Land of Smiles: 2013

Pu Chee Fa is located in the mountains near the Thailand - Laos border at an elevation of about 4500 feet. I had been there a year ago to take pictures but was thwarted by heavy fog. The road to and from is steep, but in between it's a very easy and scenic drive. There are plenty of places to stay, with prices ranging from 500 to 1500 baht. There isn't much to do except relax and enjoy the people and the scenery.

The graph below shows the elevation change from Pu Chee Fa all the way to my home in Chiang Mai. Strangely, I have mixed units of measure, with feet for elevation and kilometers for distance. Anyway, you get the picture. Check out the decent on the left side of the graph - you almost need a parachute to exit Pu Chee Fa.

Sunset on my first night at Pu Chee Fa. I had fun changing the camera settings, trying to get different effects.

Looking north from Pu Chee Fa toward the Mekong River

High enough for pine trees, but not to high for banana trees.

Once you make the initial climb up the mountain much of the road just meanders pleasantly.

Sunset on the second evening at Doi Pa Thong.

Picture taken from my hotel early in the morning.

I took the long way back home on a road that skirts the Mekong River. I rested at this sala, looking across the river to Laos.

Mekong River

Long boat, or slow boat on the Mekong River. These are passenger boats that make stops along the river in both Thailand and Laos.

So, what do hill tribe kids do for fun and games?

Those are empty beer bottles on the ground. You balance the mouth of one bottle on the mouth of another. But that's child play. Next, you toss tiny pebbles onto the inverted bottom of the bottle. Whoever can place the most pebbles before the bottles topple over wins the game.

Loi Krathong (also written as Loy Krathong or Loy Gratong) is a festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand and certain parts of Laos and Burma (in Shan State).The name could be translated "Floating Crown" or "Floating Decoration", and comes from the tradition of making buoyant decorations which are then floated on a river.

Loi Krathong festival is a Thai tradition which has been held since the middle of the eleventh to the middle of the twelfth lunar month, which is a great flood season, especially on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month. When the moon shines at night, it makes the rivers clear and beautiful , which is suitable for floating Krathong. Nowadays, Thai people usually prepare natural materials to make Krathong. For example, they use banana trunk and lotus to make a beautiful krathong, then put stick candle, incense stick, and flowers in the krathong. They always ask for good luck in the future and forgiveness. At the temples and tourist places, they hold contests of making krathong. There are many shows and exciting fireworks at night. The fireworks go on and on, and people new to Thailand might think they have entered a war zone. If you’d like to know more here’s a link that would be of interest:

http://chiangmaibest.com/loy-krathong-yee-peng/

There are a lot of pictures in this post; some interesting, some obligatory. I’ve separated them into groups to make it easier for those who may not interested in the whole show, but want to see pictures of themselves.

Decorating

Getting the village ready for the festival involves a trip to the forest for bamboo and leaves.

Construction of the gate begins.

Elders give direction to the village youth. There is no sassing back.

Mr. Sohm working hard. See the slingshot tucked into his pants? That's how you keep dogs at bay in Thailand. Sohm is an excellent shot.

Building a gate is hard work, even if you're just taking pictures. We took a lot of breaks.

M-150 is a popular energy drink here, similar to Red Bull. And the bottles can be recycled into lamps to light the road to the gate.

One lamp ready to use.

The lamps will be placed on the tops of these sticks to light the way to the gate.

Traffic

The Loi Krathong Festival is celebrated in many places. A large and popular ceremony is held at a wat near the village. Ordinarily a sleepy place, it was like downtown for the festival. We rode motor scooters and parked at a friends house and then walked the rest of the way, approximately 2km.

They come in cars and motor scooters...

... they come by van...

...and they come by bus.

Night Time

Some lanterns being released at dusk.

It was a beautiful full moon evening with light cloud cover.

The road to the wat borders an irrigation canal. Zillions of people don't bother trying to get in for the ceremony, they just float their lanterns from the roadside.

How many people were in attendance for the ceremony I can't say for sure, but based on my experiences of attending football games, I'd estimate the crowd size to be somewhere around 20,000. We couldn't find an open piece of ground to sit, and since more and more people were arriving we decided to watch from the outside.

At exactly 8PM there was a massive release of lanterns.

So this is how it's done. A group of people, family and friends, hold the lantern aloft while the candle in ignited.

As hot air fills the lantern it's time to say your prayer and make your wish.

Let your prayers and wishes float to heaven.

Successful launch.

You can add fireworks to your lantern to give it a boost. It will ascend faster, if it doesn't burst into flames first.

Fireworks are a big part of celebrations in Thailand.
These rockets are especially popular.
You light the fuse and wiggle the gun to
get the firecracker seated deep inside the barrel.