December 5th is the King's Birthday, and a national holiday in Thailand. The Thais love their King immensely, so the day is cause for much celebration. This was also the day of our hilltribe, elephant, and rafting trek, and so when we returned to Chiang Mai (and its crazy traffic) that night, the sky was bursting with fireworks and a long stream of paper lanterns which were propelled into the sky by a lit candle. I'd be curious to know where all these things end up once the candle (or the lantern) burns out. After a much-needed change and a shower, we headed out to have a look at the crowds. This didn't last too long though, as we'd done a fair bit that day, and motivation quickly faded after a beer and some food. Technically bars weren't supposed to be open that night, but we still managed to be served at dinner. I'm not sure if this was a technicality because of the food, or just risky venture to make some baht.