Happy Songkran!

Yesterday we engaged in the biggest water fight I had ever been in my life because of Songkran, the Thai New Year. Throwing water on the streets is the biggest and most obvious form of celebration of Songkran, and Ko Pha Ngan was no different. A bunch of us staying at the same resort piled into a songthaew to make our way to Thong Sala, the Southwest region of the island where the biggest water fight took place. The 4 km drive already had us soaked from people on the street spraying us with water guns, hoses, and dumping by the bucketfuls. Since it's pretty warm out, the water was quite refreshing, except for the occasional chilly water that gets thrown on you. Once we reached Thong Sala, we bought some water guns at a convenience store and joined the crowds. There were large buckets of water in front of most stores so you could refill and you just hit anyone from locals to fellow tourists, everyone was pretty much involved. I felt like I was living a childhood dream I never achieved, except this was ten times bigger and better than any water fight that I could ever imagine. Some of the locals had buckets of flour or colored baby powder that they would wipe on your face, another Songkran tradition.

Why throw water? Like I've mentioned before, April is one of Thailand's hottest months and while the water relieves us foreigners of this heat, water throwing originated from a way to pay respect to your loved ones, particularly your elders. People would cleanse Buddha images at home or at monasteries with water as a "renewal bathing ritual" then use this water to cleanse each other for the start of a new year. Somehow this evolved to young people throwing water at each other in the middle of streets and at passing vehicles but you know, whatever gets everyone involved right?

Unfortunately none of us took our cameras to Thong Sala because they would not have survived this soak fest. Towards the end of the festival, I cut the bottom of my foot on either a piece of glass or sharp rock. It's pretty shallow, like a paper cut but I couldn't really walk after that. For the New Year, there was a Black Moon party, located about 2 km away from where we were staying and I was worried about my foot but we couldn't miss a beach party while we were at Ko Pha Ngan! There was techno music blasting, black light artwork scattered, and fire dancers entertaining us by the water. I was bummed I couldn't be more active last night but at least we got to people-watch and check out the party scene.

My foot feels a lot better now, we'll see if I can stick it in the water today! Those of us back at home, we should really think about organizing an epic water fight this summer....