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Published: November 22nd 2010
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Ahhh, Loi Krathong... It is officially the start of it last night (Saturday), but many people were celebrating on Friday as well. It is hard to describe everything that goes on, since it is so busy, so I will just talk about what we did!
After our massages, we headed down to Thae Pae Gate around 7 pm, which is on the Eastern wall of the Old City moat. There is a giant stage, paper lanterns, food stalls, and a few vendors selling things. It is like a new city! I don't know where all these people came from! The crowds are so dense, the drums are beating, firecrackers are going off, the smells are overwhelming, and the lights are fantastic. In the sky you see blazing orange dots, which are the fire lanterns people are releasing. The fire lanterns are part of Yi Peng, which is biggest in Chiang Mai.
At the start of Thae Pae Gate, heading East towards the river, we run into some half-naked Thai men holding banners. I was pleasantly surprised of course. We had timed it perfectly without realizing it: the opening parade was beginning. I will post pictures and video instead of
trying to describe it, but the parade went down Thae Pae road for some distance before turning off. We followed the parade towards the river and bought our lantern on the side of the road. The lanterns are made of rice paper, so they do not harm the earth.
We weren't sure where to set ours off until we passed some temple grounds full of people and monks lighting their lanterns and setting them free. Thanks to me and my smoking, we had a lighter and didn't have to pay for one hehe. We lit ours off and watched all the stress and pain of the year float away with it. It is the start of a new year for us and all those who celebrate Loi Krathong. Then, a monk tried to start Zach on fire. His lantern (which also had a fire cracker at the end) flew into Zach. The firecrackers went off at his feet, and I have never seen Zach jump so far in my life. Then the monk's lantern floated into a tree and started it on fire. Wow, what bad luck! Our "baby" made it safely into the heavens!
We then headed
back towards the river to buy our Kim Loy (I actually think this is not what it is called, but I can't find the name anywhere). It is the floating flower arrangements you put into the river. It has a similar symbolic meaning as the lanterns: you float your worries away. We each bought one and shoved it off in the river. Zach did a little meditation prayer, so I copied him. The little Thai kids next to us had a big pole and were stealing the Kim Loys out of the river and taking the money out of them.
Just as we headed back up to the bridge, someone threw a stick of dynamite in the water. To the thrower's credit, it was probably only a half stick of dynamite. It was a site and the police did not seem concerned one bit! So all you pyros, come to Loi Krathong where you can light off as much as you want 😊
At this point my ankle was killing me (which I hurt when I fell up the stairs... not down, up). We headed back to the guest house and talked a bit with the girl from
Holland who was staying at CM Blue with her boyfriend and son. Her boyfriend was bedridden with the diarrhea for two days, so I gave her some of my Immodium to give to him. This morning, he was up walking around!!!!!!
Tip: Take Immodium with you 😊
This couple from Holland amazing. I don't know their names because when they told them to me, I wasn't sure if I heard them right. I like them quite a bit though!
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Thai festivals
I'm glad you made it to the Ping River and sent your own lotus float downstream. I loved your pictures. I forgot to mention in my previous comment that Songkran is the festival in April which is a national water fight. Loi Krathong is my other favorite festival. From what I remember those were the only two festivals, but with the emphasis on tourism today the Thai seem to have a new festival every other week. I'm also pleased that you found the mangoes and sticky rice.