Day 102! Day 1 (kinda 1.5) of Songkran is here! It’s time to hit the streets of chiang Mai again and get ready for the carnage. I’m hopeful that the festivities live up to the hype!

I slept in and got up for breakfast around 10am. My friends Dan and Sam joined me for breakfast and we walked to a Khao Soy restaurant we had passed the day before.

This dish is quickly becoming one of my favorites of north Thailand.

Our next mission was to go to 7-eleven. On our walk over we got stopped by a parade. Which ended up being a smaller version of what we would see later.

It appeared they were processing the Buddha to the temple down the road. People were spraying it with water and the people around it, it was a site to see!

We snagged water and toasties and made our way back to the hostel.

A couple hours of resting later, Dan, Sam, and I set back out to find some lunch.

We saw a restaurant that looked convincing and sat down at it. It turned out they only had pork but the owner was kind enough to scramble some eggs for me (there’s rice underneath that).

My meal was filling, but not really what I was hoping for… it happens!

After lunch, it was time to roam the streets again to see what mischief we could get up to.

Dan and Sam actually ended up taking naps… so I went off solo to the main gate of the old city.

Songkran officially started today and it did not disappoint! Even more people were on the streets running around with water guns. They even closed off one of the main stretches of road where it was all out warfare.

I was taking pictures of the chaos when these two kids asked me if I wanted to join them. So I teamed up and tagged along. We walked through the streets causing mayhem wherever we could. Eventually I lost them and continued on my own.

While I was walking down the street, I randomly ran into my friend Ansgar, who I met in Hué, Vietnam!

Our catch up was interrupted by a very long parade! It was full of dancers and more Buddhas being marched down the street!

Everyone was smiling, dancing, and absolutely soaking the people in the parade.

While at the parade, my friend Henry found me. So we started running around the streets together, starting water fights with kids… and adults with hoses!

We eventually based up on a corner with a ton of kids who we went all out against for an hour or two. We originally were staying in one spot to let our friends catch up to us. But it ended up being a blast!

It was a perfect place to watch the parade, we had a place to constantly fill up our super soakers, and there was plenty of action and chances to get wet.

Eventually, Dan, Sam, Abi, and Tia showed up and we made our way to a Drum and Base pool party that was nearby.

We ended up staying here the rest of the night, dancing to good music, and having more water fights in and out of the pool.

I also had a very sub par Pad See Ew while at the party, not the best food day in the end.

It was another great day of running around like a child. No matter the age, everyone was getting involved with the festivities today! I’m looking forward to how the next two days go… but I am also looking forward to being dry all day!

– Elie