My Tangled Moment in Chiang Mai

I’ve always wanted to see floating lanterns in person like the one in the movie Tangled. I honestly never thought I’d get the chance. The last time I searched about it (6 years ago), the travel was hard and I was very specific about one thing: if I was going to see the lanterns, it had to be thousands of them released at the same time. Which meant Yi Peng Festival in Chiang Mai or nothing. Fast forward to last year, I found myself in Chiang Mai… not only watching the lanterns float, but flying one on my own. It still feels unreal when I think about it.

Traditionally, releasing a lantern is about letting go of bad luck, worries, things that weigh you down and welcoming clarity, good fortune, and new beginnings. You’re supposed to make a quiet wish as it rises, like you’re sending something heavy away and trusting the sky to take it.

Did I know any of this beforehand? Absolutely not. I didn’t research the meaning or cultural significance at all until I arrived to Thailand. My inner child had one goal and one goal only: to see glowing things float in the sky. That was the whole plan.

As expected, there’s alot of people. Its usually hard to romanticize things or connect to a place or an experience when there’s alot of people around (for me). But I still tried. I wandered around the venue, looked through booths, searched for souvenirs, tried to feel something.

There was a section where you could learn how to make Krathongs and other handmade stuff, but it was always full. There’s also a part where you can get a massage but the line is also long so I just looked through stores that sells handmade crafts and other things. There’s this one store that sells handmade notebooks and I found a notebook that is really good, like the moment I saw it my eyes instantly twinkled. I bought one for my sister and one extra because I really like the design.

When I think I may have seen all the corners of the venue, I walked towards the food area and found the place where people float Loy Krathongs. I tried floating one myself. I’m still not entirely sure if the river was real or man-made. At the end of it, you can see where all the Krathongs went.

Around 4pm I went to the food area. There’s only few people there yet. I tried almost every food there. My favorites were the Thai basil stir-fry and som tam. I loved the basil stir-fry so much that I tried to recreate it at home. There’s also a donut-looking dessert that tasted like a mix of pilipit or buchi buchi, its weirdly comforting and familiar.

After eating and resting, I walked around again. By then it was night, the lights were on and everything looked aggressively IG-able.

Then an announcement played, telling everyone to go to their seats because the program was about to start. At the beginning of the program, I suddenly felt like crying because of the sound. Its sad and it also made me feel nostalgic in a way that I couldn’t explain. I think they played that sound because they’re mourning the death of Queen Sirikit. It completely caught me off guard. My throat tightened, my eyes filled up, and I was sitting there, asking myself, why am I emotional right now?

Flying a lantern is way harder than it looks, by the way. I thought it would be easy. When I tried lighting mine, the paper in the middle burned up and I panicked because I thought I ruined it. I wondered if I’ll be able to light the lantern up after that. I was so focused in trying to light the lantern and then on my peripheral vison I saw lanterns rising to the sky all at once and my brain just buffered. It didn’t look real. I remember thinking:

What is that floating thing that looks so beautiful?

I audibly gasped. Its one thing to see the lanterns in pictures or videos and another to see it in real life. It doesn’t even come close. Its so magical. It made me stop trying to light my lantern and I just stood there watching. I thought, I don’t even need to fly mine. I just want to be here and enjoy the moment. Everyone around me was staring at the sky in complete awe too, and for some reason that made me even happier.

In the end I still tried to light up my lanterns. Its big and its two lanterns. I still can’t believe I was able to flew the lanterns by myself. This might sound small, but it felt huge to me. I’m officially counting it as one of my greatest achievements HAHAH.

As I watched my lantern float to the sky I thought about my wish and the things I wanted to let go of. I can’t remember exactly what I wished that night but I hope it does come true.

If you’re planning to go to Yi Peng Festival in Chiang Mai, here are the things I wish I knew before going:

• Set your drop-off point at the roundabout near Payap Dormitory. This is where cars are allowed to drop passengers. I booked a Grab and arrived at Payap at 1:34 PM, which went smoother than I expected considering how many people were heading there.
• Once you arrive, you’ll see two lines: VIP line – uses a bus and Standard line – uses a PUV (pickup-style shuttle). Make sure the line you are on was the correct one. I accidentally lined up at the VIP line first because it was the first one I noticed. The VIP line has a rope with a VIP paper sign, while the standard line is actually at the front along the road, not on the sidewalk. If you’re a standard ticket holder, they’ll give you a hair tie with an orange ribbon at the end of the line before you ride the puv.
• Bring a fan and an umbrella. It gets hot while waiting and walking.
• The shuttle ride to CAD Cultural Center Lanna takes around 40 minutes. We arrived at about 3:00 PM, and I noticed the air slowly getting cooler or crispier the closer we got. You can sleep on the way. I did.
• Go to the food area early. I went around 4-something, and I’m very glad I did.
• When going back, ride the bus shuttle going to Maya Shopping Mall if you want to go back fast. I was looking for a bus to Chiang Mai Night Bazaar but can’t find any so I just ride the one going to Maya. When the bus took off I saw many people still lined up in front of the venue with a signage saying Chiang Mai Night Bazaar.