Thailand for Songkran
For any traveller a good night’s sleep is a must. On my travel around Thailand I took the comfort of staying in the suburb, a smooth taxi ride from Bangkok airport.
The place Chatuchak Park has a splendid market on weekends. I stayed at Ravipha Apartments, a nice flat with a balcony. The building opposite had a gym, sauna and swimming pool for apartment users. I managed to find a nice café just round the corner on the main road, which had Internet access. A taxi ride and I was in Sukhumvit. Walking through the hustling and bustling market a lot to see and lunch was amazing at Akbar’s Indian restaurant on Sukhumvit road. The delicious cuisine I ordered consisted of Thali’s a traditional method of tasting small amounts of many dishes. The Chicken Tikka was especially mouth-watering and the Rasmolai (sweet Indian dessert) to top it off was amazing.
On the Arab quarter just around the corner from there, I found a salon and had my haircut on a reasonable rate. The smell and clouds of Shisha smoke visible around the corner. The three-wheeler vehicles called Tuk Tuk’s were all over the place. Tuk Tuk drivers were slightly forward in inviting me to watch a ‘live show’ and had to be ignored for their lewdness.
No Seat on the Swing
Sao Ching Cha, the location of the ‘Giant Swing’ was a tall surprise although I was a bit disappointed to see no seat on the swing. An interesting place to visit although I had to hire a car to maximise my luxury on the trip was the ’snake farm’. Feeding the snake gave me the extra treat. But my real excitement came when I travelled up into Northern Thailand.
On April 13th the ‘Songkran Water festival’ which runs for three days was about to begin and so it did not help that it was April 12th and I had not booked any travel arrangements from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is where the festival is observed the best. The train and most other transport had been booked up. However, I got lucky when I went to Hua Lumpong railway station. Bookings from there included my travel up to Chiang Mai return on a VIP coach. I also booked two tours. The night journey in the coach took twelve hours and there was one stop over for a meal included in the fare. I was rather shocked at the meal, which was half a rotten egg and some soupy mixture and had to starve. The coach had a full top deck and the lower cabin, which was supposedly VIP, involved eight of us strangers sitting round a small table trying to sleep without falling onto each other.
Songkran in Chiang Mai
I stayed at the Suriwongse Hotel in Chiang Mai, it was a splendid stay. It had a lovely massage parlour, which I relaxed and had a Thai massage in the evening. Chiang Mai brilliant for nightlife with a lovely night bazaar on the main road and side streets with live shows. I managed to find one with Thai boxing which I watched as I sipped on a drink. The next morning was exciting as I exited the lift of the hotel that would be drenched in water later on. The streets were full of everyone throwing buckets of water on each other and spraying each other with water guns. There were even backpack type water guns. Strangers threw water all over me as I walked down to the main moat. There were Thai men in there cars or on their motorbikes riding on wet roads. I took a bucket and threw it down with a string like everyone else and filled it with water from the moat only to empty it onto someone. My clothes were drenched and my phone had stopped working. I had to dismantle it and dry out the sim card and battery. Fortunately the weather in April is hot and this was on a beautifully warm sunny day. Capturing Sunset in Chiang Mai was breathtaking.
The next day I went on my tour where I went elephant riding. My elephant was of the hungry sort and made me purchase sugar cane and bananas at every tree house. Feeding him was a dirty job as he sucked in his food his saliva would reach my hands. My heart almost skipped a beat when he went to the edge of the mount and almost toppled me over. After this I went bamboo rafting. The raft was made fresh from the bamboo sticks and the ride down the narrow river was peaceful. All until the villagers on the banks starting throwing water at me, I kept with the festival spirit and splashed back at them.
Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle
My second tour was to Chiang Rai further north, where the borders of Thai, Burmese and Laos. The golden triangle has a befitting name when you catch sight of a big golden statue as you reach. The panoramic views of Laos and Burma across the rivers are spectacular. I went to visit one of the villages where the long necked women lived. The tales of the village included new grooms having to sleep with a widow before they get married.
