SAWADEE PI MAI!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
New Year's Eve in Chiang Mai was an incredible experience for us. After 23 years of hosting NYE celebrations in Fairbanks - with our candle-filled house looking beautiful, bonfire roaring outside, ice lanterns & fireworks, kids in snowsuits & boots jumping on the trampoline, it was an oddly emotional thing for us to be here & not there with our friends & family seeing in the New Year.
We missed you all!
Soon after I finished posting my pre-new year's blog - about 9:15, we went out onto our hotel balcony, 4th floor, & saw the sky dotted with gorgeous floating fire lanterns. We turned & said to each other 'Let's get out there!' Loud music was blasting from the Gate stage, firecrackers of all sizes were popping constantly & the crowd was jazzed as we headed down the lane from our hotel & into the fray - the excitement was intoxicating! People were streaming into the center of the party from all directions, but we headed the other way, down to an area where lots of people were buying & lighting the lanterns, and patiently waiting for them to fill with hot air before releasing them to the night sky.
Couples, friends & family groups were sending off lanterns with their wishes for the New Year.
As some lanterns went up, they got caught in a tree or an electric wire. The crowd would groan, call out encouragement 'C'mon! Keep going!' and then cheer & whoop as it broke free & continued to rise into the sky. Such an enchanting sight!
Some lanterns had the addition of a sparkly firework that was lit at the last moment as it was released, giving the lantern a fiery tale as it headed skyward.
The lanterns are so lovely as they fill with hot air & then float up into the sky! Throughout the evening, we saw literally thousands & thousands of them being sent up into the darkness - what a beautiful sight! I'm having fun taking videos with my little camera - this one came out great! I wish I could have filmed the whole evening - everything was so interesting & beautiful! Sorry this is sideways tho - I'll try to remember not to do that again!
Eventually, we wandered towards the crowd-filled Gate plaza to see what was happening there. Costumed people were spilling out of bars drinking beer on the street, fireworks were for sale to young & old...
Now, here's a scary sight, yikes!
The road on the far side of the Gate plaza was closed off for the night & the whole area was filled with people! Four huge double-sided projection screens made for easy viewing of the entertainment on the big stage.
We were carried in on a small rivulet of people moving thru the crowd & eventually got to the far side. Along the way we watched some of this beautiful scene - I think they were acting out a Thai folk tale.
So many people & no Porta-potties...
then we noticed these Toilet-trucks!
At 11:30 we decided to head back to our hotel - we'd heard that the roof is the perfect place to be for the countdown & to watch the firework displays. On the way we found this old gal again! Remember her Christmas wheels? Check out this chopper - ever seen so many studs? This thing has lights on it like you wouldn't believe when you see it coming down the street!! Boy, is she a piece of work - we're dying to know her story!
Up on the roof, the sight was just incredible! We were overlooking the stage from behind & altho we couldn't see the show, we could see the strobe lights flashing, clouds billowing from the smoke machines & lots of spotlights illuminating the whole area. Firecrackers were popping & screaming from all over the place, & the fire lanterns were rising & drifting in the air currents. We had a very wide view that couldn't be beat & it was spectacular!
We were joined by a group of friends from the hotel - here's Ellie preparing to let her lantern go...
And then, the fireworks started! Wow - they are as hard to take pictures of as they are to describe! They were rising into the sky & bursting into bloom from areas all around the city - from rooftops of the big hotels, parks along the river, along the moat & really... anywhere & everywhere, and it went on & on!
Our friends pulled us into their circle, we crossed our arms, held hands & sang 'Auld Lang Syne'. It was sweet & lovely & very touching!
Very close to us, some very big fireworks went up, exploded into huge bursts of layers of color & pattern, then the BOOM! the report that you could feel enter the top of your head & zing down to your toes - so wild & exciting - we were all screaming!
Being on the street watching so many people send off their lanterns, getting caught up in the huge crowd & watching all the activity from our rooftop spot overlooking the city was a wonderful, fantastic, overwhelming experience, a New Year's Eve like no other, full of lovely sights, craziness & wild excitement.
We love our parties at home with 50 or 60 friends, but this time we partied with 10 - 15,000 people - and this celebration started on Dec 25, crescendoed New Year's Eve & continued on thru January 4th!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO US ALL!! 2009! WOW!
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