loi krathong, at long last

thailand enjoys its festivals, and i am glad. this one was, for the most part, on saturday and sunday. that doesn't mean that people haven't been shooting fireworks at each other for the past week and a half, though.

if you want to picture loi krathong, think of halloween, the 4th of july, christmas, and harry potter, and you're almost there. here are a few pictures from saturday night in breathtaking ISO 1600 quality.



this is the night when people send up the lanterns, if you haven't caught on. this is a special tradition for chiang mai only. as you send off a lantern, you are sending ill fortune and negativity away from your family. don't worry, collective family; you can thank us later.

unless, of course, we jinxed everybody when our jimmy-rigged fireworks caught fire early, meaning we released one of our lanterns early, meaning it limped lamely over to our neighbor's house right before the firework fell off and set their roof on fire. jus fo a minit.


homemade fireworks go well with lanterns whose fuel is actually a sliced toilet paper roll dipped in oil. trust us; we're professionals.

sunday night, people "loi krathong," or send floating, er, floats of flowers, incense, and candles down the ping river downtown. this part is so cool; according to the sign nick's students made, this ritual is to thank the water goddess for the plentiful, life-sustaining water and to "ask forgiveness for the ensuing pollution." love it.



plus, there are are still hundreds of floating lanterns flying all over the place, not to mention the gajillion fireworks people are shooting at each other across the river and everywhere else. seriously, i had several people set off a firework right in front of me as i was driving home saturday night from our marathon yw activity. on purpose! yay for safety.


there's also a giant parade. (yawn). however, most parades in the states don't include giant dancing llama suits...


...and men in black cloth diapers dancing with swords, so that was neat. most parades in the states also lack wave after wave of women who look like they're in severe pain sitting on electronic lotus leaves in tight, shiny dresses. most parades in the states don't go over 3 hours--if they did, i would leave, which is what we did when แม่ finally turned to us in the midst of the sweaty throng and said, "sooo... are you tired? or hot? or hungry?" basically, "I AM SO DONE WITH THIS." no complaints here. we'd loi-ed our krathongs, and that's what we'd come for. props to แม่ for venturing into chiang mai at night with us. i think it's happened... well, never. the next day was the highway-motorcycle-riding day, by the way. something's goin' on with that woman.

this was the eight hundredth attempt to get a good picture. notice แม่'s enthusiasm at this point. the things they put up with...