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Thailand is a land of enchanting and exotic tastes for foreign visitors as I was to find out 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 modest backpack with essential items and roll into Los Angeles International Airport with a major 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 complete of beach huts. This is what I was exactly what I was right after. Spending days lounging in the sun and contemplating my navel. Regrettably, I soon knowledgeable the neighborhood bacteria, which was not what I was after.
Since I had rented my beach hut for a week with payment in advance, the family running the location looked me upon favorably. They took pity on me and I was soon developing fat on Tom Yom Kung and other soups and curries. Immediately after four days, I had lastly kicked the bug and felt halfway human. This was very good news as it was the night of the full moon water festival.
I had heard of full moon festivals in Thailand. For challenging partying tourists, this was apparently the night the large beach parties occurred. In Ko Chang, it was a little different as the night was tailored to the actual Thais, not tourist.
The Loi Kathong Festival occurs every single 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 of the more incredible 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 one particular of the most visually incredible issues Ive ever noticed. Everyone is familiar with the paper lanterns used in Asia. Typically, they come in the form of a rectangle form with a bamboo or light wire frame. Really popular with college students considering that 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 modest 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 while the water itself was dotted with slowly bobbing points of light.
If you intend to travel to Thailand, make positive you schedule your trip about a full moon. It is a scene youll never ever neglect. shakeology ingredients
