Song Kran

Even though this festival was a month ago, I'm a little bored, and figured I'd type this out.
Song Kran is the Thai New Year celebration, which is celebrated by throwing water on everybody you see, because it is so hot out. It's really a crazy holiday, and many things close, but everyone's hospitality and generosity are as abundant as ever. Song Kran started in my city on April 12th, but because it was my birthday I didn't participate. April 13th however was really amazing.
It was my first day on Song Kran, and so I didn't know what to expect. I hauled along a back pack with lots of gear for the day, and left it at my host aunt's house so it wouldn't get wet. Then I walked over to where my host cousins were throwing water and other people. After a couple hours of being soaked to the bone, occasionally the water was cold enough to involve shrieking, my cousin and I hopped in the back of a pick-up truck to do drive by soakings. We drove around town for a little while, then reached one of the big main streets. Everybody was throwing water like crazy, and also part of Song Kran is to put baby powder on other people's faces, so many people were wandering the streets with a bottle of baby powder, and getting soaked with water. When I was still in the original truck, I spotted some friends, so I ran through the street to jump into their truck, and then we continued driving around town. Eventually the festivities came to my white friend's house, so we all got out of the truck, and started pouring more water everywhere while blasting music, and having a great time just enjoying Thai culture.
The next day I decided to go to Khon Kaen to celebrate more Song Kran, where I had heard was really amazing. I got to the bus station, and I could already tell I was in for a crazy couple of days. I was riding in a Song Tao (a pick-up truck/bus thing used to travel around town) and everybody was throwing water at us, and my backpack filled with clothes got soaked. Eventually I made it to my exchange friend's house, where I dropped my bag off, and continued with my farang friends and some of their Thai friends to go walk the streets. Our faces and necks were completely covered with baby powder (sometimes talcum powder! Ouch!) and drenched. There was live music everywhere, and it was quite an enjoyable day. We all headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next day of craziness.
The next day was just a repeat, but was equally fun and amazing. The Thai people were just so happy it was Song Kran, and were all just so happy to be enjoying a beautiful sunny day; it was great. There is no holiday like this anywhere in the world, and it was so much fun. I wish I could do it again, but alas, it only Song Kran comes only once a year.
I'll be back in a month and a half!! :(
-==-James

OH MY GOD A NEW POST!!!!

The Southern Tour.


We went so many places, and it was so amazing. We spent two nights in Krabi, which is a province North of Phuket, and we spent a lot of time sight seeing, and snorkeling there, which was so amazing. I got reallly sunburnt, but it wasn't too serious to have to go to a doctor. But it sucked a lot. After Krabi we spent one night at...a bay. I forget exactly where, but from there we took another sight seeing boat to go and see more islands, including James Bond island. We walked around in some of the markets, and did some more sight seeing. After that we traveled down by boat the the Similan islands. We stayed specifically on Koh Si, which has a beach resort on it. We slept in tents on the beach, and did a lot of relaxing on the beach, and in the ocean. We also went snorkeling even more while we were on that island, and we traveled throughout the entire group of Similan islands (there are 7). The fish there were beautiful, and the water was so amazingly clear, it was like living in a dream. After that we went to Phuket, where we spent some time seeing sights, and stayed at a really nice hotel. We also had the chance to go to the Phuket Fantasea. It's a theme park, but with no rides or anything, and it's all about Thai culture, and a bunch of other stuff. It was really cool. After that we started heading back North, and stayed one night in kind of the middle of no where on the beach, which was nice as a bit of a warm down for the trip, then landed back in Korat where we started.
Overall, this trip was probably one of the best weeks of my life. It's just too bad that I only have 3 more months to enjoy Thailand. But as they say, all good things must come to an end.


Feel free to ask any specific questions, or just say hi. My E-mail


I send my best as always, and wish you well. Sorry for not posting in so long, I've been really lazy, and when I'm not lazy, I've been busy.
--Jamie--