Krathongs... day two of Loy Krathong

Besides the fireworks and floating lanterns (post to come) there is the making and floating of the Krathongs. I love this festival! Krathongs are made out of banana stalks, banana leaves, and flowers. With the addition of incense, candles and money if you're gonna do it the right way. These floating rafts are meant to float away and take with them all of your bad luck so that you can start anew. At the same time that you're sending off your bad luck you also pray to the river God and apologize for any pollution you may be creating.

Jeremy and I made our Krathongs at the guesthouse with help from Nuy. It's still hard for me to get used to the fact that orchids are abundant here and can be used for decorations. Almost every iced drink I've purchased here has been decorated with an orchid.

We floated our Krathongs rather fast as there were some young kids near us lighting off crazy fireworks. You can hear Jeremy saying "ahhhhhhhhhhhhh" in response. We actually ran away at the end to avoid a firework mishap.