Songkran (Thai New Year)

Well if you read my last post you would of learnt that I had no clue what Songkran was or that it was happening whilst I was out in Thailand until my flight, when i was sat next to a guy who started tell me all about it, from what he told me I was not expecting what we were faced with. So at Songkran, its basically a three day on going water festival, or a water fight seems more appropriate, because they are in the dry season they have the water fight to welcome the monsoon season, which starts normally about a week after Songkran. 

So we were in Chiang Mai for Songkran, and it was mad, people actually fly out to Thailand just to take part in Songkran, it brings a lot of visitors. We got kitted out, with waterproof pouches for phones and money, and bought water guns which came in pretty useful! ... Stages were being set up for the day, where performers would be playing through out the day and stalls and bars would set up barrels of water for people to fill up their water guns, to use the ones at bars which normally had ice in them you'd have to buy a drink, but families were sat at the side of the roads with a barrel or even just a bucket of water which if you asked they would let you fill up from it, it normally consisted of you getting wet by them whilst you were trying to top up the water gun, but it was in good humor. On the main day of Songkran we set off to head to the buzz of it all, where the stages were, with water guns in hand we were set, you could tell we were getting closer not just by the thousands of people but by the warm puddles we were trying to wade through, it was like a stream. The crowds were huge and there were normal traffic trying to get through too. It was great fun though, the smiles and joy it brought to peoples faces was amazing, and the quick connection you  get with people when you are shooting them in the face with ice cold water is hilarious, that day I never saw one unhappy face!

The water throwing was supposed to stop in the evening, so we headed out to find somewhere to eat, still had our plastic pouches but were dressed up a bit, yet we were greeted with people still out enjoying the celebrations, so by the time we got to the bar we were going to we were well and truly soaked! 

Then the most ironic event happened, on the last day of Songkran, I was having a nap, when I could hear water running, at first I just thought it was my room mate Lexi, having a shower, but when I opened my eyes the bathroom door was open and she was not there, so I opened our front door, too see a down poor of rain. I could see two of the girls of my trip were stood at their door in complete awe, it was the strangely beautiful. 

Rafting, Tuk Tuks and Chiang Mai

So we headed to what we were expecting to be white water rafting, well this was not quite an accurate description, four of us were sat on about 5 bamboo shoots tied together with rope with a 12 year old as a driver, who was using another bamboo shoot to steer us, the water was very shallow at some points and you could feel the raft scraping along the bottom, the kid was also quite cocky and it seemed that we were not his first priority, but looking in the water for things he'd be able to sell on were. he was searching so much that he let us collide into quite a few other rafts... it wasn't the most enjoyable activity, especially as it was the start of the Thai New Year i.e. a water fight, so everyone was splashing us with ALOT of water and the raft had a lot of ants on it. 

After this we headed back to the idyllic hotel to sadly pack and head into the City of Chiang Mai, this is where we would be spending 4 days until we were to carry on to the volunteer project at an orphanage.

We had a nice hotel with a very inviting pool, the weather was gorgeous, this was the first time we had to actually relax and catch a bit of sun, we so needed to the time to just sit down and do nothing, we had been so busy up until this point so we enjoyed it. We had the chance to go to a Tiger Sanctuary, where you could have photos with the tigers and stroke them and feed the baby cubs, but we found out that they actually drug the tigers so people can approach them, this sickened me so we did not end up going, I didn't want to give money which would probably pay for the drugs they use on the tigers, I was not supportive of this one bit! When some of the group had gone to it came back they weren't even that impressed they just said it was an expensive photo.

When I had booked the trip I was not aware about Songkran, I had no clue what it was and certainly didn't have a clue what we would be getting ourselves into!

A Night With No Electricity or Running Water

After the ordeal that was the awful trek we go settled into our home for the night, a bamboo hut which when you walked on felt like it was about to crumble under your feet. It was one big room to fir 9 of us in, there were thin mattresses laid out on the floor and blankets for us to use, no pillows and plenty of holes in the walls for the friendly misquotes. If the hadn't been a cooler full of beers, I really don't know what we would of done that night. Our tea was prepared over a camp fire, which the fella that had built the hut and it was part of his home had cooked all the food for us, it was tasty, but I feared I was eating dog, so i mainly stuck to the veg. Night fell and it went pitch black in a matter of minutes, so the drinks came out and so did the drinking games. Our elephant trainer had traveled up on his motorbike to spend the night with us then would travel back down in the morning and be with the other half of out group who were with the elephants. Music was playing and the games began, it was a card game and whoever lost had to either take a shot of a unknown alcohol or have the face painted from the soot of a cooking pan, lucky me lost first so had my face drawn on.

More Elephants and a Trek I Won't Forget.

Second day with the elephants was just as amazing as the first, Chi tried making us get on the elephants some strange ways, like crawling up the elephants trunk, I passed on this because I would of felt sorry for the elephant! We were going on an elephant trek, somehow it felt higher up than the day before, but thankfully heights don't bother me too much. We set off but we were soon interrupted and had to alter the trek because the original route had a forest fire, this was quite scary being in the jungle surrounded by trees, it hadn't rained for months there so it could quite easily of spread but luckily for us it didn't it was just a small one. Going uphill on an elephant is a terrifying experience, never have I held on to a piece of rope as tight as I was that moment, going downhill I could cope with! We had a well behaved elephant that day unlike one of the others, whose elephant just wanted to go and eat all the time! After the trek we headed down to the river again, and splashed around with the elephants, and got to do a few tricks with the elephants.

After a good nights rest we were waking up to the knowledge that we were going on a trek into the hills today and would be staying overnight in a bamboo hut the trekking back down the morning after with a few stops at some waterfalls, I don't mind walking, but in the high temperatures we would be walking in I was having some serious doubts whether to do it or not, up until the night before I was adamant that I would not be trekking and would pay to get the truck up to the site where we were staying, but it was after a couple of drinks that I decided I would do it, because when would I get the chance again to do something like this in Thailand. So I did it, and it was horrible. I honestly wished I had just got the truck up, it was not one bit enjoyable to me, and obviously this is a person opinion because some people on the trip really enjoyed it, I just didn't. We were told we would only be walking for about 2 hours, this turned into about 5. We stopped at the waterfalls, and being so miserable I didn't even enjoy them properly. Whilst walking I would put my sunglasses down and just cry, that shows just how much I didn't like it. I'm not a drama queen or a diva I was just being made to walk at mid day in the scorching sun on a path which at times was no wider than a foot, with a drop down to god knows what. 

Majority of people in the group helped me and tried to cheer me up, and even when we got to the end on of the girls asked if I felt a sense of achievement after doing it, i shook my head and she just burst out laughing, I had to join her laughing otherwise I would of cried, I was that drained and exhausted. 

Overnight Buses and Elephants.

So after a not so enjoyable overnight bus journey, with no sleep and being scared for my life because the driver was a complete maniac! They seriously can not drive in Thailand, I honestly don't think they know what a driving license actually means! So we arrived at a petrol station where we were to wait for our next mode of transport, which was a big version of the tuktuk we went in Bangkok, these actually had more room so we could all fit our rucksacks in too, this was also the first glimpse of the Thai New Year too, as there were children throwing water in our direction all the time, driving through the rolling hills and rice fields for our scenery we go to out desination, the worlds best guest houses ever, set in the jungle was just the first bonus, the next we found out when we were sitting down to breakfast, we had the best cook ever, it was the sweetest little lady ever, she was so accommodating to us all, next we saw where we were staying, it was like a tree house it had a magical feeling and look about it, trees towered over you, but left enough view to stare at the clear starry sky at night. So after no sleep and a wonderful breakfast we had time to clean up and get ready for the elephants! I was so incredibly excited! This was the main feature of the trip that sold me. So after a quick tuktuk journey we were now acquainted with our elephant trainer Chi, who was such a lovely guy, who could speak a bit of English and was really trying to explain facts about the elephants, our guide Nom could properly tell us what he was trying to say. We all got a turn to get onto the elephant, this was surprisingly scary, you don't expect how high up you are on an elephant! We learnt the commands to tell the elephant and fed it bananas which as you can tell by my expression was so exciting!We then partnered up and rode down to a river where we played with the elephants and gave them a wash, it was so surreal, I was sat on an elephant in Thailand, life couldn't get much better that that! After a few hours with the elephants we headed back to where we were staying, to freshen up and then have the most beautiful meal I had had so far, we then ordered a few drinks and our elephant trainer joined us and taught us some drinking games, we played jenga and tried teaching Chi how to play ring of fire, don't think he quite grasped the rules, but he tried! We ended the evening by being told off for making too much noise. 

Bicycles and Temples.

Feeling a little worse for wear, we headed to Ayutthaya where we would hire out some bikes and cycle round temple ruins, this was enjoyable at first, bit tiring it the scorching heat but was something different, until we headed to the second to last temple, the guide was on a motorbike and was supposed to be leading the way, we were at the front of the group and he had just gestured for us to go straight on whilst he checked the people at the back, so we went straight on, and ended onto a high way, know i don't even drive so never had to deal with this situation in a car let alone on a bicycle, so it was scary to say the least then we saw the next obstacle, a massive incline, we were tired already and this was just the last straw, we cycled up it eventually made it up the hill, god knows how, i think i was probably taking up a whole lane swerving all over the place, then we finally saw the downhill part, and did not peddle at all, due to the light headed feeling, one of my group was seeing dots, and then one of the other girls passed out, but not before she got of the bike and put it on it's stand. Now the ruins were okay, not as pretty as the actual temples, but interesting. After the ordeal I did not think I was going to be able to make it to the next temple, so we all stopped for some food, in a restaurant that had no air con just one fan, that we took it turns to stand by it, think the waiters thought we were a bit odd! So we set off to the last temple, this one wasn't a ruin but a lovely looking temple, just when we thought we were going to be cycling a different way the guide headed on to the high away again, my legs went to jelly and I couldn't make it. I just wanted to head back to the hotel at this point, and what a relief it was when we did, The hotle we stayed at was lovely, big room with a nice bathroom with an actual flush (bonus) this was a great night, where alot of us bonded over painting nails and chatting, just getting to know each other, my room mate at this time was a girl called Kayla from Scotland, she's a great laugh and we got on great, we were heading off to bed, when we were just chatting and ended up staying up until about 1 in the morning. The next day we had an easy day where we could just chill and explore the small town of Ayutthaya, then at night we were to set off on a overnight bus to Chiang Mai. 

One day in.

So the second day was pretty exciting, I was in a complete different environment with a bunch of strangers, who's names I was not remembering very well. So we were waiting to set off to the first temple we were going to look at when we got stopped by a group of girls with their school teacher, they were from Thailand but not from Bangkok and were asking for a photo with all of us. This was at first a bit strange but also flattering, never before had any of us been in that situation.  
So after photos we headed off to the first temple, they all were beautiful and made you think how on earth did they make them so beautiful, but honestly when you are on the third temple you start to get a bit bored, this is when I bonded the most with one of the girls who turned out to live in the same city as me and we ended becoming very good friends, there will be more of her to come. So we finished looking at the temples, we saw a lot of other tourists and one certain tourist we spotter had a very odd fashion. This we thought was a mix between a welders helmet and a visor, on the large size don't you think?

We headed off to our next excursion, we got on long tail boat ride around the waterways of Bangkok, we were in small groups for this so it was a good chance to get to know people, and it also was an eyeopener for all of us, as you could easily tell the difference between homes and holiday homes on the side of the riverbanks, there was a upsetting contrast between the conditions, you could not imagine how someone walks on the planks without them falling through. Our boat trip ended, and we were returning to our hostel, who else to travel back but by a TukTuk, this was one of the scariest experiences I have ever had, because the drivers knew we were all part of the same group they started to race each other, and this wasn't just country roads, this was on the main roads of Bangkok, we were literally centimeters from a massive truck, and buses. I thought drivers in England were bad, but they are amazing drivers compared to TukTuk drivers, our driver was also taking the mick out of us screaming, which made me even more on edge!