Chaing Mai

(Quick note, Jodie and I are frantically posting these posts because we are being charged my the minute so ignore all grammar and spelling mistakes. Sorry for no pics, they will come later, probably when we return to Bangkok.

Jodie are I are having a great time here in Chaing Mai so far. Songhran festival is in full swing and it even started a couple of days ahead of the official holiday. Children and teens are particularly involved in the water throwing in the days leading up to the holiday. Everyone has a bucket, a water gun or access to a hose to soak their victims. On the sides of the streets both in the downtown city and the surrounding highways you see groups of people scattered around a big bin of water or hose to keep them supplied for hours. Another familiar sight is seeing a group of people on the back of a pick up truck simply driving around searching for their next victim. To describe this holiday as a MASSIVE water fight is not even sufficient. Here in the downtown core between two of the main streets is a large river stream which comes in handy for water enthusiasts to find a bountiful supply of water. This stream keeps the water fight in play for hours and hours. As a passenger in a vehicle, you still get splattered even though it would appear to be a waste since no one is getting wet. The festival thus far has been like nothing I have ever experienced before. There have been endless moments of pure joy throughout the last couple of days. Some of these moments include children attacking us with water, older women chasing us with a cup or water or a friendly elderly woman dumping a cup of water down one’s back. Other moments of joy include finding innocent unsuspecting victims of which WE catch off guard. The best is when you take someone’s own bucket and shove it towards them and in the end, they soak themselves.

Along with those pure moments of joy comes long annoying aftermath as you walk around cold and soaked to the bone trying desperately to dry. This is quite impossible considering that every person is armed with a bucket, gun or house. We quickly realized that the only safe haven was our room.

Speaking our room, it’s not the most luxurious space I’ve stayed in but at the moment it will do because the hose we use for our shower has hot water and that is at least one thing to be grateful for. The bed however is probably one of the worst things I’ve slept on aside from a hard cement floor. It feels like a really uncomfortable futon and the pillow feels more like a piece of plywood but we do have a TV, so the complaints will end now.

Misty