CHIANG MAI Day 20

MONDAY 22nd and the last day of the festival. We were once again the last into breakfast, not that it mattered as we planned to spend a lazy day by the pool as Keith is still feeling under the weather. We spoke to more newcomers from Australia who stayed by the pool whilst their room was ready. They had a 6 year old boy, Ethan who was keen to get in the water. Mum rolled up his long shorts but it wasn’t long before they were wet. Again we had an interesting conversation as the father said he was a Police Officer and told us about a recruitment drive Australia had had to encourage British Police to come out.( After 2 years they would be given a green card and if wanted could move on to pastures new.) This conversation came about due to the book I had just started written by Andy Shea, a London Policeman who now lives in Sydney.
Keith retired to our room for a siesta and I remained by the pool until around 4pm talking to another Aussie couple who have visited the region several times. She told us the UNESCO site up north is just beautiful and is about an hour’s flight from here or a couple of days by slow boat which I think I would rather do, subject to the condition of the boat!
We set out fairly early for us in fact it was still daylight to watch the ‘Grand Parade’ which began at 6pm and finished at midnight. I assumed the floats just went round and round the old city but discovered that it was just one parade! We went to eat first in the Antique House having something light as neither of us was particularly hungry even though we had skipped lunch.
By the time we got back on to the streets the crowds had gathered and already the procession had reached Narawat Bridge by the Governor’s House. We stayed on the corner as it seemed a good place to get a view of some wonderful floats. In between these magnificent creations Thai men and women paraded along some sections carrying lamps, others carrying lovely krathongs. Just as the displays passed us they would stop for a photo shoot. This was not a problem for the official photographer as vehicles carrying mounted floodlights were just ahead of the float. Some of the floats were so illuminated that vehicles carrying huge generators followed and men would be holding up the thick cable leading to the float. We were a couple of rows back and an Englishmen slightly in front to my left kept leaning forward to talk to his Thai friend who was a lot smaller than him. In the end after goodness knows how many photos of the back of his head I asked if he wouldn’t mind not leaning forward so much! It was all taken in good humour and when the opportunity arose for us to move nearer to the front I informed him that ‘the pain in the arse was moving!’ We continued watching the show and having friendly banter until almost 10pm by which time Keith was ready to return home, the medication having worn off. We said goodbye to them as we were now stood alongside, another foreign couple having decided earlier that they had seen enough and couldn’t stand the crowds any longer.
Returning over Narawat Bridge it was mayhem with people letting off fireworks and not looking to see who was behind them especially when throwing them over the bridge. Keith nearly had one in his eye and told the man to look behind before setting off any more. The main road had been closed along with our road so it was a delight to walk along the street and not have to keep close to the side so as to avoid the traffic. Everywhere was busy not only with selling more lanterns but also food. Our road had been declared alcohol free which was a good thing although we noticed that areas of waste land leading down to the river had suddenly been tidied up and were charging an entrance fee.