Songkran

Jesse and I had the good fortune to Thailand during Songkran, the Thai new year festival will travel. It goes on for about 5 or 6 days. A local proposed me has to do a lot, its end date when people money and continue to the party be hungover. We spent the Festival in Chiang Mai and Chiang Khong, in North Thailand.

Chiang Mai is Thailand's cultural and intellectual center, though Bangkok is certainly the population and commerce giant. The "old town" is approx. 6 x 6 block and is surrounded by walls and a moat that are hundreds of years old. This ditch plays celebrate a major role in Songkran. Originally had Songkran by anointing Buddha images with water with oils and flowers fragrant was celebrated. Over the years, anointing people began each other, and in the modern day, it is a full on battle of the water. The water fight includes traffic. Most traffic in Thailand is open air, motor cycles or some form of tuk tuk (such as a rickshaw with a motorcycle front). It is not uncommon that someone on the street on a motorcycle drive see instead of spraying people with a watergun

his left hand. People you post up on the street in groups, with huge rain barrel or of the ditch, and fill buckets and casting it passed to pedestrians and drivers. There are also large trucks driving around, with a huge oil drum filled with their beds with water, and drunk Thais bucket to immerse and pouring water all over you. It was a fantastic time, but very difficult to travel. To the city to leave without our backpacks soaking we had to stand around 6 pm, and we had to run yet and some overwrought dodge children with water guns.

The best part was the bucket station outside our pension with the owning family five children crew. You were at the age of 3-12, distributed and we almost 0 language released, but still had a great time with them playing. It's funny, a smile and laughter are as universal.

In a stroke of which great practicality decided I, Jesse teach, how to ride a motorcycle during this festival. We have the soaking of the city where it happens most of the action, but on. It was one of those "what the..." Moments. You are driving

a highway, and then you see right on the edge of the highway, silently, with buckets ready splashing you some 4 and 5-year-old permanent, as you travel at 80 km/h. Madness. I was very happy that my helmet has a full face shield. The soaking is really refreshing, such as Thailand in April brutal can be hot. It was more than 40 c / 100f for a few days.

Excuse me! All images of it were on waterproof disposable cameras so that they are not developed I will til back in the States. However!, I have pictures of Chiang Khong Festival, which was ridiculous.

Chiang Khong is the town on the way to Huay Xai, Laos. Most people spend just one night and then get the morning ferry, but I hate hectic travel, so we stayed an extra day and rented bikes to Putten.

It was still Songkran, so that the water was freely flowing. We rented bicycles and got out of the city (the motorcycle breeze was the only thing was to keep me alive it the hottest/humidest weather I think I've ever seen) and we drove north. The landscape was absolutely breathtaking,

It was like another planet, and all few kilometres we would somewhat passed the bamboo and building huts. We sold bottles our gasoline old alcohol sold from a bamboo hut. It was surreal. And we stopped at this random organic tea plantation, the us the best thai ice tea sold I had in my life. It was amazing.

Unfortunately, Jesse a lesson on gyroscopic force the hard way learned, and had an overflow on the wheel. For the speed which we move, he had luck and only a few patches of road rash, but still a bit pushed a patch until needed, so we can find some help on another 20 km to the nearest town. (we stopped in a Buddhist temple on the way to help, but only a Segen--perhaps is it has to work, subsequently received) Unfortunately the clinic in the city for the Festival was closed, so we had to settle what first aid supplies, we could find in the general store. Unfortunately, it consisted only of alcohol of pads, SOAP and surgical masks (people wearing masks all over the place in Asia, I don't know why really). So

We go the Festival bathroom clean Jesse to and elastic band the surgical masks on his wounds. It is a few days later and he is healing well. While we were it to patching, we held the line a bit. These two 4-year-old girls come to look you in the bathroom, see it occupied is, give us a look angry and just delete and start he pees the evil eye us on the dirt directly to us, while all the time. What a mess.

In the night in the city, we hear SUPER according to thai pop (the ridiculous music) and someone talk about a megaphone. We follow the noise, and we at the end of Songkran "Miss Chiang Khong Songkran Festival Contest thingy." It was the most ridiculous thing ever. I had the impression that, with the exception of a dirty sex industry in Bangkok and Pattaya started by visit to stop Thailand as an R & R US soldiers during the Viet Nam war, Thai culture was very conservative in most cases. I must have been wrong. Provider to a stage with a live band, an MC/singer and 10 contain the Festival tons of food and beverage industry groups

Top 20 girls in underwear dance to the MC. There were hundreds dance generally wasted Thais packed around the stage. Behind the dancing group, there were families with five children and babies hanging out on blankets and folding chairs Picnic style, in a concert of Peter Paul and Mary for the were their daughters and nieces dance on the stage as prostitutes. Local people (male and female) would go on the stage and stuff money in the dancer wash, and who generated the most money (for love, I hope) was crowned Miss Songkran. We were the only foreigners are. It was absolutely nuts. The Thai people of not really "cheers" and tap drinks the art, how, that we do, but they know the 'Falang' (Westerners) do, and they had a blast Cheersing us. I have never felt so popular. Someone gave me a necklace/Lei type, which is set to a girl on the stage, 'Votes', but I kind of dirty felt participate, so I put it instead on the 40-year-old man MC. In retrospect, I think I have at most of the northeastern Thailand find gay. But my would is intact!

Other than will, is a bit depressing to the girls

It was a really fun time celebrate with the locals. They were mostly pleasant and friendly (but perhaps that was only the rice whiskey talk).
Part of the journey: Thailand, Laos, Indonesia: 2011