Chiang Mai Thailand

Our long time friends Steve, Nancy and Shawn came for a visit from Boise, Idaho, and we spent a nice, long weekend in Chiang Mai, Thailand, celebrating the Lantern Festival and Loi Krathong. This old festival is held on the full moon night of November and is said to be the most charming of all festivals in Thailand. In Chiang Mai, a procession of floats with beautiful maidens sitting on them goes through the city to the bank of the Mae Ping River, where hundreds of people assemble to float their banana-leaf containers (krathong) decorated with flowers and candles onto the river to worship the Goddess of Water. Moreover, Lanna-style hot-air lanterns are launched which are believed to help rid the locals of troubles. It was great fun. Above a group photo op at the Mae Sa waterfall park.

Chiang Mai is a fairly large city with its full compliment of scooter traffic. I do believe the scooter drivers here are less reckless than their Malaysian counterparts.

New to us were the Tuk Tuks which were a three-wheeled motorcycle-type contraptions. As you can see, the only way Van fit was to lie down. Even at that, it was very hard to see what was going on around you which was a little frustrating when you want to see and experience a new area. It is not the preferred mode of travel for BIG people!

Our hotel, The Chedi, which means spire, was absolutely one of the best hotels we've ever stayed in. The atmosphere was one of luxurious peace and calm. The water, lighting, colors, harmony, and balance were perfect. We were welcomed with lemongrass scented cold wash clothes and their own special blend of iced tea to drink. There was no standing at the counter to check in. We got to sit on these comfortable cushions overlooking the candle lit reflecting ponds.

The rooms each had an outdoor area with a small table and a cushioned lounge for two. At night they lit the floating candles and it was breathtaking.

Ah, the pool. Each lounge chair had "two" long plush towels, an adjustable cushion for your head, and they brought you cold wash clothes and ice water with fresh sprigs of mint in it. Awesome!!

Another view of the pool with its surrounding lily ponds.

On our first night we had dinner at the Chedi restaurant and got to witness a wedding below us near the pool. Here is the beautiful new bride. It was a good reminder to us of the words we spoke to each other almost 30 years ago.

Surrounding the pool were lots of water lilies. In the morning sun, they were fully opened and stunning, but as the day got hotter, they'd close up and hide.

Van perched high above the jungle on Poos Alot his own private elephant. Poos Alot lived up to his name and I got a birds eye view since my elephant walked behind Van's almost the whole way. One really outstanding thing about the Mae Sa Elephant Camp is that the trainers grow up with the same elephant from the time the elephants are babies. Some trainers have been with the same elephants for almost 40 years. That's longer than most marriages!!

Laine thought we were kidding when we said the elephant above painted the picture below, but it is absolutely true. You could buy this elephant's original work of art for 2,000 Thai Bhat. (about $50 US).

Amazing - an elephant painted this with a brush held in his trunk!!

We stopped at Mae Sa Waterfalls, the largest and most spectacular series of waterfalls in the Chiang Mai area on the way back from visiting the elephants. This multi-tier waterfall system tumbles over no less than 10 levels, some of them small and private near the top while others are large chutes of water that even look great from the lookout point near the car park. It was a good hike that kept us all sweating as you can only do fully while hiking in the tropics.

The fresh fruit at the night market was amazing. We had a great time walking around checking out all the local wares for sale. Van was the king of bartering. At one point, he realized he was bartering over 10 cents! That brought it all into perspective.

Here is one of our lanterns going up with our wishes and prayers. They were really quite large and fun to send up. There were thousands of them that lit the night sky. It was one of the most amazingly beautiful things I have ever seen.

Van and Steve found a fireworks vendor on the street and bought the Thai version of our Roman Candles along with some mortars. I must admit that they looked like Malatoff Cocktails and with the language barrier I wasn't entirely sure what they were buying. All went well. Only one exploding mortar that sent Van and Steve running for cover - the tube to launch the mortars blew up from too much use. The only thing missing was our other pyromaniacs Laine and Joe. Above is one of the prayer flags on the dock illuminated by the sparks. Very pretty.

We went to play with the tigers. Van got to hold the three month old baby tiger which was much more fun than petting the sleepy adult tigers. Van doesn't like cats, but really has a thing for tigers.

When we went to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep temple, there was a beautiful native girl doing a traditional Thai dance.

Wat Phra Thart Doi Suthep temple is set amongst the peaks of Doi Suthep. It has a lovely setting with a panoramic view of Chiang Mai and the Mae Ping River valley. Although Wat Doi Suthep is the most recently built of the temples dating from the Lanna Thai period, it is the symbol of Chiang Mai. The site was selected by sending an elephant to roam at will up the mountainside. When it reached this spot, it trumpeted, circled three times, and kneeled down and thus interpreted as a sign indicating and auspicious site. The temple had the most beautiful statues and was built in 1383.

We purchased bells with hearts on them, put our name on them, and hung them up in the temple. Here is Van and my heart/bell. His name is on one side and mine is on the other.

Here is a beautiful statue that contrasts with the gold leaf adorning the temple facade. They were doing some repair work and there was scaffolding set up all around the chedi (spire).

You can see all the rafts floating in the water and the reflections of the lanterns floating in the air. It was a beautiful night.

Our hotel had an amazing show complete with fireworks and lanterns. It was really a lot of fun and the food was excellent as well as the entertainment.

Up, up and away. Our lanterns take flight.

The inside of our lantern as it takes flight.

It was a great trip and I would really recommend it for someone that wants to get a really good taste of what a Thai festival is all about. It was utterly amazing.