Index.php
From Joe
Thailand is a land of enchanting and exotic tastes for foreign visitors as I was to discover 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 business, pack a small backpack with essential products and roll into Los Angeles International Airport with a main credit card and an attitude. A handful of days later, I was in Thailand and headed for the island of Ko Chang, situated close to the border with Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand.
Ko Chang is a heavily forested island with tiny towns full of beach huts. This is what I was precisely what I was after. Spending days lounging in the sun and contemplating my navel. However, I soon knowledgeable the local bacteria, which was not what I was immediately after.
Considering that I had rented my beach hut for a week with payment in advance, the loved ones running the place looked me upon favorably. They took pity on me and I was soon growing fat on Tom Yom Kung and other soups and curries. Right after 4 days, I had lastly kicked the bug and felt halfway human. This was very good news as it was the night of the complete moon water festival.
I had heard of full moon festivals in Thailand. For tough partying tourists, this was apparently the night the massive beach parties occurred. In Ko Chang, it was a small distinct as the night was tailored to the actual Thais, not tourist.
The Loi Kathong Festival occurs each and every full moon. Offerings are given 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 putting them in the water. It is one particular of the far more amazing 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.
Right after the bowls comes 1 of the most visually wonderful issues Ive ever observed. Everybody is familiar with the paper lanterns employed in Asia. Generally, they come in the form of a rectangle form with a bamboo or light wire frame. Really well-liked with college students because they are cheap and look much better than a bare light bulb.
For the festival, Thais would take these paper lanterns and close off the leading. They would then affix a little this paper plate to the bottom with a candle on it. Light the candle, wait for the heat to do its work and they had an instant hot air balloon. When the lanterns could float, you simply let go and off the slowly went more than 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 although the water itself was dotted with slowly bobbing points of light.
If you intend to travel to Thailand, make certain you schedule your trip around a full moon. It is a scene youll by no means forget.
