Songkran, finally!

Songkran! Songkran is the Thai New Year, formally celebrated from April 13 through April 15 (in Chiang Mai it starts two days early), the hottest part of the year in Thailand. Traditionally, Songkran was a time to cleanse Buddha statues with perfumed water. The run-off was then captured and gently poured on the shoulders of one's elders to impart good fortune.

Courtesy of Google Images. 

So says wikipedia. What I saw was a massive water fight with some elements of a bar crawl.

Judith and I arrived in Chiang Mai two days before the festival officially started, found our guest house, bought water guns, and joined in. Within thirty seconds we were drenched and smeared with talcum powder.

It's a blast for revelers of all ages.

Don't be fooled by the cuteness. He is ruthless with that thing. 

People line the sidewalks, armed with water guns and buckets.

The city sets up water refill stations.

and businesses put out garbage cans or massive coolers that are constantly filled and refilled with water. Sometimes they'll toss a massive block of ice in there for good measure, so passersby are drenched with ice-cold water.

As a result you end up shivering, despite the 95 degree Fahrenheit temperatures. Sometimes you get hit with a bucket of warmish water, which makes for a nice change until you remember or realize that the water must have come from the moat, which is disgusting.

People also put trashcans full of ice water on flatbed pickup trucks, which enables them to shoot and refill from a moving platform. It's water in all directions, basically.

There are almost no rules. Everyone gets splashed, even if you're unarmed or protesting or holding electronics. If you're out on the street, you're fair game. Although you may have half a chance of staying dry if:

• You are a monk. 
• You are selling food.
• You are carrying an infant. 
• You are carrying a puppy (and the puppy is totally visible). 
• You are eating. 

You are especially screwed if: 

• You are in a songtheaw, tuk-tuk, truck, or on a motorbike or bicycle. It doesn't matter if you look unamused and are clearly on your way somewhere. It's more fun to aim at a moving target. 
• You are not Thai. 
• You are asking revelers not to spray you. 
• You are carrying electronics. 

Judith and I and some teaching friends I hadn't seen in months who had converged in the city for the holiday spent two days tossing water and getting totally drenched and a little drunk. It was a lot of fun, and totally exhausting- I'm not sure how Judith and I had the energy to go out for cocktails both evenings, but somehow we managed.

And then, the night before the festival formally started, I got food poisoning. 

Over the last seven months in Thailand, I've eaten dishes with insects that were sometimes, but not always, an intentionally added ingredient. I used to buy mangoes from a lady who sharpened her knife on the side of a building. I ate noodles in Bangkok while watching rats scurry from one trash pile to another. So what crazy delicacy gave me food poisoning? A baked potato, served to me in a German restaurant. How unspeakably lame.

So I spent the first day of Songkran violently ill, and then the two subsequent days curled in an unairconditioned guest house bed eating crackers and drinking gatorade, weak as a newborn kitten. I didn't take any photos of that. You're welcome.