Today was a full moon and therefore the most important day of the Yee Peng Festival. We had 2 important tasks to accomplish before sunset. First, we needed to find the perfect Krathong or handmade boat. Next, we needed to buy a few light lanterns to release tonight in the sky. Easy enough right?
We started by wandering in Chiang Mai and visited a few street markets. We didn't spot the perfect boat, so we carried on further. We passed by a school where children were sitting outside, taking a group picture with their creation - a lovely Krathong. Maybe we should have built our own? It was too late to craft something, so we headed to the main bridge where tonight celebrations were kicking off, hoping to find our floating boat. And we found many. A dozen of stalls were crafting boat made of leave and wood of banana trees. Thai building hundred of boat for tonight celebration. We pick and bought a winner that would bring us good luck.
The first task accomplished; we found a nice restaurant to celebrate. As we were too early, we had to drink a beer at the nearby Hard Rock Cafe. The food was delicious as always in Thailand.
With a full belly, we set off to buy our light lantern. Surprisingly, we couldn't find them that easily but the Chinese market was our saviour.
Equipped with a boat and the lanterns we returned to the bridge to release and celebrate with hundreds of locals and tourists. The release of hundreds of lanterns in the sky was magical.