Hoi An is perhaps most famous for its monthly Lantern Festival. Every
month, on the night of the full moon, people gather at the river in Hoi
An to launch colorful paper lanterns off into the water, along with
their wishes. It's something like Thailand's Loi Krathong Festival.
We hired a driver of one of the local boats to row us out into the
river. The sun was beginning to set, and the huge full moon was low over
the river. In the town, colorful paper lanterns strung above the shop
houses were beginning to glow with a warm light.
Our boatman lit a bundle of incense that he stuck upright in the prow of
the ship, and began to row out into the river. It was still a bit
early, but we wanted to be able to see the town from the river while it
was still light.
A few dozen boats were out on the river with us, their passengers
enjoying the peaceful and relatively cool evening. As we passed beneath
the old town bridge, we lit the candles in our paper lanterns, and made a
wish.
Loi Krathong, the annual river festival in Thailand, is a bit different. During the Loi Krathong Festival, people light lanterns to ask forgiveness to the spirit of the river, and to apologize for polluting and misusing water throughout the year. Loi Krathong is held only once a year. On the other hand, the two festivals are quite similar. In Hoi An, people send folded paper lanterns and candles off into the river to make a wish.
This had been a long, busy week, and I was feeling exhausted. This was actually still the same day that we came down from Ba Na Hills, and in the past 48 hours, we had barely taken time to rest! Even though it was still early, we couldn't stay out very late. All three of us were feeling very tired. We knew that we had to wait until dark at least, in order to see all of the lanterns glowing on the river.
After a bite to eat at the nearby night market, the sky was fully dark. We walked back through the ancient town to our hotel, past the river that was now full of beautiful glowing lanterns.
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