a life in words: the ko tao sky lantern

2nd March 2012

Ko Tao, Thailand

After getting back from the idyllic Ko Nang Yuan, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing in our Bungalow's restaurant, sipping on cold beers and watching as the sun handed the sky over to the moon for it's twilight duty. As darkness fell we all decided to go for a walk along the shoreline and found that Sairee beach had changed into a glowing golden line, lit by fire spinning artists who dazzled tourists with their quick paced and highly energetic performances; dancing across the sand in a blazing blur of flesh and flames. In addition there was a plentiful supply of sky lanterns which could be purchased for 200baht and set off into the night sky. Seeing as there were four of us - Daniel was unfortunately ill - we all chipped in 50baht and watched as the man instructed us how to get one of them airborne. Sky lanterns are made from oiled rice paper which is attached to an incredibly lightweight bamboo frame and contains a small highly flammable fuel cell at its centre. The man gave us a marker pen and we all huddled around to tag the lantern with messages and needless to say, Biggles got a mention. As we all stood round the lantern, we lit the flammable fuel cell at the centre then each held a corner and waited as the paper lantern filled out with the hot air emitted by the small flame at it's heart. After a few minutes our grip gradually lessened on the paper corners until the flame was able to support the entire lantern itself, hovering it just above the golden sand which sparkled in the warm glow below. Soon after, the small flame had grown to such a degree that the lantern took off into the night air, tentatively at first but it was soon caught by a gust of wind that launched it towards the stars above. We watched as the golden halo got smaller and smaller until it was hard to distinguish it out from the multitude of stars that filled the twilight canvas above our heads.