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| One of the Groups in the Parade (a local K-8 School, but not Flowery) |
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| Wonderful exotic costumes & music from these guys |
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| Dozens of krathong floating on the Mekong River, with Laos in the background |
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| One of the largest floats in the parade, later to be lauched on the Mekong with great fanfare |
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| Parade watchers...some of whom chose not to sit too close to the farangs |
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| This drummer offered David the opportunity to share his dinner; David politely decline, but thanked him profusely & had a nice chat with him |
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| So who stands out of this crowd of Northern Thai lovelies? |
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| A dancer accompanied by her fuzzy white buddy, who later danced all over the street nearby |
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| Moon over the Mekong River, with a time delayed image of many "kratongs" floating by |
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| An experienced drummer teaching a neophyte how to do it "northern Thai style" |
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| On the day after the official Loy Krathong festival, we drove from our house about 30 minutes north to the Mekong River port town of Chiang Saen. This is a very old city, with remains of temples and fortifications dating back to the 9th century. We expected just to visit the sights, but found ourselves literally in the midst of their annual Loy Krathong parade/festival. What a scene it was! Hill tribese in full regalia and local women in beautiful matching Thai silk or cotton outfits, each group representing their local tambon (a group of about 10 rural villages). We had a great chat with the local postmaster as we sat together on the curb waiting for the parade to begin. We saw hundreds of "krathongs" set afloat on the Mekong. We also saw many "kom loi" lighted and sent aloft, each one seemingly about to burn down its launchers and perhaps the whole town. After the parade we had a dinner of rice and roast duck from a very local (underline the word very...) restaurant on the main street, having first eyeballed all the other culinary options available. (We saw only one or two other "farang" [westerners] during the whole evening.) |
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