20 November 2002

     Our 9' x 12' room has been warm.  We keep the fan on most nights but the first night of Loy Krathong came with a chill.  With our balcony door open there was no need for fans.  4 a.m. a firecracker goes off.  5 a.m. the nearby temple bell rings - one.two.three.. then a rapid succession of 5 or 6 more rings and silence.  It starts again - one.two.three.then the fast rings and silence .   One last time, it rings again - the same as before, still and quiet between, preparing the neighborhood for the monks to make their rounds.  

     Collecting alms in the morning is mostly collecting food for the day.  The monks carry hammered silver bowls to hold the donations.   Giving alms is an act of merit making...an act of sacrifice to improve one's lot in the next life.  I imagined them walking past, one long procession, single file, saffron robes warming them little in the morning chill.

     More firecrackers go off, one right outside our balcony.   It's 6 a.m. and first light is coming in through the doorway.  A bottle rocket whizzes into the morning sky then explodes with a bang.  Hammers pound in the distance. Just two blocks away - at the open space by the gate - workmen are setting up a stage for the day's events.  On scaffolding of bamboo, they climb two stories high to hang a backdrop.  Some set up chairs for this evenings dance contest.

     Villagers build huts on the north end.  Each village has its own handicraft to demonstrate and samples to sell.  In the middle, food vendors spread their mats and begin their preparations for hungry evening crowds. 

     The open space is really a wide concrete bridge covering part of the mote along the east side of the ancient city wall. Bright lanterns and banners hang at the entrance to the village area. By evening, candles will light each precipice on the old wall.  People will climb its narrow stairway to get a better view of the festival events.  By 7p.m. the provincial govenor and his entourage arrive.  There are speeches.  Young women perform the umbrella dance. Then, the parade begins.  

     We gather behind a crowd, straining to see and to get a good camera shot of the parade.  Shirtless boys with wrapped heads and pantaloons carry the sacred white elephant followed by the Loy Krathong princess, each on their floats of bamboo.  Then comes the white lantern temple, drummers and banners and dancers, through the Gate of Tha Pae and down Tha Pae Road to the Ping River. 

     It's a long walk.  Vendors offer cold drinks and snacks along the route.  Cameras flash.  Music plays. Drums beat.  Thousands of people walk to the rhythms. 

     Because of recent heavy rains, the river is muddy brown in the light of day, but tonight it is black, reflecting lights strung like Christmas across the bridges, hundreds of candle lit krathongs floating past the shoreline, and blasts of gold and red and blue from fireworks.  Overhead, bright paper balloons float across the night sky like stars forming new constellations for the occasion and above it all, the second full moon of the season shines down from the east.  

    Here in Chiangmai Loy Krathong is celebrated one day after Yi Peng, the festival of lights.  Yi Peng means the second new moon and began as a celebration of Thai victory when soldiers drove off invaders by setting off rockets as they floated in the river past the enemy camp. 

     Loy Krathong is a time to place flowered wreaths into the river with burning candles and incense to carry away the evil of the past and to bring goodness and fulfilled wishes to the future.

  Back at the gate, it's 9 p.m..  We find two chairs together and rest a bit after our hike to the rive r.  A you ng girl be gin s her dan ce on the stage before a row of judges.  Her costume is traditional Thai.  The movement of her hands and fingers skillful and measured.  She dips and turns.  Every tilt of her head, each turn of her wrist is carried out as if she had learned the skill in a previous life - skill well beyond her five years.  The music stops.  She bows and is followed by another and another until each young dancer has had a turn.  The winner will be chosen and tomorrow will ride at the center of the lotus on the largest krathong in the Ping River. 

     We are tired.  The day has been long.  A mother holds her sleeping son on a chair nearby.  An old man sleeps in the chair next to us.  We make our way through the crowds and city gate, across the motorcycle, tuk-tuk and songtao clogged street to the quiet of our room. 

    Out the balcony door, paper balloons sparkle in the night sky.  We dose off.  Then, a firecracker explodes outside.  It will be "one of those" nights.

     We've been dragging our feet a bit on finding a house to rent. The tiny room here at the guesthouse "Nice Apartment" has a lot of  benefits compensating for it's size. It is right behind Prado Thapae, the Thapae Gate, where most of "the action" is, festivals, hundreds of Buddhist temples, restaurants, massage shops, internet cafes, tourists and more tourists - there is still so much to explore. For $180 a month we get room service, color TV with a modest selection of satellite stations, BBC-World, CNBC, HBO and a few Thai stations, air-conditioning, wonderful staff who help us with our Thai. Houses in this area are beyond our price range. The couple of houses we looked at and liked are near the airport, near a big department store. They would probably cost us around $190 a month plus another $20 or so for electricity and water, $50 more if we use the A/C. We also would need to use a songtao to get to town at about one dollar per person for a one-way fare. Tomorrow, after all the festivities are over, we are going to take another look at one of the house we liked. This time we want to walk around the neighborhood to get a better feel of it.