I’m officially back on American soil, and I have to admit, it feels pretty great. However, the 23 hours it took to get us from Chiang Mai to LA were less than great. About 2/3 of it was spent in the air, the other 1/3 in airports. But one fun fact, we went back in time when we passed the International Date Line. Which means, essentially, that I got to watch the sun set on the same day twice. Once flying over China and the other flying into LA.
But that’s hardly the most interesting thing that’s happened in the last week. Chiang Mai experienced two festivals from November 5-7: Loi Krathong and Yi Peng. We got to participate in similar festivals in Luang Prabang earlier on this trip, but to a much smaller scale.
Loi Krathong is celebrated by floating boats (made of banana trees, leaves, flowers, and a candle) down the river, which symbolizes letting go of negative thoughts, actions, and karma. It’s essentially a request for a fresh start.
On Yi Peng, swarms of Lanna-style paper lanterns (made of rice paper, bamboo, and a kerosene soaked disk) are released into the sky. A tangible way of sending your wishes into the universe.
In northern Thailand, these festivals coincide on the full moon of the twelfth month (Thai calendar) and second month (Lanna calendar). Many cities have massive celebrations – Sukothai, Ayutthaya, Bangkok, and Phuket, but no one does it like Chiang Mai.
Celebrations started on the 5th of November this year and officially went through the 7th, but the holiday spirit could be felt for days before and days after. The first “official” event that we went to was the Hot Air Balloon Competition.
It’s not hard to see why the balloon below was my favourite – The Little Mermaid, anyone? And it was icing on the cake that when the rockets were launched from the balloon, they looked like a giant octopus.
After that we wandered around the city, taking in the various sights and decorations. We made our way through Talat Tonlamyai, the flower market, and past tons of temples, all of which had put up numerous lanterns.
The city was packed with people from all around the world and we were just two in a crowd of thousands.
But that night was when the real magic happened. Despite the ban on lanterns before 9 pm, the second that sun set, the lights started rising one by one. An hour later and the sky was covered in lanterns that shown like diamonds in the night sky. Luang Prabang was just a teaser, because I’ve never seen anything like this before:
Wishes were being made all over the place. By individuals on the Saphan Nawarat Bridge.
By groups down on the riverbank.
And in temples throughout the city. Like this performance at Wat Pan Tao. Another great place was the quieter Wat Chedi Luang. Pretty much abandoned when we went on the 7th, the temple was lit with an eerie glow, while thousands of lanterns were floating up into the sky behind it.
Chandler and I released our lantern surrounded by thousands of others, but it was a moment just for us. And as our lantern was swept up higher and higher, I knew our wish just might come true.
Abroad With Ashley 