Soaked with water and chalk: Day 100 on Songkran!

Day 100 of this epic Southeast Asia trip began fairly normally, but became one of the more notable days of the trip so far. That’s how it goes when you’re in the traveling groove: the travel gods acknowledge your devotion to the cause and reward you with a little something just when it counts.

Masayo and I awoke in our guesthouse in Chumphon, Thailand and had our usual simple breakfast in the Kae’s Guesthouse restaurant. Then Masayo went with the staff and hangers-on to the street party known as Songkran, a water-gun-driven festival for the Thai New Year on April 13. She rode around in the back of a truck, firing water at people and getting soaked in return. I stayed behind in the guesthouse, humorlessly working online because I really had almost no money in the world.

Finally in the late afternoon Masayo returned, and I went out to get some snacks for us. And then I found out that I probably should have joined the party. After the ladyboy show last night there had been a minor water gun battle, but it didn’t prepare me for the wild war being waged out on the streets by Chumphon’s excitable populace.

Rows of cars and trucks moved up and down the street slowly, full of shouting and laughing revelers. The sun was starting to descend in the sky, and the streets were running thick with water. Because normal hand-held water guns had been laid aside.

In their place were giant water cannons and machine gun-looking water blasters. Pickup trucks full of people in the back would amble by, and the crowds on the sides of the street would get soaked through by heavy blasts of cool, clear water.

But it was all in good fun. I found this out when I saw others running around with plastic dishes full of colored chalk, which they were scooping out and throwing at or smearing on others. Someone approached me, a delirious smile on his face, and scooped out a batch with a twinkle in his eye. He stopped himself, asked earnestly if it was ok, and when I said yes, he coated my cheek and forehead with his pastel crust and bounded happily away to find his next victim.

The chalk would get washed off in the next dose of water, then reapplied by someone else working the crowd. It was a riotous kind of controlled pandemonium – dirty, but not grimy.

The guesthouse gang had set up a little section on the sidewalk in town where they were grilling food and spraying people with some smaller water weapons. This crazy Songkran in Chumphon had an excellent atmosphere. The fact that it was Day 100 for us was a nice coincidence – what a great way to celebrate it.

There is nothing quite like Thailand’s Songkran festival. Joyous, chaotic, messy and cathartic in whatever degrees you want it to be, it’s a fantastic and unique way to celebrate the passing of another year and the promise of a new one. And in the way of many good things in Thailand, it persuades you to drop whatever boring activity you thought was important and come join the fun.

After all, what else is life for?

Have you had an interesting New Year’s experience while traveling?

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