loy, loy krathong

Loy Krathong, also known as the 'Festival of Lights,' is a beautiful festival that falls in November after the Yee Peng Festival.  This year it fell on the weekdays, making this pregnant lady not up for as much as usual as I would have to get up for work the next day.  Basically, Loy Krathong is a festival where people release krathongs into the water while making a wish.  Images that come to mind when I think of Loy Krathong include: khom loys, krathongs, fireworks, late nights, parties, parades, food, and people everywhere.  These nights are full of fun and light.

Matt humored me and even though he was exhausted, he took me to enjoy some of the sights on the 28th.  We took the motorbike out because of all of the traffic and went to the main bridge in town, which is usually the starting off point for the festivities in Chiang Mai.  I lasted a couple of hours and then had to call it quits as I now get tired far more quickly! We were able to let off a krathong together, which is one of the things I wanted to do on our evening out together.  I also was able to snap a couple of pictures (okay, so I actually took a lot of photos) to share with you all too!

A view of the bridge that was packed full of people.

Some brightly colored Krathongs made from ice-cream cones and bread!

They were all so pretty!

Some traditional and simple krathongs. 

Here, people were crowding around to the edge of the river to release their krathongs.  Check out the young boy and older man in the water.  These two were helping to put the krathongs into the water nicely and were receiving payment for their help as people are fairly superstitious about the krathongs.  Everyone wants their krathong to float out onto the water serenely and make it as far as possible.

Our traditional banana leaf krathong and many others on their journey down river.

The old lady who ended up helping us move our krathong out into the deeper water.

The temple down the street from our house that was all lit up with lanterns for Loy Krathong.

I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband who took me out on a night he'd rather be home, for letting me spend time getting the right shots, and for waiting patiently for me without complaining.

These pictures all SOOC (straight out of the camera).

(Linking up with P52, Sweet Shot Tuesday, Tuesdays Around the World, and Our World Tuesday.)