But first a little bit about Sukhothai; the name means "Dawn of Happiness" and the city was first founded in 1238. Now the ancient temples are ruins that make for beautiful sunset pictures. The park is pretty expansive, with 193 ruins on 70 kilometers of land (we didn't explore it all.) There are some great Buddhas still intact, the most famous being "Big Buddha" which is about 15 meters tall. We rented bicycles for the evening for 30 baht and just rode around for awhile.
We stayed at a super cute guest house, called Old City Guest House (creative) that was all teak wood. The room was clean and had ac, so at 400 baht/night ($6 per person) we couldn't complain.
We got into Chiang Mai the next day in time to see some Muay Thai. I saw a couple matches in Bangkok, but that was all amateurs. The fights in Chiang Mai were hilarious. They started with children, progressed to girls, and ended with a guy from Switzerland dominating a Thai guy. (Fun fact, we met the Swiss fighter at a bar later.) In the middle of the fights there was a melee, 8 "fighters" blind folded and just beating the shit out of each other, whenever they could actually find each other. Highly entertaining, and the 400 baht ticket fee included a free drink. The drink was some sort of spiked fruit punch, though - I don't think I really want to know what was in it.
After Muay Thai we found our way to the bars. We bounced from Reggae Bar, which had one of the best reggae/ska bands ever, to Heaven Beach, where we saw a hardcore Thai band play Papa Roach. Of course we had to stay and sing along to every word.
The next day, Songkran started! It is basically a huge water fight where everyone, from tourist to Thai locals to monks, participate. We made the mistake of going out with our regular bags, not waterproof bags, and soaked everything inside. Including passports, money, tickets, everything. That day we made sure to buy waterproof pouches. And water guns.
It's difficult to explain the madness that is Songkran in Chiang Mai. The phrase "no water, no gun, no festival" accurately captures the mentality. Everyone is fair game and you WILL get soaked if you go on the streets. Any street. We rode around the old city walls (a big square enclosed by a canal) in a pick up truck with a two big buckets of water with huge ice blocks inside. It isn't interesting enough to just throw water on people in Thailand; no, you have to make it ridiculously uncomfortable by making it ice cold water! It's a relief to actually get hit by room temperature water, or even warm canal water. Most of the water used is straight from the canal; dirty, brown, stinky, but fun.
I was at a loss as to how to take pictures of the madness. We tried to buy a disposable waterproof camera, but most stores are closed for Songkran. I ended up putting my camera, surrounded by towels, in a clear plastic bag. I'm quite proud of the contraption and I was able to get some awesome pictures!
Paige and I with our guns after a full day of getting assaulted.
Paige getting shot for the first time today!
Extremely cute kid standing in a huge bucket of water and about to soak me.
Swimming to fill up buckets in the canal.
About to get soaked-again!
Paige returning fire.
Action shots.
Cute kid who had a ball posing for pictures for me.
Even vehicles aren't safe.
Handprints in baby powder paste covering an unsuspecting local's car.
Quintessential Songkran - doused with a bucket of canal water!
Happy Thais in the back of pick up trucks throwing freezing cold water.
Needless to say, we've had a blast here. The city is amazing even without the craziness of Songkran. The people are wonderful and there's a huge hippie/backpacker population. The bars are awesome too, and there's always someone new to meet. I actually ran into a couple guys I met in Patong.
The markets are amazing too. We visited the Night Bazaar, where we bought some hippie rope sandals (when in Rome) and the walking street, were we bought way too many bracelets. The markets have crazy street food too, including fried insects and HUGE whole grilled squid. No, I didn't try them...
Tomorrow we head to Doi Suthep, a temple 15 kilometers outside of Chiang Mai, to climb the 306 steps to the top. It's supposed to be good luck, but I don't think I'll be feeling very good when I get to the top. Especially since I'll be wearing pants and a t shirt instead of my usual bathing suit and strapless dress (temple modesty and all.) But it should be incredible. Then we're going hiking and bamboo rafting, and then Meri comes on Wednesday!
Till next time...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Chiang Mai, Thailand
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