Only One Wish

This year, as I released my krathong into the pond at Benjasiri Park I made only one wish, that Thailand would recover quickly from these devastating floods and that one day Eric and I would be able to return to Bangkok. (Ok, I know that is technically two wishes, but math was never my strong suit)

Happy Loy Krathong!! And as the song says:

Each one with this krathong,

As we push away we pray,

We can see a better day

To better days ahead!

Our New Favorite Holiday- Songkran

For the past three days all of Thailand shut down in order to celebrate Songkran. Traditionally Thailand's new year celebration was a time for Buddhists to make merit at local temples and for the elders to sprinkle water on younger people as a form of blessing and tribute. Included in this blessing was the application of white paste or clay to the face, arms and torso as a sign of protection and to ward off evil.  

The modern Songkran celebration has evolved (or devolved depending on your point of view) into a three day water fight. In Bangkok, two of the most popular areas to celebrate Songkran are Silom Road and Khao San Road. In both areas, they close off the streets and people armed with waterguns, buckets, water bottles and firehoses wage a water fight free-for-all. If defending yourself from water attacks weren't enough, there are also people walking around with bowls of white clay that they will smear on anyone and anything.

We decided that we wanted to experience the party at both of these locations so on Wednesday we headed to Silom dressed in old clothing and armed with a waterproof camera.  As soon as we exited the MRT station at Silom, we were hit with a wall of sound and water. Each side of the street was packed with vendors who were selling food, water guns, and clay. We spent hours wandering the up and down Silom and Patpong with Megan, being bombarded with water and clay.

A before picture

Looking down on Silom towards Sala Daeng BTS

 Clay and water for sale

On Patpong, they busted out the fire-hoses

Doesn't seem like a fair fight.

Fun for all ages!

Megan looking gangster with her Pooh water gun

The aftermath- covered in clay and soaked to the core

On Thursday we headed over to Khao San Road to meet a group of friends. There were fewer people on Khao San Road than there was on Silom, but that meant there was more room to fire your weapon of choice. This time around, we bought our own water guns so we could participate in the craziness. 

We spent most of our time on a street that runs parallel to Khao San Road because we were able to find a street side bar where we could launch sneak attacks on the crowd passing by. After an hour or so of this coupled with our 10 minute water fight with the table next to us, we got kicked out of the bar! 

They didn't allow clay on Khao San Rd, so people discarded their bowls

They even had official signs!

These girls were ruthless. I think they hit us 5 times with ice cold water

Guy prepares his Doremon water gun

Disturbing doll attached to an ambulance- not sure why...

I love my new water gun!

Launching an attack on the crowd

Mike and Guy refill their guns for the next attack

Eric and I have both decided that Songkran is our new favorite holiday. How can you not love a holiday where you hang out with friends and spend all day at the world's largest water fight. Can't wait until next year!

Celebrating Loy Krathong

This weekend we celebrated our first Thai holiday, Loy Krathong, with our friends Suwat and Tanya. The day actually began with us being woken up by a procession outside our hotel in Hua Hin. A large group of Thai men, women and children were singing, dancing and playing drums as they moved down the street. They grabbed Eric and were trying to convince him to dance with them down the street!

One of the things on my list of things to see in Thailand was monkeys so after breakfast, Suwat took us up to a monastery overlooking Hua Hin. I forgot the name of the monastery, so I dubbed it "Monkey Monastery"

Looks so peaceful, hard to believe it is full of monkeys!

Maybe I should rethink my idea of taking a monkey home as a pet...

Someone left food in the back of their pickup truck- big mistake.

Awwww... baby monkeys!

It was scary watching the monkeys fight over the corn cobs on the ground.

Meditating monkey

I can't believe this monkey is giving me the bird!

After leaving the Monkey Monastery we left Hua Hin and headed back to Bangkok. Along the way we stopped at the Amphawa Floating Market to buy our krathong. This is the first floating market we've been to in Thailand. It was cool to see boats moving up and down the water, selling food to people sitting along the docks.

Our krathong

At dusk we made our way to the Rama VIII Bridge in Bangkok in order to release our krathong into the Chao Phraya River. It took us about an hour to travel the short distance to the river, trying to avoid hitting the throngs of people making their way to the river. Once we finally made it to the river, we were hit with a wall of light- with lanterns floating over head and fireworks exploding over the river. We then lit the candle and incense on our krathong and send out worries floating down the river, to be immediately scooped up by men in boats right offshore. Oh, well- it's the thought that counts! 

 

Koh Samet

After spending the last month preparing for my GRE, spending 48 hours in a cramped plane seat in the last 7 days and then coming home and spending 24 hours with a strange sickness that left me alternating between worshiping the porcelain throne and writhing in pain on the couch, I was totally ready to sit on a beach for a couple of days.

Luckilly Eric had Monday off because of the Thai holiday- King Chulalongkorn Day and we had already booked a beach vacation on Koh Samet- an island located two hours southeast of Bangkok.

The hotel we stayed at, Samet Ville Resort, was on Ao Wai- a private beach located on the southern tip of Koh Samet. When we booked the vacation, we selected  this resort because it was supposed to be secluded and romantic. Well, it was a lot more private than the other beaches on the island we passed as we rode the ferry to Ao Wai, it didn't have a ton of umbrellas covering the beach. However, a tip for those looking to have a romantic beach holiday- do not book it on a Thai holiday when hordes of Thai families are looking to escape the city for the weekend.

Ao Wai at Sunset

The beach at Ao Wai was very beautiful, the sand was like sugar and the staff at the resort worked very hard to keep the beach clean. We would see them out there every morning, sweeping the sand.

Much of our time on the beach was spent sitting in beach chairs and reading, taking a quick swim when we got too hot. Occasionally we would halfheartedly mention going for a walk, but we always came to the conclusion that the beach was much better. In other words, we were in full on lazy mode and it was excellent. We did spend hours watching crabs scurry around the beach, digging holes and fighting each other. As you can tell, we even named some of them. 

Big Mamajamma- one of our crabby friends

The winged insect actually escaped the clutches of the crab and lived to fly away.

View of the ocean from our cabin's porch.

All in all, it was a very relaxing vacation. There was only one thing that marred the otherwise awesome weekend. Some time during the weekend I was attacked by mysterious bugs that decided my legs looked like dinner. I never actually saw them, but they left quite an impression.

Why is Melanie making a sad panda face???

Because her legs look like this!