Nick’s Asian Adventure
 
 
Part 3 - Songkran! 11-April-07 We got into Bangkok in the evening and went looking for accommodation on Khao San Road, which is where the brunt of the Songkran water war hits. We eventually settled on the “at Home” guesthouse a block off of Khao San and headed out to explore the nightlife, which was plentiful! 12-April-07 We took care of all of the tourist stuff today. Started things off by seeing the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaaw. Around lunch time it began to downpour (and the price of umbrellas went up 300%)! There was a spectacular thunderstorm for the better part of an hour, which we spent sheltered in Wat Pho. This is where Vanessa finally parted from our entourage to catch a plane to Chiang Mai where she was meeting friends. She was really cool and it was weird to see her go. Of course we met a couple other backpackers, two German girls, who accompanied us to lunch and into Chinatown where we purchased our water weapons for the inevitable war, then back to Khao San. Matt, Can, and I went to see a Thai-boxing match, but the tickets were ten times as much for ‘farang’ (white people), so Matt and I resorted to wandering around the city while Can paid the farang price. Matt and I soon found out that although Songkran was scheduled to start at 1200 on the 13th... the people were already taking it to the streets. We hit club 7-11 for some beers and tried to find our guesthouse among the hordes of people (during which we saw what we believe to be some sort of opening ceremony). When we finally found our guesthouse we were drunk (it took us a while to find the guesthouse, but never beer). We armed ourselves and took to the streets.... and then I woke up. 13-April-07 The day consisted of grabbing some food and getting absolutely drenched in the streets. You will see no pictures of this as there is no way to keep anything that is taken out dry... dry things are targets. Once you are wet it doesn’t matter anymore if you get sprayed, uuuunnnnlllleeeesssssss... the attacker is using ICE WATER!!! THAT you do not get used to. They also run around smearing talcum powder paste all over people faces, it is one mad party that gives all the senses a run for their money. At some point I tired of walking around drenched to the bone for hours, so I headed for some dry clothes and a solid plan for the evening. I miraculously avoided most water for the remainder of the night as I partook in a self-guided walking tour of Bangkok. The first stop was the park next to the Grand Palace which held a huge array of culture and entertainment. There were at least three stages with music, dances, etc. four temples set up for people to come cleanse themselves (which is the purpose of the water during this Buddhist festival), and all sorts of arts and crafts and food. I had no idea what was going on, but I was throughly entertained! Next I tried two markets that I thought were night markets, one wasn’t, and the other was closed for Songkran. My tour ended about three hours later after many light, dark, dry, and wet streets at PatPong with a Ping Pong show.... spent five minutes there and went for a beer at a more tasteful establishment where I made some more new friends. I sat down at a table next to a bunch of British Airways crew and was quickly welcomed and assimilated. They were quite a bunch! When I had finished my beer I began to say my goodbyes and fully intended on heading back, much to my dismay Niel had already gotten me some tequila and a beer, which I could not refuse. This happened on a few more occasions and it was determined that there would be a hotel party, so back to the hotel we went... the party fell apart and I cabbed it back to Khao San. As I sprung from the cab I made another friend, a girl that simultaneously emerged from another cab. I guess we were at the same guesthouse so we sat and had a few more beers until the sun came up, and then decided it was a good idea to get an hour or two of sleep. 14-April-07 Did almost the same walking tour as last night. It was really interesting to see the night and day difference in the different areas of the city (I am sure I have I bias view of Bangkok seeing as I was there during one of, if not the, largest festival of the year). I thought it would be a good plan to start things off with a massage from a Wat Po certified masseuse, which was indeed a good idea (no happy ending...they are professionals). Continued my trek to the Thieves market in Chinatown after hanging out with some locals on their blanket on the sidewalk (keeping with etiquette I took my shoes off before stepping onto the mat and kept the soles of my feet out of sight). After getting eyeballed by a few pickpockets/razor artists (they won’t do anything if they know you are on to them) I bought a few little things and went on to visit the Big Golden Buddah at Wat Tramit. After a brief stay I explored my way via subway to Lumphini Park to relax and read for a while. Hopped on an almost random bus that took me 3/4 of the way back to the guesthouse. Of couse, since the ENTIRE CITY (no exaggeration) is throwing water on each other, I did not manage to stay dry. Cleaned myself up and spent the evening relaxing at the guesthouse catching up on world news and chatting with some fellow Americans who are teaching english in northern Thailand. 15-April-07 Got up early again after a bit of sleep and thought about not leaving on my scheduled flight for a bit before packing my stuff. As I waited for Laura and Samuel to go to the Chutuchat Market I had the pleasure of watching what drunk people look like walking home when they realize that the sun is up. One of them (a security guard) must have thought I wanted to have a beer with him because he kept trying to get me to drink his beer with him without speaking a word of english. I discovered that peer pressure is capable of penetrating language barriers, and used this discovery to encourage him to chug the rest of his beer, which he did, and then he left... he was out of beer. Laura, Samuel, and I proceeded to the weekend market which was a huge amount of little shops, many of which were closed for the New Year. We spent the morning browsing and buying a few things before catching a series of busses to the airport which was like an HKUST reunion. There were at least 20 people that had been traveling around the area, and we were all on the same flight back to Macau. Flew to Macau (with my water gun as a carry on bag), ferry back to Kowloon, late night snack at the ‘Istanbul Express’, MTR to Choi Hung, Minibus back to HKUST, sleep. THE END Pictures:ThailandCambodia(5)../ThailandCambodia%285%29.htmlshapeimage_2_link_0
 
The Thailand/Cambodia Adventure - Part 3
Wednesday, April 18, 2007