Thailand: Koh Samui

The New Year is celebrated very differently across Southeast Asia. In Bali, we were there to witness the island become decorated with beautiful bamboo decals, heard the squeals of suckling pigs being slaughtered for the feast, and watched people in beautiful dress bring offerings to the family temples for their lost love ones.

In Thailand, New Years is celebrated with more of a splash.

Our host Lenora, an expat from Ireland, warned us about this festival.

"We want to go to town to check out the festival tomorrow. Should we rent a scooter?" Steve asked.

"Not if ya wanta be shot straight off yer bike. I saw it happen with me own eyes last year. Nasty spill. I wouldn't", she drawled in her thick Irish accent.

Shot off a bike! No thanks.... We decided we would walk.

We got about one block before we were hit.

Splash. A big bucket of ice water right over our heads. Songkran was in full force!

Songkran is the New Year festival where the locals celebrate the end of the hot season by having a nation-wide, massive water fight. It was first thought to be started long ago as a way to purify for the new year. The sacred statues would be paraded down the street where they would be splashed with water. A peaceful beginning... but I imagine that somewhere along the way some monks got a little too emphatic and began to splash each other. Today, was anything but peaceful. You had to stay on your toes.

We walked for a while. Taxis wanted a premium to take us to the town, so we decided to see if we could find a tuk tuk. As we walked truckfulls of kids, families, boys and teenagers barreled past us with water guns, buckets and other devices meant to get us soaked. It worked well. To be extra nasty, people will load their water buckets with ice water, and there were ice trucks driving up and down the streets to make sure there was an ample supply. Once we were freezing and covered in talcum goop (another ceremonial device) we decided to ask someone in a truck if we could catch a ride.

We happened upon a group of friendly Russians who had rented a truck, and were loaded to the gills. They had ponchos, ice buckets, and water guns, ready to attack. By the time we hit the first main village the streets we so lined with dancing, water fighting people that it took us hours to get through. It was amazing though to look out on the streets and take in the people. Not one person was frowning. It was a good natured, joyful event. Every bike, car, pedestrian and scooter got soaked by waiting onlookers, and everyone was happy. It's something we won't forget.

We were glad we didn't take the bike-- we could see how accidents could easily happen, if water were to hit you in the face while driving. Plus, we met some really great people and had an adventure.

We finally made it back and wrung out our clothes just in time for a downpour of rain. We ended the day playing guitar in a hutch on the beach and wrote some music. A pretty great way to ring in the new year a third time!


Off to Koh Phangan tomorrow!

Captions:
1. Wowee
2. More like handsome
3. Ferry to Koh Samui
4. Oh baby
5-8. Waterfight!