Songkran

So I made it to Chang Mai and immediately found my friends that I had made in Sukkothai. After getting lost a few times walking back to the hostel, I went to sleep to get ready for what I heard was a 'water fight'. What ensued the next day was something that I will always remember. So Tuesday the 13th was the first official day of the Songkran festival, which is the Thai new year. When we walked out to the main street we saw lots of people, but then we saw more people and more people and then we realized that we had walked into something truely special. Thousands of people lined the street and everyone, and I mean everyone, was having a giant water fight. Everyone with either a water gun or a bucket of water and just getting everyone else completely soaking wet. The street was packed with cars but mostly pick up trucks with big barrels of water in them so that the people in the flatbed could have a supply of water to get the people on the street wet with. We found a great little open air pub to have a couple drinks and an endless supply of cold water. Everyone needed a home base in order to refill their water guns. The bar had a great mix of westerners and Thais and it was just awesome to be able to share in this festival with lots of Thai people. They seemed to love the fact that we were celebrating with them and of course we appriciated and reciprocated that love. Needless to say it was quite a tiring day but really one of the best things I have ever experianced.

Yesterday was the first day of our trek. It seems that trekking in Chang Mai is a traveler right of passage. Everyone I've talked to here had either gone or is going on one. Mine was 2 days 1 night. It started with a bamboo raft ride down a river. We thought it was going to be just that, but Songkran was still going on. As we're traveling down the river we see that there are thousands of people there splashing water from the river on each other. It was another sight to see. Families rented out little huts that are right on the water and everyone was drinking and eating and enjoying. Young, old it didn't matter. The river was just filled with people. After lunch we went on a hike that was pretty much just straight incline for about 2 hours. It was hard. I need to hit the gym a little harder when I get back I think. After swimming in a nice waterfall to cool off midway up the mountain we continued onto the little village that we were staying in for the night. After dinner there was some cards and songs and an all around great time.

Today was more hiking, but much more my style (going down the mountain). Then elephant rides. I sort of felt like I was back at the zoo when they used to have elephant rides but it was fun none the less. Turns out Thais really love water and fighting with it because Songkran is still going on. I have to admit I'm sort of done with being wet all the time. As I was walking over to this internet cafe a roving truck of water gunners soaked me again. It'll be nice to walk down the street and not have to worry about getting wet.

Food!
The food on the trek was all homemade Thai food which was really great. Breakfast here seems to consist of eggs and toast, which I love. The scrambled eggs this morning were great, served with onions. All that was missing was a little lox! Tomorrow I signed up for a Thai cooking class which I'm really looking forward too.

I have to admit that this place is pretty crazy the mixture of westerners and Thais and the stunning natural beauty of the surroundings are really having an impression on me. After getting over the initial "what am I doing on my own in Thailand" I think that I've settled in and am really getting the hang of traveling. There are always more people to meet and things to go see so there really isn't ever a dull moment. I'm off for some dinner with some trekkers. Talk to you soon!