Phnom Penh aerial view

This aerial shot was taken over Phnom Penh city at the time of major flood 2011.  You can see water overflowed into some fields.  The city is located on the bank where the Tonle Sap river and Mekong river meet each other.  Such a lot of water in Cambodia!

Loy Krathong Chiang Mai: How to launch Sae Pao

Sae Pao is a kind of homemade firework in Northern Thailand.  It is easily made of dried coconut leaves and some local chemical powder.  This toy is quite popular in Loy Krathong when people hang out in the evening and celebrate the god of river.  The price is only 1 Baht each! (about 0.03 US$)

How to play

1. Light the fuse at the head of Sae Pao.

2. Hold the tail and swing until the sparkle lighten

3. Wait a second til you can feel the force then release it!

For the one who's brave enough can also hold the head instead while it's sparkling.  It's not an explode type of firework so it won't gonna blow up in your hand, trust me!

Thailand International Balloon Festival 2011 - Night

<<< Day
The festival continued in the evening.  For this year the theme of Balloon festival was "Glow Night".  There were music, lighting show, night glow, and free tethered balloon ride for visitors.  The first show started at 5pm but I entered the festival quite late around 6.30pm due to traffic jam.  Some balloon pilots already brought their balloons down but it's still crowd there.