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Published: April 16th 2008
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April 12: The 12th was another day of travel. I flew from Siem Reap to Bangkok. I then had to find a way to Phitsanulok which is a little over 300 Kms away. I decided on a taxi. I was offered a ride for 5ooo Baht ($165). I decided to keep trying, but I had a crazy lady follow me around the airport and tell other taxi drivers not to give me a better deal. I was pissed!! I finaly found a ride for 4000 BHT. It took 6 hours to get there. After arriving I went downstairs to the restaurant to watch a type of variety show. In the middle of it, they had some people with down syndrome come and do comedy skits. Even in Thai it was hilarious. They even had a girl doing a little strip tease. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Prague. That was the only thing they were missing was "down syndrome"and strippers 😊)). I met, Frank,a retired army pilot there. He was there with his wife. They invited me to go to the water festival with them.
April 13: Today is the Thai new year. It is the first
day of the water festival. The whole country shuts down for 4 days. They all buy water guns and get big crocks of water and buckets and throw water on each other. It is great fun. Frank came and picked me up at 8 AM. I went to his house in the country on a beautiful river. What a great place. I went for a jog on the road next to the river. What an awesome morning. All of Franks in laws have come for the holiday. We packed up the truck loaded it down with water and people and headed for town. On the way into town we stopped at every house (so it seemed) where the people had set up a a barrel or crock of water. We would slow down and throw water on each other. The people set up music and have food cooking. We finaly made it into town. There are food booths set up all along the streets. The traffic comes to a standstill and everyone gets out of their vehicles and throws water. Another tradition is to make a paste out of a chalk substance that is sold everywhere and you keep refilling.
You take the paste and rub it on the peoples face. It must be a kind gesture of luck because they will say thank you. Everyone is drinking and dancing there is music everywhere. Most people are like us and have 3 generations of family with them. I was the only one I saw all day with blond hair. There are not many tourist here. I stood out. Everyone wanted to throw water on the farang (foreigner). There were times I was completely mobbed. A little overwhelming at times but A lot of fun. I lasted until 3 pm. I went for a shower and a nap at my hotel. Frank came and got me and took me back for dinner and to play cards with the family. There was lot of drinking and cheating which made it hard to undersand the game 😊)) And there was also the fact that only Frank and his wife spoke english. The food was delicious and it was a wonderful day. I will never forget it or the hospitality shown to me. I am a lucky to have found such wonderful folks!
April 14: Today I decided to set ouy
on my own. I don't want to burden Frank again although I git the impression he enjoyed being able to comiunicate in English. The party has not let up at all. I found an area thet we didn't go to yesterday. They had huge pumps hooked and spaying in the air and a stage set up and music playing. I took my camera wich was a big mistake. It got wet and does not work anymore. I sat down on the outer edge of the crowd to drink a beer where I met up with another family and they took me to go eat dinnner at their house. They had been cooking a fish soup all day and they also grilled some delicious sausage balls abou the size of large onions. There was also 3 fruits I have never seen before. The brother was a little confontational and kept challenging me to eat hot peppers and drink whiskey. Things got a little tense for a second until papa yelled at him 😊)...hehehe. We ended up becoming friends and we are going to a club tonight.
April 15: Today was another travel day. I got up early and
went back to Bangkok. I took a nap and set out to the mall to get a camera. The only thing I had clean was jeans. It was about 5pm. so after I got a camera and I decided to go to Silom road where they are having the water celebration. I had no idea what I was getting into. This was the biggest party I have ever seen. Silom and all of the cross streets were so crowded I never seen anythig like it. The fire depatment had a truck there and pumping water onto the crowd. The bars on the side streets had men with whistles controlling the crowd. The bars also had girls and guys that work in the bars dancing on tables. This is the last night of the party in Bangkok. I think the party went on all night. I left at about 2 or 3 Am. Even though a lot of the people are drinking all day, I did not see one fight or one angry person in the 3 days of the party. I don't think there is anywhere in America we could have this party due to the amount of water used. One of the reasons for the festival is to celebrate the beginning of the rainy season. It is thought that the more water thrown the more it will rain.
April 16: I guess it worked. It rained today. Today ended up being a day to relax. I stayed in almost all day. I decided to go out for the evening. I went to the famous Soi Cowboy. I had been there, but didn’t know it. I found a little bar there called country road. They had a band there playing classic rock. It was great to just to hear classics like Hotel California and Brown sugar done in Broken English with a Thai accent. After that band finished another band came on and they played classic country. I didn’t want to leave it was so entertaining for me. I will never hear your cheatin’ heart again and not think of that little old Thai man singing with a Hank Williams twang…..awesome!!! I then wondered across the street to a go go bar that had a second floor made of glass. I picked a nice spot underneath it and watched for one beer until my neck hurt and then went home. All in all it was a lazy day. I felt like I was on vacation 😊)
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