Songkran: The Thai New Year and Water Festival

We enjoyed a brief 2 day stay (April 12 – April 14) on the island of Koh Phangan. Since we have our amazing friend Tup here in Thailand he was able to use one of his many connections to find us an amazing bungalow to stay in. It was right on the beach and Kayla and I did not waste any time getting down to the sand to soak up some rays. April 13^th was the beginning of the Water Festival. Kayla and I were amazed at the number of people, locals and tourists, that flocked to the streets and started dousing each other with water. There were stalls all along the main streets selling water guns for a few dollars. Tup drove us around the city in the back of a pick up truck; it was like we were in a weird parade. As we drove along we would shoot the people along the streets with our water guns and they would run up and throw buckets of water on us. Rather daring local guys would run up and jump on the back or sides of the truck and proceed to wipe baby powder on our cheeks while yelling “Happy New Year!” One very brave old man even tried to kiss Sarah on the mouth in his excitement over the new year...he had to settle for a "Yay Happy New Year!" handshake. The water in some people’s water guns and some of the baby powder had been turned all different colors so the by the end of the day we were definitely an interesting sight. We had an absolute blast! Even though some of our clothes have been permanently tie-dyed we are contemplating how to bring this festival to the states....or at least make it a yearly event with our friends in the back yard.