First off I'm not going to be able to describe much about this event, sounds cheesy but its really not something that you can put into words. Also I took so many photos that i cant decide which are best to put in with the writing so im just going to put a slide show here and a video at the end.
I ended up leaving Pai to come back with some girls that I met up with from Couchsurfing. I was planning on coming back for the festival on the 9th of November or something. Turns out that the festival on the 9th is for the tourists and the real one is on the 30th of November for the locals. We ended up meeting up with a whole bunch of other people from couchsurfing and made our way to the university where the event was being held. I think there was about 18 of us that piled into the back of these red pickup truck things that they have here to taxi people around. quite a squishy ride but we all made it there. All along the streets on the way to the clearing they were selling all sorts of different lanterns and firecrackers that you could hang on your lanterns. Turns out that once you get to the gate they dont let any outside lanterns, firecrackers or fireworks in. Once you are on the inside you can buy the "environmentally friendly" lanterns that they provide and the money made goes to humanitarian causes. So all the people who bought lanterns walking on the way in were sadly disappointed. Us who read up on it online before coming to this event knew what was up though. Im pretty sure the lanterns on the inside were cheaper and larger than the ones that they were selling outside anyways. once inside the gates there was a whole bunch of food stands selling a whole bunch of really really tasty things. so after all of us stuffed ourselves we made our way to the clearing. there was a gigantic field with unlit torches set up in a grid pattern across the whole thing. They hand out plastic bags for you to sit on which was nice because there seemed to be some sort of prickly weed growing among the grass. We ended up sitting down and just chatting until the ceremony started. I had some Sharpies in my bag and a Thai phrase book so some of us wrote some things on our lanterns. You are supposed to make a wish on your lantern when you release it i believe but it doesnt hurt to wish twice. The whole Yi Peng lantern festival is a Buddhist festival so at the front there was a giant stage with a large golden Buddha and a bunch of monks sitting around it. For the first little while of the ceremony it was just the monks chanting. Then after a while a whole bunch of people (important ones i guess) walked around the big circle 3 times with candles. After that they lit the big ceremonial torch. Once that was up and burning all the volunteers ran around and lit all the smaller torches. The announcer came on and said for everyone to light their lanterns and wait for the count to release. there was a whole bunch of excitement everywhere as people got their lanterns all set up. Setting up a lantern is atleast a two person job. They are made of a bamboo brim with papery cube ontop. one person has to hold the brim and light the flame on fire while the other has to hold the top part to make sure it doesnt burn. As it fills up with hot air you can feel it try to rise out of your hands but you have to wait for them all to be released at once. we all helped each other so that most of us were holding on to 2 lanterns each waiting for the release. The announcer counted down and then a when she said go the happiest music i have ever heard started playing and everyone released their lanterns. they floated up really fast and it was one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. standing in a field of light with everyone looking up and cheering. the kind of thing that gives you shivers all over and they lasted for ever. unbelievable, i couldnt stop smiling. Then i realized that i wanted to be taking pictures so i took my camera out and blindly started taking pictures in all directions. i didnt want to look away from the sky so i though if i took enough pictures some of them must be good. They end up floating so high that it looked like millions of stars that floated up into the distance. someone pointed out that they were lighting a Canadian lantern in the middle of the field. so i sprinted off into the distance and found it. there were some of the really important old ladies who were walking around in the procession before lighting some ones with the Thai flag and ones with the Canadian Flag on them. People were lighting lanterns for about half an hour afterwords when we eventually decided to head back once the outside ones shaped like hearts and the ones with fire crackers got snuck in. We ended up finding an air con mini bus which we all piled into for the ride back, much less squishy than the pick up truck.
I ended up leaving Pai to come back with some girls that I met up with from Couchsurfing. I was planning on coming back for the festival on the 9th of November or something. Turns out that the festival on the 9th is for the tourists and the real one is on the 30th of November for the locals. We ended up meeting up with a whole bunch of other people from couchsurfing and made our way to the university where the event was being held. I think there was about 18 of us that piled into the back of these red pickup truck things that they have here to taxi people around. quite a squishy ride but we all made it there. All along the streets on the way to the clearing they were selling all sorts of different lanterns and firecrackers that you could hang on your lanterns. Turns out that once you get to the gate they dont let any outside lanterns, firecrackers or fireworks in. Once you are on the inside you can buy the "environmentally friendly" lanterns that they provide and the money made goes to humanitarian causes. So all the people who bought lanterns walking on the way in were sadly disappointed. Us who read up on it online before coming to this event knew what was up though. Im pretty sure the lanterns on the inside were cheaper and larger than the ones that they were selling outside anyways. once inside the gates there was a whole bunch of food stands selling a whole bunch of really really tasty things. so after all of us stuffed ourselves we made our way to the clearing. there was a gigantic field with unlit torches set up in a grid pattern across the whole thing. They hand out plastic bags for you to sit on which was nice because there seemed to be some sort of prickly weed growing among the grass. We ended up sitting down and just chatting until the ceremony started. I had some Sharpies in my bag and a Thai phrase book so some of us wrote some things on our lanterns. You are supposed to make a wish on your lantern when you release it i believe but it doesnt hurt to wish twice. The whole Yi Peng lantern festival is a Buddhist festival so at the front there was a giant stage with a large golden Buddha and a bunch of monks sitting around it. For the first little while of the ceremony it was just the monks chanting. Then after a while a whole bunch of people (important ones i guess) walked around the big circle 3 times with candles. After that they lit the big ceremonial torch. Once that was up and burning all the volunteers ran around and lit all the smaller torches. The announcer came on and said for everyone to light their lanterns and wait for the count to release. there was a whole bunch of excitement everywhere as people got their lanterns all set up. Setting up a lantern is atleast a two person job. They are made of a bamboo brim with papery cube ontop. one person has to hold the brim and light the flame on fire while the other has to hold the top part to make sure it doesnt burn. As it fills up with hot air you can feel it try to rise out of your hands but you have to wait for them all to be released at once. we all helped each other so that most of us were holding on to 2 lanterns each waiting for the release. The announcer counted down and then a when she said go the happiest music i have ever heard started playing and everyone released their lanterns. they floated up really fast and it was one of the most amazing things i have ever seen. standing in a field of light with everyone looking up and cheering. the kind of thing that gives you shivers all over and they lasted for ever. unbelievable, i couldnt stop smiling. Then i realized that i wanted to be taking pictures so i took my camera out and blindly started taking pictures in all directions. i didnt want to look away from the sky so i though if i took enough pictures some of them must be good. They end up floating so high that it looked like millions of stars that floated up into the distance. someone pointed out that they were lighting a Canadian lantern in the middle of the field. so i sprinted off into the distance and found it. there were some of the really important old ladies who were walking around in the procession before lighting some ones with the Thai flag and ones with the Canadian Flag on them. People were lighting lanterns for about half an hour afterwords when we eventually decided to head back once the outside ones shaped like hearts and the ones with fire crackers got snuck in. We ended up finding an air con mini bus which we all piled into for the ride back, much less squishy than the pick up truck.
Sounds like quite the sight..
ReplyDeleteAmazing ... what an experience!
ReplyDelete