Chiang Mai- Loy Krathong Festival <3

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As fast as we came back to Samut Sakhon we left again. We took an overnight VIP bus to Chiang Mai. We really failed though because we
thought that we could have this entire area on the bottom of the bus for ourselves but at the last moment they added 6 people to where maybe one or two more could fit. It was a 15 hour bus drive. Not the best nights sleep I've ever had but it was an enjoyable 30 minutes when we were in laughing hysterics because we just couldn't believe that would happen.

I've been to Chiang Mai before so I was really excited to see other things that I didn't have time for before. Chiang Mai is where you can take elephant treks, jungle treks, go white water rafting, zip lining, and hold tigers. I did all that one my first visit. This time I was able to really enjoy Chang Mai and not just be on a tour. I was able to walk around and take in the sights and sounds.

We arrived just in time to enjoy the Loy Krathong Festival. Festivals in Thailand are the most beautiful events I've ever seen. Thai people celebrate with beautiful lanterns that they lift up into the sky creating thousands of "stars" above. It's such a beautiful sight. The lanterns go all night long and drift away into the distance. What's a festival without fireworks? Those are abundant here as well. There seems to be no laws regarding fireworks and even 2 year old children can be seen firing off some dangerous ones. What's a festival without a parade? Every night of the festival there was a
huge parade that seemed to go on for hours. The floats and people in the parade were so extravagant.

Loy Krathong is a festival that is celebrated on the full moon in November all over Thailand. A Krathong is a lotus like float that you float down the river with incense and candles. You send away all your negativity and pay respect to the spirit of the water. You can also make a wish if you like! The floats are typically made to be biodegradable. My Krathong's base was made of a banana tree and you decorate them with banana leaves and flowers. My hostel taught us how to make them and with lots of help mine came out to be very beautiful. Folding banana leaves isn't as easy as it looks!

That night we wandered down to the festivities with lanterns and krathongs in hand. We made our way through the parade crowd and arrived to the most spectacular view. We were finally at the source of all the beautiful lanterns in the sky. We helped each other send off the lanterns. It was such a aweing experience but it can get dangerous as well! If you let go too early before enough hot air is collected in the lantern the lantern doesn't lift up but rather sideways making way towards people's heads! One of these dripped oil on my hand and 2 weeks later I can still see the scar.

After we sent off our lanterns, we headed to the river. There were thousands of krathongs already floating down the river. You couldn't tell where they started either. We contributed ours to the mix and watched them float away. Lucky for us, Ben and Lauren bought some fireworks! So we had some fun shooting off some fireworks over the water. Add a full moon to the mix. It was the most spectacular thing I've experienced in Thailand.

There are beautiful Wats (temples) all over the city that I was able to walk to. My favorite was Wat Chedi Luang. This wat is still standing after 600 years and is now surrounded by modern day Chiang Mai. It was such so neat to see such history living among the busy world. Time literally stood still. Right next to that was a newer Wat where Lindsay and I witnessed monks reciting their disciplinary rules. These rules are what monks abide by. Monks recite all 227 rules to make sure that they have not broken any. It's like keeping themselves in check. I think we should all do that with our own "rule" books sometimes. It's a wonderful reminder. Being able to witness about 50+ monks reciting this was such a spiritual moment. At first I felt like an intruder on their ceremony but after a while I took a seat in the back on the floor and just soaked it in. It was beautiful.

This trip to Chiang Mai was definitely a great second taste. I now know that you don't really know a place until you've seen it a few times. You grow and you notice different things each time around.

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Photos

Buddhist monks
reciting 227 rules to live by

Wat Chedi Luang
Lanterns are going off everywhere in the city