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Soaked
Within 10 minutes of hitting the streets, we were soaked. We had our water guns filled and ready.After our overnight in Zhongdian, we backtracked through the Yunnan Province spending one night in Lijiang, one night in Dali and one night in Kunming (Jill's favority Asian city). Our flight departed from Kunming and arrived in Bangkok a couple hours later; we were to meet the in-laws who are spending the better of two weeks through a quick tour of Thailand. Later that afternoon Jill's brother Mike and his girlfriend Lauren would arrive. And late in the evening, the parental in-laws would arrive.
So we were first to arrive and we took the taxi from the airport to the Peninsula - that is not a rinky dinky guesthouse, that is a 5-star hotel. With our big backpacks, nappy hair and my beard, we checked into our luxury room. We proceeded to our luxury room and made use of a proper shower (good pressure and good heat). We also enjoyed our view of the Chao Praya River (we were up on the 30th floor) so we relaxed for a sometime before we left the hotel to take a walk.
Shortly after we arrived, we understood that the Songkran festival had begun in Bangkok. It's a four day water festival
celebrating the New Year. We weren't sure what to expect but within 10 minutes of walking in Bangkok, Jill was soaked in water and within 15 minutes, I was soaked, as well. This was the first day of four days of a massive city-wide (it occurs throughout the region - SE Asia - actually) water fights. For all the water battles, the Thais are very respectful about it; it's not about shooting someone in the eye or antagonizing another, it's just about being wet. I feel that if this type of thing happened in a Western country, the water fights would surely be quickly escalated into real fights.
So we spent our afternoon near Silom Rd. battling with strangers - some foreigners, many locals, some lady boys. At one point, we noticed we were in Patpong which is the usually the seedy part of Bangkok (one of them) but during the daytime, it was hard to tell. Nevertheless, that street happened to be the most fun so we stayed. After a few hours we stopped to eat and dry off before we headed to the airport to pick-up Mike and Lauren. Returning back in Bangkok, we planned to head
You Talking to Me?
You'll notice the signs in the street...the alleyway is filled with "girly bars" open in the evening, it seems. towards Khao San Rd for the evening to get some dinner and see the scene. At this point, I realized that my camera took some water and it had stopped working (it was back in use after a few days but most of the pictures below are from Lauren's camera). Khao San Rd and the near vicinity was mobbed with people celebrating Songkran; much, much worse than Mardi Gras in New Orleans (pre-Katrina). We stayed for a short while as there was not much to see (almost all the storefronts on Khao San were closed). We headed away to find a place to eat and then ended our first night in Thailand shortly after.
Two more days in Bangkok were spent seeing the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and some other temples; also stopped at the tailors for some suits, not for Jill or I. Also, a day shopping at the weekend market and at the new Siam Paragon - the king of all malls; it's food court was immense. Also, from what I hear, there was the most massive pen section (and office supplies); I passed on the Paragon for some time at the pool so this is not
Songkran on Khao San Rd
As well as water, you may get smeared with a talc/water mixture. from first-hand experience. The two days were surely not enough time to enjoy the comforts of the Peninsula but we took part of the morning buffet and Jill and I were treated to the fine cuisine of Bangkok.
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