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Thailand is a land of enchanting and exotic tastes for foreign guests as I was to find out when I experienced the Water Festival of Loi Kathong on the island of Ko Chang.

Ko Chang

In October 2003, the travel bug seriously bit me. The signs and symptoms led me to sell my business, pack a little backpack with needed items and roll into Los Angeles International Airport with a key credit card and an attitude. A few days later, I was in Thailand and headed for the island of Ko Chang, situated close to the border with Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand.

Ko Chang is a heavily forested island with little towns full of beach huts. This is what I was exactly what I was after. Spending days lounging in the sun and contemplating my navel. Sadly, I soon experienced the neighborhood bacteria, which was not what I was immediately after.

Considering that I had rented my beach hut for a week with payment in advance, the household running the place looked me upon favorably. They took pity on me and I was soon developing fat on Tom Yom Kung and other soups and curries. Following 4 days, I had finally kicked the bug and felt halfway human. This was excellent news as it was the night of the complete moon water festival.

I had heard of full moon festivals in Thailand. For tough partying tourists, this was apparently the night the massive beach parties occurred. In Ko Chang, it was a little diverse as the night was tailored to the actual Thais, not tourist.

The Loi Kathong Festival occurs each complete moon. Offerings are given to appease the water spirits. These offerings come in the form of banana leaf bowls with flowers, fruit, candles and incense. The candles and incense are lit and everybody heads down the beach and starts placing them in the water. It is 1 of the much more incredible light shows you will ever see and beats Las Vegas hands down. Thousands, and I mean thousands, of tiny lights bobbing on the surface of the smooth ocean.

Immediately after the bowls comes 1 of the most visually remarkable issues Ive ever seen. Every person is familiar with the paper lanterns used in Asia. Usually, they come in the form of a rectangle form with a bamboo or light wire frame. Really well-liked with college students given that they are cheap and look greater than a bare light bulb.

For the festival, Thais would take these paper lanterns and close off the best. They would then affix a modest this paper plate to the bottom with a candle on it. Light the candle, wait for the heat to do its function and they had an instant hot air balloon. When the lanterns could float, you just let go and off the slowly went more than the ocean. It was a sight to see as there had been thousands of them floating more than the water.

As the festival wound down, the ocean had been transformed. The air was full of gracefully floating lanterns whilst the water itself was dotted with slowly bobbing points of light.

If you intend to travel to Thailand, make confident you schedule your trip about a complete moon. It is a scene youll by no means neglect. small blue arrow like like