Ever seen photos of Thailand’s Loi Krathong festival, with thousands of lanterns floating up in the air or down the river? Well, I was in Bangkok this November and got a chance to experience the real thing!
Imagination (based on other people’s photos).
Me watching the lanterns at Bangkok’s Loi Krathong festival, sort of…
There are some amazing photos out there of this festival; mine are not among them. In fact, the closest I got to the event as it existed in my mind was at the airport, where they had an interactive panel, and I got my only real shot of the lanterns.
The website for the company that provided the ‘put yourself in the picture’ panel is www.sharetheworldpleasure.com.
Reality
After dinner we tried to take the ferry to Asiatique, supposedly THE place to view the festival. Every ferry that came by was filled to the rafters (literally) and they wouldn’t let us load. The scene was pure pandemonium.
Finally a half empty ferry arrived and we were off. But when we went to land at Asiatique, there were queues of boats all trying to land at the same time, and huge waves, and on the land, a zillion people piled up on top of each other, all trying to get a glimpse of the festival. With all the waves the poor little lanterns floating down the river were almost immediately swamped – nothing at all like the photos we had seen of the event.
the floating lanterns swamped by passing boats
And the lanterns in the air were really far away!
lanterns at Bangkok’s Loy Krathong Festival
Still it was a great evening, even though it was nothing at all like I expected.
For more on this challenge: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/photo-challenge-perspective/
Albatz Travel Adventures 
Fantastic. Beautiful work. Blessings and continued success to you. Michele
Thank you!
You’re most welcome. 🙂
An excellent take on the challenge 🙂 It sounds exactly like big events in London… its hard to get anywhere near enough to see anything! Best views are usually at home on the sofa
Definitely the best views are at home, especially if it’s raining or cold… still, actually being there and experiencing all that energy made it worthwhile, and I did finally get my shot of the lanterns at the airport!
Indeed, and it’s a great photo 🙂
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective | Light Words·
We have a winner 😀
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge – Perspective – Climbing with Ivy |·