CHIANG MAI Day 18
SATURDAY 20th and after breakfast we headed down the road to find ‘Boots’ chemist to get some more medication for Keith, especially a jar of Vick!
Our first stop was at the Temple where again the boys were playing the gongs and drums whilst in the background a group of young girls beautifully dressed with orchids in their hair. I couldn’t help but smile at one of the girls who was wearing a large pair of bright pink false eyelashes which had obviously not been trimmed. By the lantern boat three older women, again in costume, were sat about to make more ornaments for the festival.
We found Boots after walking down several streets new to us and admiring one or two decorated gateways. Thankfully they had everything we needed and a very helpful assistant even recommended a very lose dosage decongestant so tonight Keith should have a really good sleep.
Today is the release of 10,000 lanterns and Opas has arranged for some of his guests to visit the site where this will take place. As it gets very crowded he has suggested we leave at 3.15 although the event doesn’t begin until 6pm. The journey took about 30 minutes and we were in one of the 4 taxis Opas had booked along with Sue and Phil from Bolton who had arrived yesterday, a day too early so had to stay in nearby accommodation for the night. They had travelled down from Chiang Rai and we got the impression Sue was not too enthralled with most of their stay. She also didn’t enjoy the ‘Golden Triangle’ tour either. As we approached the area the taxi drivers seemed to have taken a wrong turning so turning around to return down the narrow lane we then turned right along another lane. We were now running by a small canal and as we went further up the road we came to people setting up stalls selling food, mainly some lovely fat juicy sausages on a stick or a string of sausage balls. There was as expected lots of people selling lanterns and fireworks.
The taxis pulled into a large car parking area but only to drop us off and after a slight discussion it was agreed we should return at 7.30. The taxis would be waiting on the road somewhere on the other side of the canal. As we had stepped out of the taxi it began to rain and I told the driver that if it continued we would be back in 5 minutes! The rain lasted longer but there was plenty of shelter. (Kai had said it would rain during the festival.) This was a large place in fact a Buddhist Learning Centre in the Sansai district of Chiang Mai. Several guests were very smartly dressed, especially the women, but I saw some people dressed in ‘Siam silk’ style trousers and again thought of Anna and the King of Siam. We came across some of the other guests from Baan Orapin who were lantern less. “What happened – did you leave them in the taxi?” On arriving they had been told they were not environmentally friendly so had left it between some bamboo. We checked with an official and ours was fine. The American doctor with the 3 young children had decided not to collect theirs as he was worried about it being a fire risk. Around a large building many stalls were dishing out food with long queues at most of them. Keith and I wandered over and I went to look in one of the large cooking pots that was full of chicken and vegetables in a clear broth. A man asked if I would like some but not being sure if it was spicy asked for a small bowl. He said it was not spicy as on a nearby table was an assortment of condiments so you could make the food as spicy as you liked. We took our bowls and spoons and went in search of somewhere to sit. The steps seemed a good idea and as we began to climb them a women signalled for us to join her on a ledge where she started a conversation with Keith. The food was very good lots of chicken drumsticks, mushrooms, noodles, beansprouts and a piece of boiled bamboo that tasted like potato and plenty of fresh coriander. Little did we know then that we would be very grateful to the Buddhists for this meal.
Next we took a look at the field with a covered stage housing a large gold Buddha whilst the field itself was full of lines of mounted lamps each one covered in a large piece of heavy duty polythene. (They must have known it was going to rain.) Down the centre was a ‘red carpet’ where when the ceremony began the chief abbot and senior monks would walk down to the stage area. We went to look at the small lake with a large lotus flower floating on the surface. Later in the evening people were invited to float their ‘kathongs’ (a floral tribute with a candle and incence) before leaving.
As it approached 5pm more people were arriving and we took our place by the edge of the field close to the gate by the small lake going 2 lamps in to avoid the tall bamboo close by. The proceedings were running late and throughout the waiting time announcements were made about turning off mobile phones, not to light the lanterns until the given time, not to light the lamps until the given time, and all the while more people arrived. Even though the programme was running about 30 minutes late people were still arriving. They were still arriving when the event began. We were now surrounded by young Thai people although we had been invited to move further in and take a seat but with so many people I felt we would be too crowded as already we were hot. There came a time when we had to sit lower than the Buddha and lower than the monks at which point I got cramp in my hip and Keith’s knees were hurting and the young people laughed quietly. After a long dedication to Buddha by the chief abbot words were spoken in English which caused Keith and I to look at each other and smile as at the beginning I had said “I hope this is not repeated in English!”We and even the young Thais began to feel we would never get round to the lantern ceremony but we did. A loud bang and clouds of smoke obliterated the view of the stage area and now young men and women dressed in green polo shirts were going around with candles helping people light their lamp. We asked a couple next to us if they would kindly help as it really took more than 2 people to light and release these large paper lanterns which had to be no more than 90cms in diameter. Before letting go at the appropriate time we had to make a wish but with the heat from the lamp and the heat from the lantern burner I forgot when the time came. It was a fantastic sight as allegedly 10,000 lanterns floated up into the night sky with a backdrop of the full moon. Some lanterns got stuck in the trees and we thought they would catch fire, one lantern hadn’t been opened properly and caught fire falling back down into the crowd but no-one seemed to get injured. Lanterns that had been released outside the Centre had floated across all the time we were there but every now and then a burnt out one would float down and land amongst us with one almost landing on the stage. We waited or the lanterns to be simultaneously left free 3 times before heading out with the hoards of other people. Keith and I joined the ‘snake’ of young girls who had been lighting the lamps as they left and taught them the conga which caused a lot of laughter and noise amongst them. On the narrow road we went with the flow moving at a shuffle or a standstill for over an hour. Finally we hit the rickety bridge to the other side where we now had to avoid the leaving traffic. The first taxi we encountered was the Doctor who invited us to get in theirs stating our taxi was a long way back. We thought about it but declined as Sue and Phil would be waiting for us. Next we met the other 2 taxis who were stopped in the traffic. Finally we reached 191 with no sign of anyone other than our driver. We had seen Sue and Phil were sitting on seats to close to us and assumed they had either got in front or where just behind us. A young girl asked if this was our taxi and could she have a lift with us as her mobile phone battery was flat and she couldn‘t telephone to be collected. We had no problem but our driver gave me a black look. We waited and waited until nearly 10.30 when our driver rang Opas – we were to wait. About 5 minutes later Opas rang to say to come home. Meanwhile I had been chatting to the young lady and discovered not only was she a friend of the family at ‘Baan Orapin’ she was still in high school. No way was she making her own way back to Chiang Mai! By new the traffic and people had thinned out so we were able to move quickly down the road until we reached the bridge area where everything had come to a stop due to a traffic accident. Turning around we had to stop to ask a policeman for the way back to the main road. Traffic was still busy and we passed lots of pickup trucks full of people in the back. It was well after 11 when we got back and Opas and his family were waiting for us. Oil lamps had been added around the gardens but we didn’t fully appreciate the beauty of them until his young son came to put them out as we entered our room.
Our first stop was at the Temple where again the boys were playing the gongs and drums whilst in the background a group of young girls beautifully dressed with orchids in their hair. I couldn’t help but smile at one of the girls who was wearing a large pair of bright pink false eyelashes which had obviously not been trimmed. By the lantern boat three older women, again in costume, were sat about to make more ornaments for the festival.
We found Boots after walking down several streets new to us and admiring one or two decorated gateways. Thankfully they had everything we needed and a very helpful assistant even recommended a very lose dosage decongestant so tonight Keith should have a really good sleep.
Today is the release of 10,000 lanterns and Opas has arranged for some of his guests to visit the site where this will take place. As it gets very crowded he has suggested we leave at 3.15 although the event doesn’t begin until 6pm. The journey took about 30 minutes and we were in one of the 4 taxis Opas had booked along with Sue and Phil from Bolton who had arrived yesterday, a day too early so had to stay in nearby accommodation for the night. They had travelled down from Chiang Rai and we got the impression Sue was not too enthralled with most of their stay. She also didn’t enjoy the ‘Golden Triangle’ tour either. As we approached the area the taxi drivers seemed to have taken a wrong turning so turning around to return down the narrow lane we then turned right along another lane. We were now running by a small canal and as we went further up the road we came to people setting up stalls selling food, mainly some lovely fat juicy sausages on a stick or a string of sausage balls. There was as expected lots of people selling lanterns and fireworks.
The taxis pulled into a large car parking area but only to drop us off and after a slight discussion it was agreed we should return at 7.30. The taxis would be waiting on the road somewhere on the other side of the canal. As we had stepped out of the taxi it began to rain and I told the driver that if it continued we would be back in 5 minutes! The rain lasted longer but there was plenty of shelter. (Kai had said it would rain during the festival.) This was a large place in fact a Buddhist Learning Centre in the Sansai district of Chiang Mai. Several guests were very smartly dressed, especially the women, but I saw some people dressed in ‘Siam silk’ style trousers and again thought of Anna and the King of Siam. We came across some of the other guests from Baan Orapin who were lantern less. “What happened – did you leave them in the taxi?” On arriving they had been told they were not environmentally friendly so had left it between some bamboo. We checked with an official and ours was fine. The American doctor with the 3 young children had decided not to collect theirs as he was worried about it being a fire risk. Around a large building many stalls were dishing out food with long queues at most of them. Keith and I wandered over and I went to look in one of the large cooking pots that was full of chicken and vegetables in a clear broth. A man asked if I would like some but not being sure if it was spicy asked for a small bowl. He said it was not spicy as on a nearby table was an assortment of condiments so you could make the food as spicy as you liked. We took our bowls and spoons and went in search of somewhere to sit. The steps seemed a good idea and as we began to climb them a women signalled for us to join her on a ledge where she started a conversation with Keith. The food was very good lots of chicken drumsticks, mushrooms, noodles, beansprouts and a piece of boiled bamboo that tasted like potato and plenty of fresh coriander. Little did we know then that we would be very grateful to the Buddhists for this meal.
Next we took a look at the field with a covered stage housing a large gold Buddha whilst the field itself was full of lines of mounted lamps each one covered in a large piece of heavy duty polythene. (They must have known it was going to rain.) Down the centre was a ‘red carpet’ where when the ceremony began the chief abbot and senior monks would walk down to the stage area. We went to look at the small lake with a large lotus flower floating on the surface. Later in the evening people were invited to float their ‘kathongs’ (a floral tribute with a candle and incence) before leaving.
As it approached 5pm more people were arriving and we took our place by the edge of the field close to the gate by the small lake going 2 lamps in to avoid the tall bamboo close by. The proceedings were running late and throughout the waiting time announcements were made about turning off mobile phones, not to light the lanterns until the given time, not to light the lamps until the given time, and all the while more people arrived. Even though the programme was running about 30 minutes late people were still arriving. They were still arriving when the event began. We were now surrounded by young Thai people although we had been invited to move further in and take a seat but with so many people I felt we would be too crowded as already we were hot. There came a time when we had to sit lower than the Buddha and lower than the monks at which point I got cramp in my hip and Keith’s knees were hurting and the young people laughed quietly. After a long dedication to Buddha by the chief abbot words were spoken in English which caused Keith and I to look at each other and smile as at the beginning I had said “I hope this is not repeated in English!”We and even the young Thais began to feel we would never get round to the lantern ceremony but we did. A loud bang and clouds of smoke obliterated the view of the stage area and now young men and women dressed in green polo shirts were going around with candles helping people light their lamp. We asked a couple next to us if they would kindly help as it really took more than 2 people to light and release these large paper lanterns which had to be no more than 90cms in diameter. Before letting go at the appropriate time we had to make a wish but with the heat from the lamp and the heat from the lantern burner I forgot when the time came. It was a fantastic sight as allegedly 10,000 lanterns floated up into the night sky with a backdrop of the full moon. Some lanterns got stuck in the trees and we thought they would catch fire, one lantern hadn’t been opened properly and caught fire falling back down into the crowd but no-one seemed to get injured. Lanterns that had been released outside the Centre had floated across all the time we were there but every now and then a burnt out one would float down and land amongst us with one almost landing on the stage. We waited or the lanterns to be simultaneously left free 3 times before heading out with the hoards of other people. Keith and I joined the ‘snake’ of young girls who had been lighting the lamps as they left and taught them the conga which caused a lot of laughter and noise amongst them. On the narrow road we went with the flow moving at a shuffle or a standstill for over an hour. Finally we hit the rickety bridge to the other side where we now had to avoid the leaving traffic. The first taxi we encountered was the Doctor who invited us to get in theirs stating our taxi was a long way back. We thought about it but declined as Sue and Phil would be waiting for us. Next we met the other 2 taxis who were stopped in the traffic. Finally we reached 191 with no sign of anyone other than our driver. We had seen Sue and Phil were sitting on seats to close to us and assumed they had either got in front or where just behind us. A young girl asked if this was our taxi and could she have a lift with us as her mobile phone battery was flat and she couldn‘t telephone to be collected. We had no problem but our driver gave me a black look. We waited and waited until nearly 10.30 when our driver rang Opas – we were to wait. About 5 minutes later Opas rang to say to come home. Meanwhile I had been chatting to the young lady and discovered not only was she a friend of the family at ‘Baan Orapin’ she was still in high school. No way was she making her own way back to Chiang Mai! By new the traffic and people had thinned out so we were able to move quickly down the road until we reached the bridge area where everything had come to a stop due to a traffic accident. Turning around we had to stop to ask a policeman for the way back to the main road. Traffic was still busy and we passed lots of pickup trucks full of people in the back. It was well after 11 when we got back and Opas and his family were waiting for us. Oil lamps had been added around the gardens but we didn’t fully appreciate the beauty of them until his young son came to put them out as we entered our room.
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