Songkran!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Wednesday we celebrated Songkran - which is the Chinese New Year, and Thailand does it up BIG!

We got out of class early (the rest of the country had the day off) and got a ride to Rai Wai Beach. On the way there, those in the back of the truck were DRENCHED with water…oh, I guess I should tell you about the holiday first…

Songkran is a day to show respect to others. Sounds simple, right? Well, in Thailand they do so by pouring water on each other. The government puts our HUGE bins of water (like big enough to swim in) and keep them full of water all day. People can use these to fill up their waterguns, buckets to pour on people, etc.

Ok, back to our day!

So we got to Rai Wai and all 15 or so of us unloaded. We walked the street armed with our water guns and got completely soaked along the way. We learned VERY quickly that if a truck was coming past - get out of the way, as their water was ICE cold!!!

After walking for about 30-45 min (and getting more drenched by each step) we decided to take a time out and get some dinner.

After dinner we decided to NOT travel the street again, but take a tuk tuk (taxi) home.

Once home, we all dried off and headed down to the beach. As we were hanging out we saw the coolest thing! A few meters down the beach, some resort workers workers were lighting rice lanterns and sending them into the sky. So of course we joined them, and lifted some into the night sky as well! It was just like a scene from Tangled!!

I’ll try to upload some of the pix soon.

This weekend - it’s off to Kho Phi Phi Island for the Full Moon Party (google it)!!

Sawasdee Kha!
- Apes