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| Chiang Mai | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Songkran holiday is the celebration of the Buddhist new year here in Thailand. Ryota had a four-day holiday so we spent April 12-16 in northern Thailand. Songkran originated in Chiang Mai, having spread from India to Burma. This northern kingdom was once under Burmese control, and so the tradition began. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Q:What happens during Songkran? A: You get wet! You get so wet that you are wringing out your hair like this woman and you will never again consider wearing dark underwear under light-weight clothing. In the good ol' days, Songkran just meant a sprinkling of frangrant water over elders and loved ones. As you can imagine, the tradition got out of hand. |
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| Truly EVERYBODY gets in the game of water-throwing! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Over recent years, hoses, mobs carrying buckets on the backs of trucks, water guns and copious amounts of powder have been the norm. You will be wet. You will be wet for three days and you had better enjoy it because there is no escaping it. I have heard many a Songkran nightmare story, but things seem to be getting better of late. During Songkran, the government has outlawed high-pressure water guns, talcum, and selling alcohol along the road. It would seem that the Thai people are trying to return to a more innocent celebration of this important event. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| I didn't take any photos of the Songkran celebration with the digital camera. It was safely ziplocked and wrapped up for dryness. I didn't think to pull it out until back in our weirdly-lit hotel room, when Ryota was peeling off the wet layers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We didn't spend much time in Chiang Mai during the Songkran festival. We spent most of the holiday taking things at a slower pace in Mae Hon Song. In Chiang Mai, we focused on eating at as many foreign restaurants as possible and haggling like mad at the night bazaar. We did make time to get outside of town to visit the very sacred mountain temple, Doi Suthep. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| These three beauties were looking fabulous for a temple visit. I'm afraid I don't know enough about the hill tribes to guess which group they are from. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| You can also check out the website www.1stopchiangmai.com/ to find loads of good travel information about Chiang Mai and environs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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