Yi Peng and Loy Krathong

Looking up into the sky at Yi Peng in Chiang Mai, Thailand has to be one of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen. Nearly 10,000 paper lanterns flood the night sky with light as they float silently away, carrying the hopes and prayers of the people watching from below. Wave after wave of lanterns are released and as the first finally drift out of sight, the newer ones take their place. It's complete chaos on the ground - people calling for torches, trying to be patient as their lanterns fill with hot air, dodging the unsuccessful launches, laughing with one another at the sight of it all. But, in the sky, thousands of lanterns dance together in perfect harmony.

Yi Peng is a festival found only in Chiang Mai, corresponding with the nation-wide holiday Loy Krathong, which is celebrated each year around the full moon of the 12th month of the lunar cycle. Loy Krathong has been one of Thailand's biggest festival for centuries, meant to honor Buddha and praise the water goddess for the year's abundance. In addition to the lanterns, people release floating candles on rivers and waterways. The ceremony is meant to purge you of negativity and darkness and if your float or lantern drifts out of site with the flame still lit, it's a sign of good luck for the year to come. It was total luck that we were in the area at the end of November (full moon was on Nov. 28 in 2012), but once that lined up, we dug into research about the best way to participate. Yi Peng was an obvious choice but really hard to get solid information about. The date changes every year and they host two separate events - a free one for locals and a separate international festival that costs $80. For obvious reasons, the international festival is widely promoted and even has its own dedicated website with all the information you could ever need. On the other hand, information on the free, local event is pretty much non-existent with the exception of a wonderful resource... Travel blogs. Since we found the information on blogs so incredibly helpful, here's a quick rundown of our Yi Peng experience for anyone looking to attend a future festival. If not, there's plenty more pretty pics to enjoy here.

Local vs. International. Up to you, but for us, the free/local event is the way to go. It's more authentic, but still visitor friendly and even had announcements in English so we knew what was going on the whole time. I think the biggest difference in this versus the paid international event is that the latter includes buses to the event site and a gift bag of Lanna keepsakes.

Dates. The dates for the local event are typically not posted until close to the event itself. BUT, historically, it's been the weekend prior to the full moon. For example, in 2012 the full moon was on Nov. 28 and Yi Peng (local) was on Nov. 24. The international event was the weekend after (Nov. 30).

Location & How to Get There. Yi Peng is held at the Lanna International Center, behind Mae Jo University, outside of Chiang Mai. To get there, go down by the river just past the markets in Chinatown in Chiang Mai and look (or ask) for a green songtauw. Tell the driver Mae Jo University. Once the songtauw fills up, it's about 45 minutes to your stop. Get off, and then walk or hop another songtauw through the university to the event site. Once you're at the university, you'll see people heading that way - just follow them. And, it's likely that other travelers or Thais in your songtauw will be going to the event too.

Lanterns. There will be plenty of opportunities to buy lanterns as soon as you get off the songtauw, all the way to the event site. Wait until you're inside to buy them directly from the official event. Outside lanterns will not be allowed in, plus buying them direct is a donation to the monks that put on the event.

Getting Out. This was the worst part. It's unorganized and overcrowded. Be patient and try to leave a little early to avoid the cattle drive. There will be songtauws waiting outside, but they'll charge you up to 10 times what you paid to get there. Up to you whether you want to pay for a quick, guaranteed ride or take your chances closer to the road.

Trekking With Chang in Chiang Mai

With most of the crew heading back to the states, Brendan, Steph and I jumped a flight to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Counter to the beaches, sand and sun of the south, Chiang Mai promised mountains, culture and cooler temps. The city delivered on the first two in a big way. As for the weather, we are convinced that Thailand's "cool season" is the longest running international scam in history. If there is one, we haven't found it. Maybe they just keep that rumor out there to get you to book your flight. Once you're here, you'll fall in love with it despite the 99 degree days and 100 percent humidity and learn to live with it.

Steph had three requests for the North: elephants, trekking and "gritty" travel. While we did get fancy and fly to Chiang Mai from Phuket (expensive, but saves time versus the overnight train or buses through Bangkok), sitting on the floor of the Koh Lanta public ferry for three hours with luggage piled around us was a bit more in line with our typical "style" of transportation. First class, all the way. As for the other two, a day excursion booked through Trekking Collective gave us all that and more, thanks to our guide Chang (which also coincidentally is the Thai word for Elephant).

Chang is a Bangkok native, now living in Chiang Mai and working as a partner in the Trekking Collective, an ethical trekking company that puts custom treks together for private groups (we highly recommend it). He's probably about 60, but treks up to 6 days a week and has a childlike enthusiasm for nature, especially orchids. His excitement was contagious and his quirks - like talking to himself, scolding himself for taking a wrong turn or adding the Thai ending "kop" to every English word - were endearing and entertaining. And his stories were legendary. From trekking down from the Burmese border to raising wild cats in his Chiang Mai home, he is a fountain of random tales and tidbits. He picked us up in the morning in his Nissan 4-Runner (trust me, it was a 4-Runner, but not a Toyota) and after a quick stop at the market for ingredients for lunch, we headed out of town to the Mae Song Valley, about an hour outside Chiang Mai.

Thailand and elephants have a long history and tourism is one of the main modern industries for domesticated elephants. We, like many, struggled with the decision to visit an elephant camp. Is it ethical? Are we perpetuating the problem (supply and demand)? How are the elephants treated? Why can't they be free? Would they be if people like us didn't need to jump on their backs for a ride in the jungle? So many questions and conflicting feelings led to a long conversation with Trekking Collective on the the realities of life for elephants in Thailand, elephant tourism and the right ways (or at least not the wrong ways) to get involved. The fact is that without tourism, many of these elephants would be employed in hard labor jobs (logging is now illegal in Thailand, but was the main use for domesticated elephants for many years), would find themselves homeless or "begging in the streets," and would be unable to fend for themselves in the wild. Plus, there are people whose livelihoods rely on the work of an elephant (think farmers back in the day with oxen or horses), so there is an interesting human side to the story as well. However, and this is a big caveat, there are a lot of bad operators and companies out there who mistreat and misuse the elephants. They work them too long, too hard or when they are sick. All because there are people lined up at the door to see the show or take a ride. It is so important to find a good company, camp or conservation center to support if you want to spend time with elephants in SE Asia. The Trekking Collective uses Mae Song Elephant Camp who only work their elephants 4 hours a day and only offer full day programs during low season. Long story long, since we trusted Chang and Trekking Collective, we signed up for an elephant ride and, as you can tell from the pictures, loved every minute. There is something so sweet and special about these gentle giants and being able to spend even a brief time with them was so rewarding.

After the ride, we took a cage over the river (weird, but true... I felt like we were in Robinhood) and started our trek. It was hot. We were sweaty. But Chang's energy, constant stories and the beautiful scenery kept us going. And there were frequent breaks when Chang spotted a new orchid that he had not seen before or that was showing up for the first time this season. He would whip out his video recorder and capture the flower to investigate later (and then talk to himself about it for five minutes). After about 2.5 hours of walking uphill, we arrived at a village where Chang and the homeowner prepared us lunch over a traditional village stove, a clay pot with coals. Luckily for us, and despite the fact that he'll never admit it, Chang is an excellent cook. He says it only tastes good when you're really hungry, hence the trekking. But, his mother was a cook in Bangkok when he was growing up and his comfort in front of the fire is a dead giveaway that he has food in his genes. He even added some drama with, "Prepare your cameras!" before flames flew up from the pan. We ate in the family's kitchen/living room/ bedroom and then relaxed on the porch with panoramic views of the valley. The hike ended with a quick dip in the waterfall and a sleepy drive home to the city. We were beat, but happy from our time with Chang - the man and the elephants.

Chiang Mai Firsts

Chiang Mai is a mix of old and new, east and west, traditional and modern. It is the capital of Lanna (Northern Thailand) and therefore plays a very important role in the culture of the region, but it's also a University town, bringing a fun, youthful energy into the mix. What it makes for is a laid-back, friendly city with interesting, creative people and places. It actually reminds us a lot of Austin, with a little more history.

Food plays a huge role here, which for us is always a good thing. It's as diverse as the population and while we did have to test out the SE Asian Tex-Mex at "El Diablo," the more traditional Northern Thai dishes are the ones worth writing home about. The street food is excellent and the locals are friendly and always willing to give you a taste - even if it's right off their plate. We had a group of Thais treat us to fried bananas after giving us bites of one of their own - granted, we were staring at it trying to figure out if it was a corn dog! One dish, in particular changed our lives forever. Khao Soi is typically a lunch-only dish, made with egg noodles and either chicken or pork in a savory coconut base (like a curry), topped with crispy fried noodles, lime, raw onion and pickled cabbage. Trekking Collective gave us the heads up on a small, unmarked coffee shop / Khao Soi guru just outside the Chiang Mai gate. We ate there three times during our stay and it would have been five if she hadn't been sold out on two of our visits.

From traditional Thai food to traditional Thai entertainment, we also caught our first Muay Thai fight in Chiang Mai. Muay Thai is similar to kickboxing, with more ritual. We got roped into the extremely touristy version of the traditional sport, complete with English announcers and a welcome drink. Always the tourist snobs, we were disappointed to see that the only locals were the coaches and fighters, but we had ringside seats and big beers and soon were up, yelling for our fighter with the rest of the Farangs. It's actually a really beautiful and brutal sport. Before each fight, the fighters walk the perimeter of the ring, running their gloves along the ropes to bless the space. They then perform a series of stretches, dance moves and bows to honor the sport, ring and other fighter. Then, the fighting starts. And, touristy or not, it was real. The fighters are well-trained athletes and are a lot tougher than they look. One of the perhaps not-so-traditional aspects was the "half-time show" when about seven of the "B Team" fighters came into the ring, were blindfolded and then beat the shit out of each other for 10 minutes. It will go down as one of the strangest things we've seen in Asia (along with two dogs we saw who were stuck together, butt-to-butt). At the end of the night's fights, we got to go in the ring and practice our moves which turned into another hilarious side show of tourists throwing drunk punches and off-balance kicks at one another.

Another show and first for us in Chiang Mai was the infamous lady-boy cabaret. Men in different stages of their transformation to become female dress up and lip-sync popular Western hits and show tunes. It's surprisingly very family friendly and we had such a fun time. Brendan was a good sport, even reaching into our "waitress's" cleavage to get his drink and collect our change while she/he flirted shamelessly with him. I spent most of the show looking for bulges (couldn't help myself) and admiring the ladies' toned bodies, perfect make-up and over-the-top outfits. It was definitely drag at its best, but with more believable ladies. Go girl!

On the opposite side of the fence and in the light of day, we also had some spiritual firsts in Chiang Mai, including a candid conversation with a Cambodian monk and being blessed by an elder in one of the holiest temples in Thailand, Doi Suthep. The mix of traditional and modern influences in Chiang Mai is really apparent in the temples and especially at the Buddhist University, where monks and novices invite foreigners to join them for informal chats in between their daily duties and studies. The point of the conversations is two-fold. One, to share knowledge about Buddhism, Thai culture snd the lives of monks to curious Westerners. And two, to practice their English and learn more about the Western world. Kosal, the 18-year-old Cambodian monk that we sat with was a great example of the old-world and new. He was so excited to hear that Steph worked at Facebook and mentioned that he had a page, but couldn't be friends with girls. Since monks are not allowed to come into contact with women (touching), Steph and I kept a respectful distance, and promised not to stalk him on the FB. While we were sitting with him, Kosal pointed out a group of monks who turned out to be lady boys! He explained that that is possible only in Thailand, Cambodia and other close countries would never be so tolerant. Just another reason to love this country.

Up on the mountain at Doi Suthep, we joined hundreds of Western and Thai visitors at Wat Phra That. The Wat is beautiful to look at and is considered one of the most holy temples in Thailand. It was built when a Buddha statue broke in half and, by a miracle, one of the halves was as large as the original whole. To honor the miracle and choose the perfect location to house the special statue, it was placed on the back of a sacred white elephant, who climbed up the mountain before stopping and circling clockwise three times to designate the chosen spot. Now, to honor the temple, visitors can walk three times clockwise around the original chedi, chanting a sacred song and offering blessings. Somewhat by chance, we ended up inside one of the alters, being summoned by an elder monk to come close and kneel. He then started chanting and showering (not sprinkling) us with holy water as a blessing. A little wet, but very honored to be a part of the ceremony, we received a white string tied around our right wrists to recognize and remind us of the blessing.

We stayed in Chiang Mai longer than any other Thai city and never got tired of it. It's unique culture, flair and flavors have made it one of our favorite cities in Thailand.