Thais like to celebrate with Sky Lanterns. These are a paper ‘balloon’ with a burner underneath.
First the burner must be attached to the lantern with thin wire. The burner is like a roll of tape that is impregnated with some kind of substance that burns with a nice big yellow flame, which gives the lantern that lovely bright warm glow. The burner is actually quite difficult to light, with a lighter, but once lit it stays lit.
Then you must wait for the balloon part to fill with hot air from the burner. Once there is enough hot air the sky lantern will take off, generally people give them a little encouragement, with a ‘push’ skywards.
The real pros with these things light them then rest of the sand until ready to take off. However for a couple it’s nice for one to hold either side, until the lantern is ready to go.
The sky is lit up with 1000s of these lanterns during Thai festivals such as Loy Catong, it’s a very pretty site.
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Taken in Thailand, Asia © Don Charisma
I have seen pictures of 1,000s of these lanterns floating up in the sky, but I would love to see it in person some day! Potential Debbie Downer question: what happens to the lanterns after they come back down? Are they cleaned up and reused?
Unaware of the existence of these, I was once freaked by one that burned out and fell in my yard. It landed under the studio window in a place I couldn’t see it, but heard it rustling in the breeze. This was late at night. I thought at first it was an animal and tried to scare it away, then, thinking it was a person, ventured out, phone in pocket ready to dial 911, flashlight in one hand, shotgun in the other….
Omg that is such a good story! Love it!!!
No idea …
long time no see this blog, awesome 🙂