Luckily, my trip coincided with the biggest annual celebration in Thailand: The Songkran Festival. This four-day occasion marks the beginning of the rainy season and the Thai New Year. It is celebrated in every city and town nationwide by a four day water battle, and of course parades and copious amounts of food, music, and street dancing.
Songkran is based upon an ancient tradition, whereby Thais carefully drip handfuls of jasmine-scented water on the heads and faces o their parents as a sign of respect. The cheeks and foreheads of beloved family members are then lightly patted with a fine white powder. Given the fun-loving nature of the Thai people, it is not difficult to see how this once somber and pious occasion evolved into a mischievous splashing of holy water and finally to its present manifestation: a full on nationwide water battle.
For four straight days, Thais old and young alike line streets and alleys in every city and town, armed with buckets, super soakers, and water balloons. Pickup trucks overloaded with friends and families patrol the streets, dumping water indiscriminately upon everyone, and everything along the way.
The festivities last a full for days (did I mention that yet?) and no one is safe from the constant deluge. Shopkeepers fill huge garbage cans with ice and water and dump frosty buckets down the backs of cowering tourists as they pass. Hoses pointed skyward soak everything in their reach.
You can run but you can't hide
I arrived in Chang Mai fully prepared. After checking into my quaint little guest house (“Smile House”), I carefully wrapped my camera and wallet in layers of plastic bags before taking to the streets to explore. This proved to be quite an adventure, as I was immediately soaked by a cackling old man who jumped out from a doorway with a bright blue plastic bucket of ice water. The freezing water was a shock at first, but it felt refreshing as the incessant sun rays were already scorching at 10am.
Within ten minutes I had purchased my own water cannon and found myself battling my way down Chang Mai’s main street, spraying Thais and tourists alike with water sneakily drawn from buckets and fish ponds. Everywhere everyone was laughing and singing, dancing and splashing as music blared from plastic-covered speakers in every direction. Gangs of teenagers roamed the streets, preparing for their next aquatic assault.
Fully soaked and engaged at this point, I crept up behind a pesky pre-teen with a Super Soaker. Transformed into a stealth warrior on a covert mission, I drew some water from a fountain full of frightened orange Koi. The fish cowered together at the bottom of the pool, hiding from all the commotion erupting above their watery world. I crept up and sprayed the already soaked back of his pants, only to be smashed in the face with a stray water balloon. It was pure, maddening chaos. Later in the day I joined the owners of my Guest House, their kid, and several other travelers in spraying all the bicycles, tuk tusk, and pedestrians passing the front gate. Intermittent trips to the pool made this an especially fun (and cool!) afternoon.
Armed and not so dangerous with my water cannon
At times during Songkran I was able to find a rare moment of relative peace. One day, just after a surprise ambush from a passing tuk tuk, I stood in the sidewalk wringing out my drenched t-shirt. An elderly woman took me by the wrist and led me to the shelter of a nearby tent. Ever so carefully she scooped flower-scented water over my arms and legs, and across my neck and face. Kissing my cheeks, she wished me a Happy New Year (Sabaii dii Bee Mai!), before sending me back into the Songkran mayhem.
I enjoyed escaping the chaos to observe from the (relatively) dry comfort of a café while reading and enjoying a Thai iced tea.
As you might imagine, a four-day water fight – even in the baking heat of Thailand in April—gets a little old. My poor battered passport now bears the scars of Songkran, its pages ragged and once cheerful stamps now smeared. Fortunately for the most part everyone was extremely respectful through the whole celebration. If I held up my camera and pleaded “Wait…camera…”, my would-be attackers would playfully run up and then gently scoop water over my legs with their hands, mindful not to destroy anything important. Every evening the water fight ended at 7pm, which afforded much appreciated opportunities for dry walks through the night markets.
My third day in Chang Mai, I signed up for a one-day rock climbing excursion to Crazy Horse Bluff – a scenic limestone cliff 40 minutes southeast of town. The climbs were tough, but beautiful. It met up with several of my climbing companions for dinner that night, which provided a welcome break from the solitude of traveling alone.
Ringing the bell for good luck at Doi Suthep
The following day I took a songthaew out of the city to a forest wat, famous for its ancient underground tunnels decorated with crumbling Buddha figures. Afterwards I took a bus to the top of Doi Suthep to see the famous mountaintop wat and get the est (if a bit hazy) view of Chang Mai. I wandered into the adjacent National Park where I ventured out on a short hike to a waterfall before turning back to beat the sunset as it quickly dropped on the horizon.
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