The Bridge Over The River Pai

Zee left for home well before midnight and so, in the final fifteen minutes before the arrival of 2010, I found myself standing on the bridge that crosses the Pai River, which was full of young Thais lighting the floating lanterns that are so popular here.

As the candle at the base of these paper structures heats the air inside the lantern, it fills out until it is finally ready to launch. And, with the approach of the New Year, absolutely hundreds filled the sky, like flickering orange stars surrounding the full moon. It was really rather magical.

And really rather dangerous, too, for every thatched-roof building in the valley (including my own). Not every lantern burns out as it rises higher and higher - some are caught on overhead cables, trees or a sudden change of wind direction. Someone told me yesterday that, as a result, a local pizza restaurant near the bridge burnt to the ground last year. This morning, I looked out of my window and saw the almost-intact remains of a lantern lying at the edge of the pond beside my hut, like a beached jellyfish. It simply never managed to soar like the others.

Tomorrow we return to Chiang Mai by minibus along a road with more than 700 twisting curves through the mountains. I'm really not looking forward to it, but by about 4.30pm I'll be in a hotel near the Night Bazaar and one step closer to reality and home. There's a tinge of sadness about this: for reasons I'll explain later, this is probably the last time I'll be abroad over Christmas and New Year.