Pai and Songkran
Alrighty... pickingup where I left off in my travels. I
arrived back in Thailand on the morning of April 5. My bus ride back to Phra
Pradaeng took longer than my flight from Ho Chi Minh City. Later that day, I
met up with my teacher friend Laura. The plan was to head up north in a couple
days for Songkran, the Thai new year. For those of you who don’t know, Songkran
is classically celebrated by gently pouring water on your elders as a way to
cleanse then for the new year. However, it
has basically turned into a massive, country-wide water fight.
Laura and I had each just gotten back from long stints of
travelling, so were happy to spend a couple days in our apartments. That night,
we met a couple of our teacher friends at a local restaurant/bar, Ta Chang. The
next few days, we relaxed and hung out with our friends in the neighbourhood.
Saturday evening, we went to a barbeque at our friend Deaw’s house – always a
fun time. We decided our first stop up north should be the small town of Pai.
Laura left for Pai on Monday, where she was going to meet up
with our fellow teacher, Anna. I had to wait until Tuesday to leave as I needed
to get a re-entry permit and the office was closed on Monday. Fun times with
Immigration... So Tuesday night, I caught my overnight bus to Chiang Mai. As
usual, the ride was fairly uneventful and I was able to sleep for most of the
ride. Once I arrived in Chiang Mai, I caught a minivan to Pai. The drive to Pai
was moderately insane: it was an incredibly twisty and steep road through the
mountains. As usual, our driver attacked the road, driving as fast as he
possibly could. It was a beautiful ride, but I did feel queasy at some points.
I managed to doze off for a while but was jolted awake by a huge “WHAM!” sound.
My first thought was we had hit something, but I then realised the van was all
wet. A group of people starting the Songkran celebrations early had hurled a
bucket of water on the van.
I arrived in Pai around 11 am and went to meet Laura and
Anna – who were just waking up. Pai is pretty much a tourist town – every shop
and restaurant caters towards tourists. It was really cute and had some awesome
food, but not the place to go if you are looking for the authentic experience.
Anyway, we had a very tasty breakfast/lunch, then decided to spend the
afternoon in the town’s pool. Which is also a bar. We had to walk maybe 10
minutes outside town to get there, but the scenery was lovely. We had a very
enjoyable afternoon sitting around, swimming, drinking beer and chatting to
other travellers. In the evening, we met up with some people we had met and
continued to explore the town.
The next day was basically the same as the previous one...
Delicious food and lazing around the pool. However, in the evening we went to
this HUGE man-powered ferris wheel thing. Basically you could sit on these 4
seats and with enough force, you could turn the wheel around. It was a bit
ridiculous. That evening we also bought our water guns in preparation for the
official start of Songkran in a few days.
On the 12th, we departed Pai. They were already
in Songkran mode. Our breakfast consisted of people spraying us and us spraying
people as they walked by. There was a temple next door from where we were
eating and several young novices were trying to get us to fight with them.
Which we did. This degenerated into a full water fight between us and the
novices. It was slightly ridiculous. I kept wondering if they were allowed to
be doing this... Around 11, we caught our mini-bus back to Chiang Mai. On the
way, we were pelted by water several times.
We arrived in Chiang Mai in the afternoon. Chiang Mai is
supposed to the the best place to celebrate Songkran in Thailand. The old city
is encircled by an old moat, and people simply fish for water in it with
buckets with string tried to the handle. We had to take a sawng-tao to our
hotel and several people threw their buckets of water into the open back of the
truck. Songkran had begun!
Once we arrived at our hotel, we loaded our water guns and
went wandering/walked around spraying people and being sprayed. Songkran is
difficult to describe... Basically everyone just walks around and sprays
people. You are a fair target if you venture outside. And everyone is just so
happy. It’s really quite amazing. Also, if you are a foreigner, Thai people
think it’s a lot of fun to dump water on you or smear your face with powder.
They also find it hilarious to spray your boob area. I also took a couple
bucket shots to the crotchal region. People drink and party constantly. It’s
basically 3 days of insanity.
On the 13th, we started our day with Mexican food
– delicious! Then wandered up and down the streets spraying people. To refill
your guns, there are people who set up with buckets along the road – many own
the businesses behind them and are more than happy to let you refill your tank.
The roads were PACKED with people – and there were a couple large party booths
set up near the central gate. Including one that sprayed you with blinding,
suffocating soap foam. In the late afternoon, we met up with some other teacher
friends of ours and spent a few hours hanging out at a bar. They had 2 barrels
of water just outside, so it was the perfect spot. After dinner, we went to the
main bar area and hung out. Gooood times.
The next two days were basically the same as the first.
However my water gun broke, so I decided to go for a bucket this time. Best
decision of my life! There’s nothing better than throwing a bucket-full of
water in someone’s face, or over-turning the bucket over their head!
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