by Brian Ciccotelli | Nov 17, 2013 | Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Well that was crazy. We walked over from our hotel (by the way, we're staying at the FX Hotel Royal Panerai - it's awesome and it's absolutely perfectly located for all the Yi Peng/Loi Krathong celebrations) to the river where we saw a bunch of people gathering for the festivities. We planted ourselves by a [...]
by Brian Ciccotelli | Nov 17, 2013 | Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand
We started the day off at church. We just did sacrament and then took off to explore Chiang Mai. We went back to the hotel and changed and then took the moto up to Doi Suthep. This is a temple up on a hill out west of the city limits. It takes about an hour [...]
by Brian Ciccotelli | Nov 17, 2013 | Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Because it's so difficult to find the information that actually helps, here it all is, in one place. First, a little background.Yi Peng and Loi Krathong are two different holidays, held on the same weekend. Loi Krathong happens all over Thailand. Loi Krathong literally means "floating lantern" or "floating basket" and you can see people [...]
by Brian Ciccotelli | Nov 16, 2013 | Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand
I can show you pictures and videos and tell you every little detail about Yi Peng in Chiang Mai, but nothing you find online could ever do it justice. This is something everyone needs to experience for themselves. This festival was the reason we came to Asia in the first place. After seeing Tangled... ...we [...]
by Brian Ciccotelli | Nov 15, 2013 | Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Today, we had one mission: practice shooting floating lanterns in low light so we don't screw up tomorrow. We've read reviews of the Mae Jo Lantern Release for Yi Peng/Loi Krathong and it all happens at once and it's so fast and if you don't get it right the first time, you don't get a [...]
by Brian Ciccotelli | Nov 14, 2013 | Asia, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Today we took a VIP bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. And it was amazing. The bus took off from Mo Chit, which we're getting pretty good at by now. Basically, you have three choices when taking the bus from BKK to Chiang Mai. 1. VIP bus ($25 US) during the day; 2. VIP bus [...]