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11/15/13 - 11/22/13
As I flew out of Hong Kong, my time in China had drawn to a close. I hope to eventually return to China, but now it was time for my journey to continue. The next phase of my trip is South East Asia and the first country I would be exploring was Thailand. My first destination was Chiang Mai. It is one of the few destinations on my trip, when I knew the exact date that I would arrive. The reason why is because of the Lantern Festival that takes place in Thailand on the full moon in November, which was November 17th. The Festival occurs all over Thailand, but Chiang Mai was known for its celebration. The Festival is actually two different festival that coincide and are fairly similar; Loy Krathong and Li Peng. The whole point of the festival is to send away your bad luck or sins. I spent a week in Chiang Mai and it has become one of my favorite destinations!
I had previously planned on flying to Bangkok and then taking a train to Chiang Mai, however two weeks before the trip I got an email from the ticket office, telling me that my overnight train booking was cancelled because the rail lines would be under renovation. I was a little annoyed that they informed me so late, but I had to deal and scramble to figure out how to get from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, which was a little more difficult because it was a holiday and so transportation would be booked up. I was able to find a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on the same day, so I just had to adjust my guesthouse booking in Chiang Mai, as I would be arriving a day earlier, which was no problem. In the end, it all worked out, it was just a lot more expensive.
However, it was actually better that I arrived a day earlier than expected, because the main event of the festival occurred on the 16th and not the 17th, as I had thought. The Lantern Festival is a festival in which people launch lanterns into the sky to send away their sins. The lanterns are usually round and white, with a place in the middle to light the fire. They work like a hot-air balloon and float up into the sky. As I was arriving into Chiang Mai, you could see several small specks of lanterns floating across the sky.
I found out from a friend of mine, that the main event was actually separate from the city festival and was held outside of town at a university. This event occurred on the 16th and included a mass launch of lanterns. My guesthouse was offering rides out to the event and so me and several others made our way to it. The traffic was quite horrible though and it took two hours to get there. Eventually, we arrived, and an American girl, named Anna, a Chinese guy and myself made our way into the festival grounds. The place was packed full of people, all elbowing their way to get a better view. There was a steady stream of lanterns being launched into the sky and in the distance you could see monks performing a ceremony. We stood around for an hour or so, getting bitten by mosquitoes and wondering if the steady flow of lanterns was the mass launch we were expecting. At this point, we were getting a little bored and were feeling a little let down at the whole ceremony. However, then things started to happen. The monks starting saying some commands and people started to get out their lanterns all at once. Eventually, everyone would light their lanterns and wait for the hot-air to fill the balloon-like lanterns and then after a few misstarts everyone launched their lanterns as one. Thousands of flickering light and billowing lanterns filled the sky. It was one of the most wondrous sights I have ever seen. It was beautiful and simple amazing! I took lots of pictures and few videos, but they really don't do justice to the breathtaking sight that I was experiencing.
Finally, the lantern lighting would die down, but there would be a steady flow of lanterns into the sky throughout the night. We then proceeded to leave and got stuck in one of the worst crush of people I have seen in a long time. It took us forever to get back to the minivan, all the while being crushed among all the people. We were sweating and having a hard time breathing and walking. Eventually, we had enough and climbed through a fence to get out of the crowd. But, then we found we were stuck behind a barbed-wired fence! Eventually, we found a way through the barbed-wire fence without getting hurt and found our way back to the minivan. The way back wasn't very fun, but the lantern launch was well worth the trouble.
The rest of the festival was not as awe-inspiring as the mass lantern launch, but it was really interesting. There were many events scheduled, mainly in the evening. During the day, I checked out the many temples around the city. In the evening, I walked around and witnessed all the many festival events. There was a beauty contest to select the King and Queen of the festival, parades, musical performances and in all the temples there were lots of decorations and lights and the monks would give blessings and help people launch their lanterns. This also occurred on a Sunday, so the weekly Sunday Market was being held on the main street, so there were plenty of vendors selling many different Thai souvenirs, t-shirts and food. Past the East Gate of the city, on the bridge, people were launching fireworks and lanterns. And in the distance, you could see more fireworks being launched along with several lights of lanterns floating across the sky. The festival experience was alive and well in Chiang Mai!
Another part of the festival was the making of Krathongs and then launching them on the river. Krathongs are little floating vessels that are decorated and usually have a candle and incense on them. The Krathongs are, like the lanterns, used to send away your sins or bad luck. Some people also put money or a piece of their hair or fingernails in the Krathong to increase their blessing. It is a part of the festival and so hundreds of Krathong were floating on the river. I thought this would be really cool to see, like the lantern launch, however, I was disappointed, as the river current caused all the Krathong to gather together and float right next to the river bank and the wind blew out most of the candles. There were also people in the river with flashlights, searching through each of the Krathongs as they floated by, looking for money. That seemed a bit sacrilegious to me, but I guess some people would do anything for free money.
I did join in the festivities and bought a Krathong and lit the candle and sent it down the river. Hopefully, it will take away any bad luck and send me some blessing throughout the year. Overall, the Lantern Festival was really amazing. It was an excellent start to my journey through Thailand and the lantern launch will be something that I will never forget. However, this wasn't the end of my time in Chiang Mai. I had a few more adventures there before I would leave, but I will have to write about that another time.
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