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Loy Krathong: Yeepeng Lanna in Chiang Mai – A second chance to do it right

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Dec 10, 2012
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Chiang Mai, Thailand, Travel

Date 24th November 2012

For those who have been following my website since 2010 – or have landed on my website when searching for information on Loi Krathong in Thailand – you must have read about how disappointing my 2010 attempt to capture the Yeepeng Lanna festival was. Long story short, I got confirmation when and where the event was taking place but by the time I got to the venue, I missed the big release of lanterns by a matter of minutes!

I was gutted the remainder of the night and vowed I would go back to do it right the next time. I wanted to go to Thailand in 2011, but last year’s floods ruined my plans. This year, I could wait no more. I had plenty of good reasons to go to Thailand and I did.

Even though I had a friend for company, I made no compromises about getting to the venue early this time. As soon as we were done with lunch, we found a tuk-tuk driver willing to take us to Maejo University and back for 600 baht. In 2010 I paid 500 baht, so 600 baht for both of us sounded like a good deal. Plus our driver spoke fairly good English – something of a rarity in Thailand. We felt comfortable knowing everything was going smooth so far. (Yeah, wait till you read how it all ended!)

Chiang Mai highway to San Sai Maejo — The weather seemed great and the highway leading to Maejo University was easy on the traffic

Inside Maejo University Chiang Mai — Our driver told us it was the first time in over 20 years that he was entering Maejo University. For which there was no need to, because I knew from last year’s visit there was an alternate road to take.

After getting directions from the university staff, we reached the same point where I was dropped off last time. It all came back to me now — how I walked for at least a kilometre before reaching the actual grounds where the event was taking place.

Way to Yee Peng Lanna venue Maejo — People were setting up their stalls to sell paper lanterns, food and drinks

But this time, we drove down the same road and found parking right next to the main grounds! It was just past 2pm and we were really early. I was happy though. I knew I was safe inside and sure to witness the big release of lanterns this time!

Our tuk tuk driver said he would wait for us until evening and told us he was just going to go out for lunch. But we knew he was leaving the venue to go about his business of picking up other passengers. Who cares, as long as he came back for us. We hadn’t paid him yet.

Yeepeng Lanna Maejo afternoon — We weren’t the only ones who arrived early. Many other tourists – mostly Chinese and Japanese, some locals and volunteers were milling about. (The above photos were all taken on the phone)

Yeepeng Lanna ceremony Thai girls — There was some ceremony going on

Pretty Thai girl Chiang Mai — More of a photo-op for us

Yeepeng Lanna opening ceremony Chiang Mai — The boys had a showing too

Maejo grounds lamps for Yeepeng Lanna — Once that was over, we moved to the actual grounds nearby

Lamps covered Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — These are the lamps that would be used to light the ‘khom loys’ or paper lanterns

Yeepeng Lanna lamps lines panorama — And the whole ground was full of them!

Lamp lines Maejo grounds panorama — My friend Ramesh and I found ourselves a small tree under which we could take respite from the sun

Buddha podium Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai venue — That’s the podium on which Buddhist monks would be chanting prayers before the actual release

Chiang Mai lamps for Yeepeng Lanna festival — I walked up to the center of the grounds

Yeepeng Lanna venue setup Chiang Mai — I guess the carpet is for the many ceremonies that lead up to the big lantern release

Chiang Mai happy tour Yeepeng Lanna — But walking around, I noticed most of the sections were blocked by tour groups. As if they reserved sections for whoever paid to be here.

Tree shade bags Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Our bags were cooling off in the shade

Hall Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — I decided to drink as much water, juices and then go to the toilet beforehand

Maejo Yeepeng Lanna hall Chiang Mai — There was some ceremony going on inside which we weren’t allowed to photograph

Yeepeng Lanna volunteers greeting visitors — They had volunteers greeting visitors in both Thai and English

I drank a lot of ice cold water and went to the restroom because henceforth I wasn’t moving away from my spot.

Camera men Yeepeng Lanna — A lot of video cameras and DSLRs were setup well in advance to secure the best viewing point

Camera men Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — A LOT of cameras!

Yeepeng Lanna venue Maejo Chiang Mai — This whole venue is going to be full of people lighting paper lanterns

Sirui tripod Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — I set up my tripod and made test shots of all the possible viewing angles

Tourists Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Everyone took respite from the sun under the shade of the trees

Maejo grounds crowd panorama — Slowly but surely the crowds were making their way in

Tourists Khom Loy lanterns Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — People carried their *khom loys* which were sold at the venue for 100 baht each

LCMT tour Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Tour groups were trying to get their people together

Yeepeng Lanna big paper lanterns — I guess you get your lantern ready if you already paid to come here with a tour group

Power paraglider Chiang Mai Thailand — Look up in the sky! Is it a bird? A plane? Kind of… this paraglider was surveying the grounds from up above. Imagine the view of the lanterns he was going to get from up there!

Man on top of light tower Chiang Mai — This guy’s spot isn’t too bad either 🙂

Full moon Chiang Mai Thailand — It was a full moon night, a factor based on which they set dates for this festival

Paraglider Chiang Mai Loi Krathong — The paraglider was still doing the rounds while paper lanterns made their way up. What a perspective he must have got!

Yeepeng Lanna crowds gathering — As the sun was setting, the crowds were growing

Yeepeng Lanna venue night Chiang Mai — The venue was full and by 6:30pm people were getting the urge to start lighting lanterns, despite constant announcements asking everyone to refrain from doing so

Yeepeng Lanna buddhist ceremony — By 7pm, we were well into the many ceremonies that precede the release of the lanterns

Buddhist monks stage Loi Krathong Thailand — The monks chanted prayers which were followed by traditional songs and performances

Thais meditating Chiang Mai — Thais around me were deep in meditation and chanting along

Buddhist monks Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — But I couldn’t get a good sight of all that from where we were standing as it all happened in the center of the grounds – sections all reserved for guests and VIPs

Man hair strands silhouette — It was hard trying to get clear shots because there would always be some head obstructing my view. But I made the most of it. Love the 70-200mm lens! 🙂

Maejo night lanterns Yeepeng Lanna — This is a long exposure panorama comprised of 4 shots tried with as little shake as possible

Smoke Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — They lit some firecracker… or something

Lamp fire Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — After all the ceremonial activities were over, the announcement was made to light the lamps

Lamp fire Chinese tourists Yeepeng Lanna — But everyone was instructed not to light the lanterns yet

Sadly the instructions were only in Thai and English, meaning some Chinese and Japanese around me couldn’t wait to light up.

Yeepeng Lanna Loy Krathong Chiang Mai — And so it began

Lamp fire close-up Chiang Mai Thailand — Myself and Ramesh decided we would light lanterns after the big release. Until then our focus was capturing photos and videos.

Thai light lantern Loi Krathong Chiang Mai — It’s not easy to light up such a huge paper lantern *and* try to take photos at the same time

Releasing lantern Loi Krathong Chiang Mai — And despite repeated announcements not to release the lanterns yet… there’s only so long one can hold on to it once it fills up with hot air

Thai family lantern Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — This Thai man giving us the thumbs up was overly joyous and talkative to us asking us where we’re from and what we were doing in Thailand. Nice chap 🙂

Releasing paper lanterns Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Lanterns were going up even before the main announcement

Paper lanterns Loy Krathong Chiang Mai — People near to us were still getting their lanterns ready

Khom Loy Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — These *khom loys* are massive!

People releasing paper lanterns — I was getting a bit worried the lack of co-ordination was going to ruin the big lantern release

Lanterns night sky Chiang Mai — I mean, the whole beauty of Yeepeng Lanna is seeing thousands of lanterns go up at the same time

Lighting lanterns Chiang Mai Thailand — He was happy to let go, but I prayed the others would wait

Paper lanterns floating Chiang Mai Thailand — But then…

Khom Loy Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai Thailand — OH. MY…

Lanterns Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai Thailand — … !!!!! 😀

All around were just screams of joy and exhales of utter amazement! Even Ramesh and I were going: “Oh man, oh man… oh oh-ho-ho!” Really… there are no words to describe how you feel at that very moment you see it. It’s a visual-sensory overload! Even though I was shooting at my widest, no camera can capture the sheer scale of the what the night sky looks at that moment. Your eyes are the only best tool.

I immediately then tried to try an capture a panorama comprised of multiple shots. I never once thought how the end result would look… I just clicked-clicked-clicked-clicked.

Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai big lantern release — And this is the best I could put together

I had to piece together the above 4 shots (out of 6) manually as no photo-stitching software (including Photoshop’s otherwise impressive Photomerge) could find common links between each photo. Here’s a larger version.

Lanterns floating away Loi Krathong — The lanterns were floating right over me. Guess that’s the way the wind was blowing.

Lanterns floating night sky Chiang Mai — I took this vertically to get as many lanterns as possible

Lanterns night sky Chiang Mai Thailand — It was amazing to see just how quick these lanterns float away out of sight

Paper lanterns rising up Thailand — People were still lighting up lanterns

Lanterns floating away Chiang Mai — And just like that… into the distance

Yeepeng Lanna festival Chiang Mai — Another panorama I had to manually piece together

Yeepeng Lanna crowd lanterns Chiang Mai — Another manual panorama stitch comprised of 4 shots

Yeepeng Lanna trees lanterns Chiang Mai — Wonder where these lanterns eventually drop to

Lantern festival Chiang Mai Thailand — Another panorama manually pieced together from 5 shots

Lantern festival Thailand — I knew back in 2010 itself just how tough this festival is to capture on camera. One, it’s dark, and two, you’re trying to capture moving objects in low light.

Paper lantern festival Chiang Mai Thailand — I shot in Manual Focus mode because keeping it in Auto Focus meant the focusing would be slow (my wide angle is the Canon 10-22mm f3.5). Although I had the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, from experience I know how lousy its focusing is compared to the Canon. Keep in mind, most of these photos were taken at shutter speeds ranging from 1/6 to 1/20.

Lantern festival with flash — And shooting in Auto mode with flash like how many with point-and-shoot cameras were clicking meant you get photos like this. It kills the very glow of these floating lanterns.

Lantern festival crowd Chiang Mai — But just when you think the visual sensory overload is over…

Maejo lantern festival Chiang Mai — … fireworks!

Yeepeng Lanna festival fireworks — I actually took a lot of photos of the fireworks

Fireworks Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai lantern festival — Sadly, most of them came out blurry. I guess that’s the downside to keeping your lens on Manual Focus and getting lost in the revelry :-/ They looked fine on the LCD but it’s only when you zoom in or view them on the computer you realize: “Crap!”

With the activities slowing down at the grounds and people making their way out, Ramesh and I went up to the big hall to get an overhead view.

Maejo grounds lamps Yeepeng Lanna — We wondered what the spectacle from up here would have looked like

Fire lamps Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — A team next to me were still filming video. I set up my tripod to take some longer shutter release.

Mithun Divakaran Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — We took each others’ photos using the fire lamps as backgrounds

Yeepeng Lanna ground after lantern release — And that was it. We were done.

Well, done taking photos of other people having fun! Now it was our turn. We went to buy one of the big lanterns but sadly they were all sold out. We went out to the main road by the river stream to check with the vendors there.

Crowd leaving Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — The stream of thousands leaving the venue meant it was going to be near impossible to walk through it all. But it did remind me of 2010 when I was one sad face walking like a zombie (in disappointment, than lacking life) after having missed the big release of lanterns.

This year though, I had a smile of my face. I captured the amazing moment the lanterns went up and now I just felt like lighting up some lanterns myself. We looked around until I finally found a big one lying unused and wasn’t torn. Ramesh found a vendor inside and bought another.

We decided to light up the bigger one first.

Ramesh Japanese girls Loi Krathong — These Japanese girls helped us light the big one as you need more than two hands to hold the lantern up — and take photos!

Ramesh Mithun Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Two or three minutes later, it was ready to float away

Mithun releasing lantern Chiang Mai — Made a wish, and then let go

Mithun Divakaran lantern Thai girl — We lit another one with this Thai girl, who was awfully kind to help us

But I later realized she was only helping us so we would finish up and leave. She was one among the many volunteers who immediately began cleaning up the venue.

Walking back, looking at all the volunteers cleaning up the grounds, putting out the lamps and clearing all the trash, I now understood why the organizers have started commercializing this festival. For over 20 years, this privately organized event grew into one of the most symbolic of Thai festivals in the eyes of many tourists. Heck, I’m sure this event is what inspired this scene in ‘Tangled‘!

Last year when they announced a separate event would be a paid event, that too with a US$100 entry fee (slashed to $80 this time), I scoffed at how greedy they had become. Of course, now they hold two – one free event and one ticketed event. But even this event had large sections of the ground cordoned off by tour groups, reserving the good spots for those who surely paid to attend this festival.

Still, I won’t blame them now. Just because it’s free for many of us, doesn’t mean there aren’t expenses. Somebody has to pay for the free ice-cold water, somebody’s got to pay for all the free plastic chairs they handed out to those who waited since afternoon. Not to mention, again, the hard-working volunteers cleaning up the entire venue and helping out with the various activities.

Will I attend this lantern festival again? Although I managed to get in early this time, I’m still not absolutely thrilled with the photos I took. I shot altogether over 440 photos today, but I only used a quarter of that for this post. Many came out blurred. I don’t entirely blame myself, because I did the best I could with my Canon 7D and 10-22mm f3.5 lens. Being surprised by the moments of amazement that took place before my very own eyes, it was hard to plan every shot. Trying to capture what your eyes see with a camera is always tricky. I would like to think had I got a full frame camera with the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 lens, I would have taken better photos. Then again… ‘shoulda, coulda, woulda’. We all have such thoughts after something has happened.

As we walked back to our waiting tuk-tuk driver, it was 8:45pm. But we were happy. Not for long though.

When we approached our driver, he had the look of displeasure on his face. He complained saying he’s been here for hours and we promised we would be out by 6pm (which we never did). I knew why he was acting this way and it soon came out. He demanded we pay 1000 baht instead of 600 baht. I refused, saying that was too much for a tuk-tuk ride. He said he would take us to the police station if we didn’t pay up. So I said “sure, go ahead” and got in.

I wasn’t afraid as this wasn’t the first time a local tried to pull this trick on me in Thailand.

Chinese tuk-tuk driver — I took his photo while we were stuck in the slow moving traffic outside the grounds

But then, strong winds started blowing. Blowing so hard it was toppling sign boards, chairs and other things off shops on the road side. Then came the loud sound of thunder. Then it began to rain. And how! It was pouring cats, dogs and any other animal you can throw at to describe a torrential downpour! Myself and Ramesh, although with a roof over out heads, were still getting wet with the heavy wind throwing water at us from all open sides. I tried to take my rain coat out of my camera bag but hesitated to move from the covering position I was in. Even opening up the rain coat was a challenge with the wet winds rendering it counter-productive even before I could use it as cover. My camera was getting wet too, so I needed to stuff that back in before it could take in any more water.

And just when you think bad weather in the midst of heavy traffic couldn’t make things any worse, our tuk tuk sputtered to a stop. Water got inside the spark plug making it hard for the driver to restart the vehicle. So yeah, we were stuck in the rain. Then the power went off all around us. Yup.

Ten minutes later, the vehicle restarted and we were off again. But given the driver had chosen to take the inner roads to hopefully skip traffic (or take us to the nearest police station), driving through puddled roads… the tuk tuk stopped again. For the same reason. We now had to wait longer. In the rain, in the dark, and with no clue where in Chiang Mai we were!

But the driver’s attitude changed by now. Although he complained of how cold he was (he was getting drenched too), the talk moved to light banter complaining about Thailand’s electricity cuts, calling it the worst in the world. We assured him there’s always India to make Thailand’s infrastructure look far superior. But as light as both our attitudes were by then, Ramesh and I couldn’t believe how our night was turning out to be. I couldn’t believe my drive back from the lantern festival could possibly make me sick again. We were shivering in the cold and prayed the tuk tuk would start again. It did, some 20 minutes later, and fortunately by then the rain had reduced to a drizzle. We asked the driver to avoid potholes and see if he could connect back to the main highway.

Funnily enough, all I kept thinking was how the rain could have possibly been caused by the development of hot air caused by the thousands of lanterns in the air from the Yeepeng Lanna grounds. It was as though god was pissed with all the fire we were sending up his way and he decided to wash us out with a massive downpour of water! But the driver told us he had heard in the weather report that there was a depression from Vietnam heading towards Thailand. Still, I think the hot air could have aggravated the rains.

Chiang Mai rain bikers — It was well past 10pm by the time we saw a highway. Ramesh could take his phone out to take this snap as I wanted some evidence of just how much it rained. Trust me, it was much worse when it began!

By the time we reached Chiang Mai city, it was 10:45pm. It took us two hours to get back, but what horrible two hours it was. We asked our driver to drop us near the Night Market as we just wanted to have some hot food before everything shut shop early because of the rains.

When it came time to pay him, we still gave him 700 baht feeling sorry for an old man shivering out at this time of the night when his wife kept calling asking him where he was.

It’s not that I have it usually, but we felt like having some rum or whiskey to warm our bodies. This was a moment when I craved hot Indian food too, and although available aplenty at the Night Market, most places were Muslim-run restaurants. Which meant we would get the food, but not the alcohol.

We just sat inside a popular restaurant and ordered everything. I desperately wanted to be done with dinner so I could run home to take a hot shower.

I wanted something hot and spicy to warm my body up but there was no Indian food on the menu. Instead, I tried Myanmar pork curry, which although tasted okay, ended up being gingery sweet. Not what I craved that night.

Done with dinner, shivering and soaking wet from head to toe, we walked back to our room and I quickly took a hot shower. It felt soooooo good.

Rux Thai twin room Chiang Mai Thailand — I tested my camera to see if everything worked fine. I know the 7D body is weather sealed, so it can handle the elements to a certain extent. But I was glad to know the lens and the motor all worked a-okay. (This is was our twin room at Rux thai Guesthouse by the way)

So that was my day. From hot and sunny in the morning, thrilling in the evening, to cold and rainy in the evening. I wasn’t even in the mood to look at the photos I took because it was well past midnight and we had a morning flight back to Bangkok where I had to attend SM Town III the next day. I had to sleep.

But I was still happy 🙂

P.S: Here’s a video Ramesh took when the lanterns were released into the air:

My 2010 Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai posts:

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Mythology Thai creature lantern Chiang Mai Loi Krathong decorations

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep

By Mithun Divakaran
/
May 19, 2011
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Chiang Mai, Thailand, Travel

Date: 19th November 2010

I arrived in Chiang Mai bus station at around 7am and took a taxi to get to Rux Thai Guesthouse which cost ฿80 (Rs. 118/$2.6/€1.8). Rux Thai is a place I stayed last year as well. It’s located just off Loi Kroh road, which is essentially Chiang Mai’s tourist-filled area with the Thapae Gate at one-end and Ping River at the other.

Since I was going to be spending 3 to 4 nights, they gave me a room I requested on the ground floor (because they don’t have a lift) for ฿450 as supposed to the rack rate of ฿490 (Rs. 700/$16/€11) — which includes Wi-Fi. No breakfast included, but they have a restaurant on the ground floor which offers a decent menu at reasonable prices.

Rux Thai restaurant American breakfast Chiang Mai — American breakfast costs ฿90 (Rs.133/$3/€2)

After a hot shower, I took a nap as I barely got any sleep in the bus (as is the norm for me in any bus journey). I got up as it neared lunch time, unpacked and took out all the camera equipment I had bought.

Camera equipment Sirui tripod Canon lens — Credit card abuse for 2010

Though I did test out the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lens and the tripod before I purchased them, I didn’t get to play around with them as much as I wanted.

Canon 7d 70-200 lens Sirui tripod ballhead test — The tripod & ball head can easily handle the weight of the Canon 7D and the lens

Rux Thai hotel lamp Chiang Mai — My first shot with the Canon 70-200

I loaded the equipment into my backpack and left the room at around 2pm.

Thai Kitchen Cookery Centre Vipa house Chiang Mai — This is Loikroh Lane 1 Road

Other budget hotels on this lane are Centerplace Guesthouse, where you get single rooms starting from 200 baht onwards. Vipa House (the one with yellow board pictured above) is right next to Centerplace and is priced about the same as Rux Thai. (Maybe I should check out Vipa next time).

Though there was a cookery class near Rux Thai, I had already booked myself into another cooking class (which was one of the things I would be doing in Chiang Mai).

I crossed Loi Kroh road and walked pointlessly through the alleyways on the other side.

Chiang Mai bicycles for rent dog — Lazing in the afternoon

Chiang Mai Wat Saen Fang temple Thapae gate — Wat Saen Fang (‘wat’ is Thai for ‘temple’)

Dirt bike rentals Chiang Mai Thapae road — You can rent these

Kawasaki superbike for rent Chiang Mai — But the more sexy the bike looks, the more expensive they are to rent

Thapae gate road fountain Chiang Mai — I walked all the way around and got to Kotchasarn Road

I chose to eat lunch at the same cosy small eatery I ate at last year.

Chiang Mai Food & Drink restaurant Thapae road — Run by a mother and daughter duo

Chiang Mai small eatery cheap food — It’s inexpensive and the food is good

Chiang Mai rice seafood dry meal Thailand — Spicy prawns and calamari with rice, ฿40 (Rs. 60/$1.3/€1)

After lunch, I rented a moped from the travel agent in front of Vipa House and decided to go on a drive around Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai Marijuana store Thailand — I highly doubt it

Chiang Mai canal Thapae gate road — I parked on the other side to click a few photos

Yi Peng festival announcement Billboard Chiang Mai — The poster (I’m guessing) was confirming that Loy Krathong celebrations were definitely November 20th to 22nd this year

Though, I did ask around to find out when exactly the release of the hundreds of lanterns at once was going to be. From research online, I did learn that the event was something that is held at some University grounds at a place called Mae Jo, but when I asked the people at Rux Thai, they weren’t sure about anything. (Communication is a bit of an issue in Thailand, despite how touristy this country is)

Chiang Mai gate Thailand — Chiang Mai gate

Chiang Mai Thapae gate floats — They had floats in the canals which children were riding and jumping off of

Chiang Mai city canal fountains — I got back on my bike and moved on

I planned to ride up Doi Suthep on the outskirts of the city, which wasn’t too far away. The route is quite simple really, plus I had done last year. Chiang Mai city isn’t as complex as say, Bangkok. As I got towards the road leading up to Doi Suthep hill, I stopped again to take photographs.

Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Chiang Mai campus — The name of this place? Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (try saying that fast)

I wanted to drive up the hill as I loved the ride last year. I wasn’t planning to drive all the way up to the temple, just up until the last view point before the temple.

Doi Suthep hill national park temple — Stopped at a small temple on the way

Chiang Mai Doi Suthep national park observation deck — There’s a small waterfall up here

Doi Suthep hill pro-cycling Chiang Mai — Doi Suthep is very popular among speed cyclists

Doi Suthep hill bike riders Chiang Mai — Bikers, cars, superbikes… you’ll see everybody enjoying the ride

This was my ride (฿200 for 24 hours)

Chiang Mai Doi Suthep cyclists — It was starting to get dark

Doi Suthep hill road corner turning panorama — Panorama comprised of 10 shots

It was at this hairpin bend that the viewpoint was located.

Doi Suthep hill view Chiang Mai sunset — You can’t actually see the sun set from this side

I set up the tripod because I knew I would be pitch dark soon.

Chiang Mai Doi Suthep full moon vertical panorama — It was a full moon

Chiang Mai full moon Thailand — Shot at 200mm & cropped

As it neared 7pm, I packed up and left the viewpoint. I drove back down and this time, I took my jacket with me… because last year, I froze! 🙂

Once back in the city, I parked on the side when I saw some beautiful decorations in front of Saun Dok Gate .

I headed back to Loi Kroh road.

After parking the bike in front of the hotel, I stepped out again, this time choosing to go by foot.

Chiang Mai Loi Kroh road Thailand — Walked down Loi Kroh road

Le Meridien Loi kroh road Chiang Mai Thailand — If you want your 5-star fix, there is Le Meridien

Changklan road restaurants Chiang Mai Thailand — At the end of Loi Kroh is Changklan road

Changklan road traffic Chiang Mai Thailand — Plenty of restaurants, hotels and stores here

Night bazaar clothes Chiang Mai — I walked to Chiang Mai’s night bazaar

Anusarn market Chiang Mai seafood restaurant — Plenty of good seafood restaurants here

Chiang Mai night market panorama — The night market sells the usual gamut of clothing, accessories and home decor

I wasn’t hungry and wanted to know where all the major Yi Peng celebrations in Chiang Mai would be. I was told that the major gathering point would be along Ping River.

Chiang Mai night street lamp — I walked away from the bustling crowds near the night market

Chiang Mai full moon night sky lanterns — I could already see lanterns in the sky

Chiang Mai cathedral at night — I ended up taking a turn back to a main road

Chiang Mai night empty streets — To be frank, after 15 minutes of walking, I didn’t know where I was

Ping Nakara boutique hotel spa Chiang Mai — Ping Nakara Boutique Hotel & spa

Wat Chaimongkol temple entrance Chiang Mai night — Walked towards this big temple

Wat Chaimongkol Thai devotees Loi krathong Chiang Mai — Devotees were slowly trickling in to the temple to float Krathongs

As I walked out, I saw a ‘roti’ vendor on the way out and decided to eat something as it was getting late.

Wat Chaimongkol roti vendor Chiang Mai — ‘Roti’ in Thailand is commonly referred to sweet pancake batter filled with banana and other fillings

As I walked back, I realized I took a much longer route as the temple itself was not to far from the night market.

Chiang Mai food garden Anusarn market — I just needed to walk through the food court and come out the other end

Chiang Mai night bridge light decorations — I walked to the bridges over Ping River

Chiang Mai Loi Krathongs ping river bridge Thai boys — Loi Krathong celebrations had already begun… for some

Chiang Mai Loy Krathong firecracker Thai students — Firecrackers are very much a part of the celebrations

Chiang Mai Loi Krathong ping river bridge crowds — I went from one bridge to another

Chiang Mai Loy Krathong Ping river bridge lights — There are several bridges all along Ping River

Chiang Mai Loi Krathong Thai youngsters — Chiang Mai’s youth were all out to enjoy the festivities

Chiang Mai Thais lining streets Loi Krathong — Lined all along the streets snacking, singing and having a few beers with their friends

Chiang Mai Loy Krathong people firecrackers — The banks of Ping river saw its share of revelers too

Chiang Mai Ping river pedestrian bridge night — Moved to another bridge

Chiang Mai Loy Krathong ping river bridge matchbox — No surprises there

Chiang Mai market Loi Krathong flowers on sale — Flowers, lots of flowers

Chiang Mai market Loi Krathong ping river bank — The markets were still bustling at this time

Chiang Mai market snacks for sale — Had to get down to ground level for a closer look

Chiang Mai market Lord Ganesha poster — Switched to the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 lens for the next few shots

Chiang Mai krathongs for sale Thailand — These are ‘krathongs’

Chiang Mai market Krathongs for sale — The base is made using a thick slice of banana plant stem

The Frenchman in the above photo and I got talking, though I don’t remember how the conversation got started. Maybe I was wearing my ‘It’s Football, Not Soccer‘ t-shirt which has my website’s logo at the back and so he gave me his blog’s domain as well.

Chiang Mai meat market Yi Peng festival rush — That is a *lot* of slain pigs

Chiang Mai paper lanterns for sale — Paper lanterns on sale (prices ranges from ฿20 to ฿60 depending on size)

I called it a night after this and headed back to my room.

Chiang Mai Loi Krathong Yi Peng city decorations — Can’t wait to see what the city has in store the next three days

I had my dinner from a rather nice joint on the same lane as Rux Thai. Lovely pork spring rolls and a can of beer (came to ฿200). I hit the sack early because I needed more sleep. Tomorrow was going to be any early morning, for I had to get ready to learn how to make Thai curry!

Next posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

Previous post in this series:

Thailand 2010: Arriving in Bangkok and preparing for Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai