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One of the most incredible festivals in Thailand is the Loy Krathong Festival. This happens every November, the date depending on the twelfth full moon.  Just following dusk, the people head for the closest body of water, a river or a canal.  The people then offer a prayers to the Water Goddess, Mae Nam, or to Buddha, seeking blessings, and then previously made floats, constructed out of the wood from banana trees are placed in the water, with coins, flowers, a candle, and incense.  The light from the candle is in honor of Buddha, and the floating symbolizes the letting go of anger, resentments or anything else that calls into question one’s character. The water becomes filled with thousands of these floats, it is a beautiful visual sight, as well as being aromatically delightful.  They fill all of the water ways, lighting up  entire cities.

This is one of the most special of festivals for the people, it is for lovers, and families and friends.  This symbolizes letting go of anger and grudges and bitterness so that everyone can start again fresh, to make amends, to live the next year on more solid ground.  The festival is romantic and for anyone who has not witnessed this and who travels and frequents the hotels in and around Bangkok will be forever changed once they are there for the Loy Krathong.  Legend has it that the original festival was taken from the story of Nang Nopamas, the lover of King Ramkhamhaeng.  Nopamas set the float so that it would pass by the King’s palace in hopes that he would see it.  He did, and became so entranced he remained with her for the rest of their lives.  The belief is that should two lovers set a float on the river, and it passes out of sight still afloat, the love will last forever.  If you happen to be in Thailand in November, and are lucky enough to be with the one you love, this is a festival that you should most certainly attend.

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Mid-morning, Friday, I went with Mrs. Mathews to see, if we could possibly hold the Feast of Tabernacles in Grand Baie. It’s in a Hotel that’s within walking distance to the town of Grand Baie itself. I preferred the Mauritius luxury hotel where I’m staying, but it would be impossible to have it there. So this hotel is hopefully where the Feast will be held. The hotel itself was pleasant, clean and most important, it had air-conditioning. The meeting hall was large enough to fit approximately 50 to 60 people and that’s where the air-conditioning would come in handy. The restaurant looked inviting, and our discussion with the chef left us assured that the cuisine would be fine. The hotel is in the refurbishing mode through out much of the structure and this will start next month. It should be ready, including the pool in enough time in order for us to use it.

The Indian Ocean will make a stunning tableau for the Feast. The Mauritians want to attract visitors to spend that time with them. I think Grand Baie will be the kind of place with which visitors would find very accommodating, attractive and most important, inexpensive. Because as we all know, Mauritius in not an inexpensive place. After our visit, we drove back to our hotel and went to work on hammering out the details.

While on my laptop,I got caught up on some office work, had a quick bite to eat for lunch and then drove back to Grand Baie, on my own mind you, to have another go around. I checked out what other possible activities I might conjure up for the visitors, prices and other tidbits. I tried to think of all the questions one might ask. I stayed here last summer, so I knew about a convenient Cyber-cafe’ where I could plug in my laptop. I did a bit of brain-storming and realized it was dinner time. The sun was setting over the ocean, and all I could do was watch one of the most amazing sites on earth. That’s when I knew we had picked the right place for the Festival of Tabernacles.