Songkran, Thai New Year is a water festival!

Well ....We were welcomed to the Songkran Thai New Year, Water Festival in Pai, Thailand.

For Kevin and I, the water party began almost a week ago or MORE!

Now that we are in Kanchanaburi we are here for the new year. Thailand uses a completely different calendar and we are in the year 2553.

For the New Year, there are no parties at night, no fireworks, no family time, no decorations.

All we see are water guns, buckets and clay (or baby powder).

We were out on the streets yesterday, Wednesday April 14th. Everyone in town warned us that this day was the water festival day. Luckily we were at a restaurant and were able to use their bucket of water to soak others. We certainly felt less like victims this way. Eventually, there was a parade on the main street. Small tuk tuks with sidecars either held children dressed up or couples looking like a king and queen. They were not to get wet.

Songkran: Apparently, this holiday originated with simple customs. Locals used to sprinkle water over the hands, feet and/or shoulders of others as a blessing. This was a symbolism to wash away any bad thoughts or actions from the previous year. This is supposed to be a festival linked to the new year and because it is also the hottest day of the year, it has turned into something else! Another custom was to cover other's faces with a white paste or clay. Now they use baby powder either mixed with water or not. They do still use little dry cone shaped clay mixed with water to become a paste. From sprinkles of water and a pasted face to OIL DRUMS OF ICE WATER AND MENTHOL BABY POWDER.

It looked like a water war zone on the streets of Kanchanaburi.

Pick-up trucks circled the towns with kids and adults packed in the truck bed. Forget water guns they had buckets. Each pick-up truck had one or three oil drums filled with water. To top it off a small tuk tuk would drive around town delivering ICE BLOCKS to put in the buckets. Yes, it is the hottest day of the year and about over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but ice water is always a shocker. So, luckily we were at a restaurant and they lent us their mixing bowls from the kitchen and they were readily supplied with a large trashcan bucket full of water with a hose constantly keeping it full all day. (They must not have water bills, we are by a river?) We helped purchase blocks of ice all day too. We were drenched and we got tons of people wet too. We missed the ladyboy contest!

Today we were sure the water party was over. It wasn't. We were lucky to take back streets and avoid all the water. It was hot and it was tempting to get wet, but when you aren't dressed for the occasion it can be a little annoying. We visited the Thailand-Burmese Museum.

Unbelievably, we made this hot hot hot hot day productive, left our air-conditioned room to bare heat in the reported "97 (feels like 104 F)" weather. The museum, we figured, sounded the best out of all the others. Since we only choose to go to one, this was our choice. It was very informative. There were statues and railway recreation donated from various countries.

It was unreal learning about what Japan had done to so many people, holding them as POW's and forcing them to create this railway!

no pictures allowed inside. no photos.