Northern Thailand

 

In Chiang Mai, during the Loi Krathong festival, I’d never seen so many different kids of meat on a stick.

During the Loi Krathong festival, the Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai, and many larger cities in Thailand, were all lit up and many were open to visitors.

Even at the temples, people were invited to take part in the Loi Krathong festival.  This part of it involved lighting a lantern/air balloon and letting it rise into the night sky.  I never got a good explanation for the lanterns but the “river wreaths”, also lit with candles but let free onto the river, were meant to be “thanks to the river goddess for providing life to the fields and forests and asks for forgiveness for the polluting ways of humans (Lonely Planet 2012).  Apparently the river goddess doesn’t mind all the styrofoam, wax candles, and other bits of plastic on the wreaths that have been jettisoned into her river.

During the Loi Krathong festival, the real stars that you can’t see because of the big city lights are replaced with thousands of candle lanterns set off by Thais and tourists alike.





Ancillary to the Loi Krathong festival is a parade showing off Thai tradition and culture.   Like the lanterns and river wreaths, the show is on at night!

Parade detail

If the river recedes after the nighttime festivities of the Loi Krathong festival, the banks are covered in the debris of wreaths.





Buddhist temples are always extravagantly ornamented, dragons being a recurring theme.  Another reoccurring but not necessarily ubiquitous theme is a sign at the entrance to the temples that reads “no women allowed”.  Apparently they don't want the monks to be "tempted."

 

On a day-trip north of Chiang Mai, Gina crosses a stream for a chance to swim in a waterfall pool.

Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok is the name of the compound that includes the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the monarch of Thailand’s residence.  It’s kind of like a somber-feeling Disney World in that you are surrounded by architectural eye-candy, BUT in a religious setting. 

Wat Phra Kaew, in the religious bit.

 Wat Phra Kaew, in the religious bit.

Wat Phra Kaew, but buildings related to the King and everything monarchial.

The food in Thailand has been consistently good everywhere from high-end tourist restaurants to these outdoor stands where you get all this for $1 dollar (30 bhat).