Songkran Hangover

Well, it finally happened. I had to take a weekend to recover from a weekend. Well, to be fair, my Songkran weekend lasted 5 days - 5 1/2 if you count the 4 hours I was AWOL.

As you know the train finally did pull into the station in Chiang Mai. For the next 2 hours it was sheer pandimonium trying to get into the old part of the city and find my guest house. Up and down every street people were lined up throwing water. Believe me, as hot as April is here in Thailand, I don't mind getting wet. But I didn't want my suitcase and laptop to get soaked. My purse didn't worry me too much either. I had to dry out my passport twice during rainy season last year so I'm a pro at that. But the new laptop and my dry clothes in the suitcase were a different matter. My car could only get me within 2 blocks of the guest house so I literally ran the gauntlet (fortunately my suitcase has wheels and a handle) to the guest house. Once things got put away I bagged up my important stuff and went to town to watch the fun. Yes, all during Songkran the plastic bag industry makes a killing in Thailand. My cell phone was first put into a small bag, sealed, then dropped into the pocket for it in my purse. Next, I put my passport in a baggie and then into my purse. Then I had a ziploc bag for my wallet and money. Once all those bagged items are in my purse I then take a plastic grocery bag and "bag" my bag, tying it at the top and leaving the strap out. Then it all fits ove my shoulder. My camera is very small and I put it in another plastic bag and then in my pocket. That way I was able to pull it out from time to time when I was out of the line of fire and takes some photos. In fact, most people will pose with their buckets and water guns, and then soak you once you put your camera back in the bag! Later I found a restaurant near the moat where I was able to stay dry and watch the last hour of the water throwing.

My hosts at the guest house, Joe and Amara, arranged for me to take a tour the next day to the northern-most reaches of Thailand. At 7am on Sunday a van picked me up and after picking up 8 more people around the city we were off to the north. We stopped for breakfast in the province of Chiang Rai and after viewing a small hot water geyser we all ate breakfast and wandered around the sourvenir shops. But you never got far from the sulfur smell of the geyser. There was even a bent old lady walking around with baskets of eggs hanging on each end of a pole across her shoulders. People buy the eggs to boil in the hot water from the geyser. The locals believe the hot sulfur water has special curative powers. After about 45 minutes we were back on the road - a winding mountain road that climbed steeply and slowly reminding me of the train ride to Chiang Mai - and in about 2 hours we were at Chedi Luang. This is an ancient temple and chedi that is still used today even though it is crumbling in places. It reminded me of the old remains at Ayottaya although not as old.

Our next destination was only 30 minutes away and the point of the trip I had been looking forward to: The Golden Triangle. At the northern tip of Thailand the Ruak River meets the Mekong River and forms a triangle with Myanmar and Laos on the other two sides. Historically, this was an area of rich soil and large poppy fields harvested for the opium trades. Today it's just a stop on busy tour routes although I did see a stray poppy growing in the wild here and there. Because there is so much to tell about Chiang Mai I will just finish the day by saying that I did ride on the Mekong River in a long tail boat, I didn't drink the whiskey made with rattlesnakes and scorpions, and it was 10pm before I got back to the guest house that night. Whew! What a day.


On Monday the tour van picked me up at 8am and we drove up into the Doi Inthanon National Forest where again I worried about the van making it up the steep, winding mountain roads. We saw waterfalls and native hill tribe villages. I stood on the highest peak in Thailand (and got the T shirt to prove it). A shorter day that saw me back at the guest house by 7pm.

On Tuesday I bagged up all my important stuff and went out to see what I could of the town and to get wet. I succeeded on both accounts. Chiang Mai today is built around the original city moat and what's left of the gates and walls from 1261 so it's pretty cool historically. But all around the moat stood kids of all ages ready to soak me down. By the time I got back to the house I was dripping wet - but that's OK since it was almost 100F that afternoon. I was sitting on the terrace talking with Joe and Amara when their teenage son came by with some friends and invited me to join their pick up truck run. You see, while people stand around the moat to throw water, other people ride by on motorcycles and in pick up trucks throwing water back at them. Did I go? You better bet I did! But you'll have to take my word for it because I knew I couldn't take my camera on this run.

Wednesday, my final day in town, was quiet. Locals were back to work and businesses were open again. I roamed the city taking pictures and looking for reading material for the long ride home. There are 8 used book stores in Chiang Mai! At 7pm I climbed on the "VIP" bus for the 10 hour ride back to Bangkok. It turned out to be a very long night!