With the new school term I have been quite busy, which many of you could imagine. As a result, I never did get around to posting my pictures of the Loy Krathong festival that I had the honour of celebrating in my wonderful Thai town, Banphai. It was an absolutely incredible experience to say the least. What made this experience extra special was the people that I was surrounded by. I was taken to the festival by my lovely Thai friend Nok (who feels almost like an aunt to me now) and my new co-worker/Chinese teacher, Joanna. Nok made sure Joanna and I had the chance to participate in the activities that make Loy Krathong so magical. I bought 2 gorgeous enormous paper lanterns for 40 baht each (about $1.50 Canadian) and was then shown the neat process of how to get them to float! At the bottom of the lantern there is an opening with a round coal looking thing that is attached by wire. That is the object that you have to light! When lit, you must hold the lantern as close to the ground as you can in order to allow the flame to heat the air that is inside the lantern. As a result, the lantern rises beautifully into the air. It really was a fantastic sight to see. After, Nok brought us to buy Krathongs from her cousin who was hand making them at the festival! We each bought one for the small price of 35 baht (roughly $1.30 Canadian), brought them to the pond, lit the candle on them, made a wish with the hundreds of others there and set our Krathongs to float away.

Anyways, without further ado here are my pictures from that gorgeous evening.

xoChaylavie