Part 83: Songkran...
I'd now seen both coasts of Thailand as well as the North too, and the inevitable comparisons always come. But should you ever choose to visit, be well prepared for a tidal wave of tourists wherever you are heading.
Generally it depends on what you want, but November to February is considered the peak, during which time prices typically sky rocket. After that it's much quieter with the down side being the rain season, although from my experience its not really that bad. It's usually a lot cooler in the evenings, with odd days of rain and not like the Philippines where typhoons are common.
It would be difficult to pick my favourite place here, but there will be few, if any places in this wonderful county that aren't flooded by tourism, and as much as I loved both coastlines - the west is just that little bit more idyllic.
The people seemed slightly friendlier here in the west too, not that Thai people aren't incredibly friendly anyway - where ever you go.
Almost everyone that has been to Thailand will tell you the same stories about the people who always smile at you on the street. My personal experience has often been that they smile bigger and brighter than you, when you smile first.
The girls booked a Thai cookery course for the day but I couldn't hang around the room in case the cleaners came in and caught me there either, so I felt it wise to stay away from the fridge like air conditioned room and cool jacuzzi no matter how tempting it was to chill there. Instead I spent that time all to myself, by the pool and wandering the quiet beach, taking pictures and catching up on my blog again. I have certainly learned to appreciate 'me time' since I started travelling, which never really fails to help me gather my thoughts, and always gives me inspiration to write. If these kind of surroundings fail to inspire you, then nothing will.
Later that afternoon the girls eventually came back from their cookery classes, so full from eating course after course of fresh food, they could barely move.
The classes were run by a Thai lady who claimed she had taught none other than Gordon Ramsey! although she was quick to point out that he never paid her a penny for the privilege apparently.
Luckily for me they did bring me back several leftovers to taste, which were delicious.
There was a perfect spot to observe Ao Nang's sunset a few moments walk from our room to a private beach where we could view miles of coast line uninterrupted, and we made the most of that every single day. Normally sitting there and chatting about life.
The town it self is only small and in 30 or so minutes you could walk from one end to another to eat at one of the many 'authentic' Italian, Chinese or Thai restaurants run by Indians! The food was decent enough and actually not hugely expensive either. But I wouldn't call any of it authentic, and none of it compared to an old Thai lady and her daughter's street food stall right by our hotel.
Lindsay had organised just the right amount of time at each of the destinations, and so far it had been completely problem free with no incident to report - but after a week in Ao Nang, our fun filled holiday that we managed to cram so much into was almost at an end. And If it already wasn't hard enough to leave this lovely town, our early flight back up to Bangkok from Krabi town fell right on the morning of Thailand's annual Songkran celebrations, better known as the worlds biggest Water Festival. It was the beginning of their national holiday and traditional new year festivities that last for a full 3 days all over the country. Absolutely everyone here celebrates this by throwing water all over each other with buckets, hose pipes or giant water guns.
The people believe that this will wash away any bad luck to symbolise renewal; in addition, people also like to use talcum powder mixed with water and will smear it on your face for good luck too.
These are customs adopted from India where it was once considered the passing of the moon, sun and other planets at the start of a new astrological year or Songkran, which implies 'ascending' or 'moving on'.
Now the water throwing is the most obvious part, but there are several older traditions that are very much still alive, like at homes or temples, where Buddha images are washed with water containing flower petals.
On our way back to the airport in the cab, you could see everyone preparing for the huge water party, and we would be missing out on all the fun. But on a positive, the airports and roads were really quiet - especially the normally bustling Bangkok where we just landed as we made our way across the city.
The girls checked into a posh hotel at the airport for their final night in Thailand and after dropping off their luggage, we then proceeded to Siam square by sky train.
There were literally thousands of people on the streets armed with water pistols and buckets when we arrived. And it wasn't long before we were the target of the smiling young locals, drenching us as we passed them.
Street vendors and stages lined the roads all around Siam - it was loud with music, packed with people and had a colourful vibrant carnival atmosphere. One young lad in particular sneaked up behind me and poured a freezing ice cold bucket of water down my back! which was a bit of a shock to say the least! Then me and the girls hid for cover in a nearby restaurant, whilst out side the water fights continued to relent!
It was pointless waiting for it to calm, so we braved the crowds and made a run for my favourite hostel in Bangkok - the Lub D, getting ambushed several times on the way by a big group of Americans.
It was all good natured at first even if we did get completely soaked, but later that evening the atmosphere changed quite dramatically, and sadly in this instance it was down to several drunken tourists, namely brits fighting amongst themselves and some Australians. A huge ruckus broke out, right in front of the hostel when a water fight got out of hand. They all traded blows for quite a while before the sound of police sirens scattered the crowd.
The rest of the evening was mostly groups of drunken travellers and backpackers on the streets, ruining what ever friendly vibe there was so I decided to stay at the hostel, and it was here that I bid a sad farewell to my sister and Lindsay. This had been an absolutely brilliant two weeks, in which we managed to cram so much in.
I was really sad to see them go, especially since they had both been such fantastic company; Anna with her smiles and Lindsay with her wonderfully positive outlook on life made this a great trip.
We all hugged before they sensibly took a cab straight to their hotel at the airport to avoid the growing drunken crowds.
Now I was back on my own. I still felt the emptiness and the first night is always the hardest when you've been travelling with friends, but there are always new adventures that await not to far away.
I still had two more nights in Bangkok and I tried to make the most of that time there - luckily Corina my Swiss friend from Vietnam happened to be in the city so we met for lunch amidst the still continuing water fights. It was nice to see her again especially as it gave me another opportunity to convince her to visit the Philippines next.
Out side on the streets, and after nearly 3 long days it was beginning to get a tad annoying with several people drenching me at any given moment. Just one word of advice though if you are in Thailand during Songkran, and that is be sure to close your mouth and do your best to not swallow any dirty water. You hear of all sorts of unpleasant stories. Especially after seeing some of the filling stations and dirty barrels.
The following day it was one hell of a clean up - the streets were a complete mess from all the constant water fights.
Anna and Lindsey both lit up my time in Thailand even more, but by now they were back in England and already at work, whilst for me it was time to head back to the Philippines once more.
Even with the north, south, east and west of Thailand all ticked off my bucket list, I was sure I would be back, for my love affair with the land of smiles was not over just yet.
Next stop, Manila.....