Happy Songkran

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Happy New Year- again! In the past four months I have celebrated New Year's according to the Gregorian, aka Western, calendar- January 1, 2013; Lunar, aka Chinese, calendar- February 10, 2013 (or the year 4711); and the Buddhist, aka Thai, calendar- April 13, 2013 (or the year 2556).

April is the hottest month of the year in Thailand, so the new year is appropriately celebrated with nation-wide water fights. Anything can be used as a weapon: hoses, balloons, squirt guns, watering cans, and, in some regions, elephants. If it can spray water, its fair game . My day consisted of 12 hours of mayhem, starting from my front door, where the neighborhood kids were tossing buckets of water on any passerby. And motorbikes are fair game, hence, I did not drive anywhere. I managed to make my way down to Patong with my friend Justin, both of us drenched by the time we even arrived. It was only 11 am.

People of all ages, local and tourist alike, came together in Patong to have one of the most epic battles around. There was a DJ set up in front a the mall blasting dance music, while two large men sprayed fire hoses over the crowd. Trucks and buses of people armed with trash barrels of ice water drove the streets looking for dry victims to douse. Groups of people formed gangs that would rush from one bar to the next, soaking the poor patrons inside. Basically, it was the most exciting holiday in Thailand, by far. The only damper on the day was the cloudy weather, which made being wet for hours a bit chilly! Nonetheless, except for meal breaks, the madness continued into the late hours of the night, and the battles only got more heated. Understandably, there are not many photos from the madness, but the one here should give you an idea. It is definitely an event I would return to Thailand for.

Thanks to the holiday, I was also given the week off school. I decided to use the time, and the $100 I had saved in my coin jar, to treat myself to a little vacation. Monday morning I traveled a whopping two and a half hours away to the next province over, the lesser known Krabi. I decided to stay in Krabi Town, where I found a cheap room to crash for a few nights. I got roped into taking one of the mangrove boat tours, and I'm so glad I did. Since it was late in the afternoon, I was the only one on board, and my driver "Won" gave me a private tour. We cruised through the mangroves, checking out the tropical birds and monkeys. Then we stopped at one of the limestone structures that make up the landmark called Khao Khanap Nam. We ventured into the caves and caverns, and even climbed up one of the walls to see the view from up top. We made our way through the fishing community and stopped at a fishery to check out the day's catch before returning to shore. In the low tide all the critters had come out: snails, crabs, and mudskippers! I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and just enjoying the change of scenery.

On Tuesday, I had breakfast before going on a walk through the mangroves. Early in the day and overcast, I was the only one out in the forest. It was incredibly peaceful, but not quiet as the bugs were out in full force. I admired the twisted roots and scuttling crabs in the low tide mudflat and reminisced about Marine Biology trips in college. In the afternoon, I made my way to the famed Tiger Cave Temple outside of town. According to the story, a tiger used to inhabit this cave, until the monks took up residence and then the tiger wandered off, never to be seen again. Interesting, but nothing too impressive. The real draw was the steep staircase that winds up the mountain to another temple on top, at a total of 1,237 steps. The clouds seemed to part just in time for my journey up, so by step 325 I was panting and dripping sweat. I made my way slow and steady to the top, where I was rewarded with a nice breeze and a breathtaking view. I reveled in the beauty, and thanked the Buddha for my good fortune in life. I made my way down the stairs and back to my hostel, where I decided to pop online. I was disheartened to hear the scary news from Boston. Thankfully none of my family or friends were hurt, but it still darkened my mood. That night I was lucky to meet several local "farangs", teachers and such, who kept me company and lifted my spirits.

Wednesday morning I walked around town, visiting the shops, a used book store, and the very small Contemporary Art Museum. In the afternoon, I met up with some of the friends I had made the night before for a trip to Ao Nang beach. We swam and relaxed, despite the very cloudy weather. It was a very relaxing day and a perfect way to wrap up my time in Krabi.

I headed home early the next morning, back to the "real world" of Phuket. With only two weeks left in Thailand I have so much to buy, organize, and prepare. I need to tie up all my loose ends and get ready to live out of a pack once again. I will be selling my laptop, to reduce excess weight, so communication will be much less frequent. I will try to blog and e-mail as much as I can, but I cannot promise Skype dates, Facebook chats, or photo uploads. Nepal has very poor internet connection anyway, so for at least that month I may be MIA. From Nepal, I will be flying to Paris to start my incredible Eurotrip. My plans are not fully formed, but I have so many contacts over there and so many friends wanting to join, I know I will be constantly on the move. I should be more reachable, though the time difference could make talking in live time tough. I will do my best everyone!



Stay safe and be well 😊

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Comments

[Virginia]

Nice
The small adventure looks like it was just perfect. You managed to see and experience all new things once again! Rather a western and suspicious looking Budda, but very shiny. Love you!

[Home and Away]

I've enjoyed your blogs...
and look forward to Nepal and Europe! Glad you didn't miss Songkran!