loud bangs and to this day, from my childhood, I cannot stand the unpredictable nature of thunderstorms. Nadi reacts to what is probably sensing my own fear when it comes to this sort of thing. Firecrackers irritate me to no end and I am very happy that they, and anything else that could be considered an explosive, are banned here in Vietnam. In Thailand for religious reasons a certain sect of Buddhism has unrestricted access to masses of firecrackers for these rituals that they do several times a year. This is an absolute nightmare for both me and my dog because the long string of small firecrackers in concluded with 2-5 really big ones at the end.

The idea there is to scare away evil spirits but for me it just made me loathe that particular branch of what I consider to otherwise be a very peaceful religion.