Waterlogged and Happy!

Didn't we just celebrate the new year? Twice? The calendar new year and the Chinese new year? Well now we're in Thailand and this is a whole new celebration. And just one night of festivities? No way! This is a whole weekend of super soaking madness.

The week before markets and 7/11 started selling water guns. Lots of water guns. And dry bags and buckets. Not really sure how big this waterfight would be, we thought it wouldn't be worth it to have a gun of our own. That was until we walked outside on the first day and came back drenched. We had to get revenge!

Geared with our super soaker backpacks we wandered the streets spraying everyone and getting sprayed by everyone. And by everyone that means little kids, babies, moms, dads and grandparents, people walking by, driving on motorbikes, tuk-tuks, in the backs of trucks, everyone! And even if you had to work that weekend, no worries! There's probably a bucket of water right outside to get some passerby. Not one person was dry and it seemed that everyone was armed, walking around with super soakers or buckets of icy water. The best were the kids, but really everyone was a kid for this celebration.

The best were the filling stations. That water in our backpacks only lasted so long so we had to pay the price to fill up. That means getting buckets on our heads in exchange for more ammo. Not like we minded, it has been hot! With around 100 of heat everyday, this is the perfect way to bring in the new year! And thanks to the moat surrounding the old city there is never a lack of water, even if it is green and kinda smells and quite possibly is the cause of those mysterious rashes.

As with most new year celebrations it is about starting fresh. The water represents the cleansing of sins. Originally the water was poured onto Buddha statues and collected to be gently poured on the shoulders of others. This kinda got out of hand and this "gentle pour" has evolved and is now just one huge waterfight. But the Thais practice Buddhism devoutly and have not forgotten the origin of the festival. The Wats (Buddhist temples) are just as packed as the streets with people making offerings, sending their prayers, and paying their respects. And they welcome any foreigners to join the celebration. Everyone is fair game!

Barreling to the Border

I had to renew my visa to get a few more precious days in paradise. I had been here two months already and apparently almost overstayed my welcome in Thailand. No worries though, the ink is still drying on my new stamp which buys me more time to wander the streets hunting for the best fruit shakes and noodle soup carts.

This was accomplished with a visa run.
When I think of a visa run I imagine a group led by a coyote (like the Mexican border) carrying their bags across the border fence. The trek would be dangerous and lives would be risked. Of course this would be during the middle of the night with search lights circling in the distance. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) my visa run didn't go quite like this.

Calling it a visa run makes it sound so risky, but I'm sorry to report there was no running through fields in the middle of the night avoiding security spotlights, though that would have been a lot more fun than reality. 

I just took an air conditioned van to the border of Thailand and Myanmar and was led not by a coyote, but just a normal guy who was in quite a hurry.

We just left the country for a few moments and came right back over to Thailand. Kinda silly, but that's what needs to be done. Earlier I had tried going to the immigration office instead, but the reservations were full before they even opened. Besides, a border run sounded more exciting than sitting in an office all day. And it definitely had me on the edge of my seat!

Every time I take a new mode of transportation it gets wilder and wilder. Overnight bus, a rickety old school train, a motorbike with my luggage, but nothing beat the border run van. That driver put a whole new meaning to the phrase pedal to the metal. When all you see is brake lights ahead he's flooring it and weaving through the cars, trucks, motorbikes like no other, you know it's going to be a fun ride!.

I should've paid more attention to the older fellow from the first few minutes of the trip. He has lived in Chiang Mai for years and has to do border runs every 90 days. The first thing that came out of his mouth when he sat down was I can't wait to be out of this van. I now understand those words.

On My Way

The night bus: perhaps the oat common (and economical) transportation. Option for covering long distances (w/our flying and along with trains). From a rational standpoint, the night bus makes perfect sense. Get on and allow the bouncing tires to lull you to sleep and wake up refreshed at your destination.  Perfect sense, right?

Remember how I said I would just hop on a bus and arrive at my next stop? That phrase makes it sound so easy. Just hopping on a bus, right? Boy oh boy how wrong I was.

After saying goodbyes to the Wicked Diving family, it was time for us to move on. We had already been replaced by the new DMTs before we even made it out the door. The newbies laughing and getting to know everyone while our bags were packed to make room for them. I took one last stroll down the street and accepted that it really was time to go. Those six weeks sure did go by quickly!

We can now balance on our nose, on the end of a very small stick on the bottom of the ocean- now THAT is perfect buoyancy- and a life long skill that I'm sure will come in handy somewhere, one day, surely...right? Right. 

Getting from one place to another is great late at night and early in the morning. Less people on the subways, less traffic on the roads, shorter queuing lines, AND the air is cool! Very important when dragging around scuba gear. This was my reasoning on taking an overnight bus to Bangkok to connect to Chiang Mai. That and my last minute "planning" kinda ruled out the option of flying.

I spent about a total of two weeks on a boat and not once did I get seasick. I just took off my shoes, climbed aboard and enjoyed the ride. I've taken busses before, and ridden in cars while enjoying a good book on windy roads. But man, nothing prepared me for this ride. And it really was like a ride, like a wooden roller coaster. All that was missing was the cotton candy.

Well I found myself on this bus. A double-decker bus with a 12 hour overnight ride to Bangkok. The week before it seemed like my best option so I chose it willingly. Luckily after the past 6 weeks exhaustion was in my side so I at least got to sleep some.

I can't say that for my fellow riders. They should probably sell motion sickness pills with each seat ticket. Luckily I had leftovers from the boat. I was hoping the whole time that the lady a few rows back would make it all the way. Just a couple hours in and she had for sure lost her lunch about 100km back. At least she had a little break when the army stopped us every now and again to check IDs.

After that bus ride I've come to the conclusion that a kid must have drawn the road maps in Thailand because it seemed like our bus was following their scribbles.

When we made it to Bangkok my trip wasn't over just yet, I was going all the way to Chiang Mai. I had enough with the busses so I headed to the train station. I just hopped on the back of a motorbike with my backpack on and my luggage of dive gear somehow balanced on there as well. "Same same", said the taxi driver who shuffled me onto bike. The guy driving it sure had some skills, zipping in and out of traffic and us not toppling over.

After my uneventful train ride, scheduled to be 15 hours which somehow turned into 18 hours from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, I've made it. Whew! Thought that would never happen. But hey, I'm not on a time schedule or anything so no problem. It did help that I made a friend with an eight year old Thai girl named Ping. We passed the time practicing numbers (that's really all the Thai I know and we can only introduce ourselves so many times), we taught each other animal names (I'm still not sure if she was doing a monkey sound or just getting excited), and she probably spent an hour braiding my hair too. Oh and we also played the international game of rock-paper-scissors for what seemed like countless hours.

Time to hit the streets in search of milk tea, fruit and noodle soup.