Loy Krathong!

So tonight was the night of Loy Krathong! I met with Casandra early in the day, we watched the Loy Krathong parade (I'll add photos tomorrow). Then I brought her back to the house (we named the crocodile, by the way: Jarrakair. Thai for crocodile) and we went with the family to a very crowded Nonthaburi pier. There was a night market, and we got "American fried rice" and the family bought us Krathongs.

And then we got on a boat that sat very low in the water (Smile reassured us, "it's okay, there no crocodiles. But we have big fish size of rhinoceros" We kept our hands and feet firmly inside the vehicle), and the boat took us into the middle of the river, where we released our Krathongs. The Krathong is made of a slice of banana tree trunk (well, traditionally it is - a lot of them are made from polystyrene now), decorated with palm leaves, flowers, a candle and incense sticks, and you release it into the river as an offering to the water gods, to ask forgiveness for polluting the waterways and also for good luck over the coming year. I'm not sure how the water gods feel about people polluting the river as a way of apologising for polluting the river; their comments are not recorded.

So, after we released our krathongs, the family went home and Catz and I went to meet up with the other i-to-i teachers at the floating bar.

And then I had to try and get home. Last time I got a taxi it was no trouble - I just flagged one down at the clock tower. Oh wait, the main street's closed to traffic for the market. So I start walking. It's a really long street. About halfway along I recognise some of my students, and they call me, "Teacher! Teacher!" and make me buy some coconut milk for 10baht. Eventually I reach the end of the road and after about half an hour of trying to hail a taxi, the third one I flag down agrees to take me (the first two just shook their heads when I told them where I wanted to go). But I made it. Time to thunk into bed.