Here Comes The Flood...

The reason I chose to visit my family at this time of the year was because of Songkran (the Thai new year celebration). It is basically a 3+ day nation-wide water fight in which no one who steps outside is exempt. Chiang Mai is famous for being the best place in the country to celebrate it.

Here's how it works: Half of the city piles all their friends and relatives into the back of a pick-up with buckets and water guns and a giant trash-can full of water. Then they drive around town soaking everyone in sight. The other half of the city stands by the side of the road with hoses, buckets, and water guns soaking everyone in the trucks.

The first day I spent with Steven and his friends in the back of a truck. We were lucky to have a truck with a removable cover and benches in the bed.



I don't have any pictures from the second day as it was spent walking around downtown with David and his friends and I didn't dare take my camera with me. It was an amazing experience and very hard to describe. If you have ever been to a big concert with no seating you know what it is like to stand with people up against you on all sides making it very difficult to walk. Imagine that, except there are trucks full of people that are trying to drive through the middle of it and everyone is:
- Singing/shouting
- Somewhere between slightly and heavily drunk
- Throwing water on everyone else.

It was great.

Paul

P.S.
(OK I lied, I do have pictures from the second day but they were taken in the morning, while riding in the car with my dad. There weren't many people out and traffic was actually moving because most people were still sleeping off their hangovers.)