Ko Chang, Thailand Water Festival of Loi Kathong
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Thailand is a land of enchanting and exotic tastes for foreign guests as I was to learn when I experienced the Water Festival of Loi Kathong on the island of Ko Chang.
Ko Chang
In October 2003, the travel bug seriously bit me. The symptoms led me to sell my enterprise, pack a small backpack with necessary items and roll into Los Angeles International Airport with a significant credit card and an attitude. A couple of days later, I was in Thailand and headed for the island of Ko Chang, positioned close to the border with Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand.
Ko Chang is a heavily forested island with little towns full of beach huts. This is what I was precisely what muscle maximizer I was immediately after. Spending days lounging in the this page is not affiliated sun and contemplating my navel. Unfortunately, I soon experienced the nearby bacteria, which was not what I was after.
Given that I had rented my beach hut for a week with payment in advance, the family members running the location looked me upon favorably. They took pity on me and I was soon expanding fat on Tom Yom Kung and other soups and curries. Following 4 days, I had finally kicked the bug and felt halfway human. This was excellent news as it was the night of the complete moon water festival.
I had heard of complete moon festivals in Thailand. For tough partying tourists, this was apparently the night the large beach parties happened. In Ko Chang, it was a tiny go here diverse as the night was tailored to the actual Thais, not tourist.
The Loi Kathong Festival takes place each complete moon. Offerings are provided to appease the water spirits. These offerings come in the form of banana leaf bowls with flowers, fruit, candles and incense. The candles and incense are lit and everybody heads down the beach and starts placing them in the water. It is 1 of the much more remarkable light shows you will ever see and beats Las Vegas hands down. Thousands, and I mean thousands, of little lights bobbing on the surface of the smooth ocean.
Following the bowls comes 1 of the most visually wonderful things Ive ever noticed. Everybody is familiar with the paper lanterns used in Asia. Normally, they come in the form of a rectangle form with a bamboo or light wire frame. Quite common with college students since they are cheap and look better than a bare light bulb.
For the festival, Thais would take these paper lanterns and close off the top. They would then affix a tiny this paper plate to the bottom with a candle on it. Light the candle, wait for the heat to do its perform and they had an instant hot air balloon. The moment the lanterns could float, you basically let go and off the slowly went over the ocean. It was a sight to see as there were thousands of them floating more than the water.
As the festival wound down, the ocean had been transformed. The air was full of gracefully floating lanterns whilst the water itself was dotted with slowly bobbing points of light.
If you intend to travel to Thailand, make confident you schedule your trip around a full moon. It is a scene youll never ever neglect.
