Day 103! Another day of Songkran awaits! The streets are still bustling with people and the water fight is rampaging on. After a long day yesterday, it was time for a much needed chill day… or at least most of it was.

After a long day of water battling my way through the city, and of course dancing the night away, it was a sluggish start to my day.

But around 10am, Dan and I went out to find breakfast. We wound up at a new restaurant because everything seemed to be opening later (or closed) because of Songkran. I had another Khao Soi, which I absolutely love that I can have for breakfast every day.

I walked back to my hostel for a nap and to write yesterday’s blog post. When I awoke I found out that my friends were getting smoothies. I of course wanted to get one as well, so I walked out onto the hot streets of Chiang Mai to meet them.

Immediately, I was met with water fire from all directions. Trucks driving by with beds full of people, people on the sides of the street hurling buckets of water, and kids running around with mischievous smiles.

I came away relatively unscathed given the situation and successfully got my smoothie. I did take a small bucket to the side though.

We walked back to my friend Henry’s hotel where there was a nice outdoor lobby to play cards!

Most of us were still tired from yesterday’s activities, but we played a couple hands of a game called Secret Partner Whist. Once Dan and Henry joined in we switched over to some Shithead! It had been a few days since we had sat as a group and played cards, so that was very nice.

We all started to get hungry. So we packed up the card game and went on a walk to the restaurant we’ve been going to recently for dinner.

Even though we thought this walk would avoid us getting soaked from the festivities… we were very wrong. We again were immediately met with super soakers, people hurling buckets, and guys spraying hoses across the street.

Everyone from kids to grown ups get this look in their eyes when they see a target they want to get wet… and they had this look when they saw how dry our crew was.

We pretty much took over the entire inside of this restaurant, but the lady was happy to see us again! I got a banana smoothie, which was much better than the smoothie I got here last time. I also got chicken with basil, chilis, and rice. It was very tasty and filling, which was exactly what I was looking for.

We had a couple of hours to kill before our next plans as a group. So I went back to my hostel to relax for a bit. I then got a message from a new friend, Elise from France who I met in Pa Pae (but we didn’t get to chat much). She was at the mega Sunday night market walking around, so I went to find her since she was nearby!

The night market was huge! I unfortunately didn’t get a ton of time to walk around it this time, but hopefully I will in the future. This Sunday night market is the largest market in all of Thailand! And it looked very impressive.

My plan was to go to our groups plans for the night and then come back. But that didn’t end up happening unfortunately.

Once I found my friend Elise, we walked back to meet up with my crew of friends to head out to a pool party outside of the city! Our friend, Mia, lives in a villa just outside of Chiang Mai. So we hopped in a Tuk Tuk and made our way there!

This was my first Tuk Tuk ride in a while… and Songkran is one of the most fun times to be in one! Everyone sees Tuk Tuks as a big target and then pelt the windows with water if they’re open. People have the timing down really well and I was firing back with my super soaker through the window and open back door. It was so much fun!!

We arrived at the villa, which was a beautiful modern house with a lit up pool. The party was more of a hangout but it was still a pleasant way to finish off a chill day.

Dan, Elise, and I wound up getting hungry. So after a nice time of hanging out, we left the villa and went back into the city to find some street food!

It took us a bit, but after walking to the bar street we hit the jackpot.

We all got street stand pad Thai. It wasn’t the best I had, but for 50 Baht I could not complain!

We finished off the night with a beer and some dancing. We met a few more of Elise’s friends from her time in Thailand so far and then I called it a night.

Tomorrow is the last day of Songkran, so hopefully things will get back to normal. But I’ve heard that the water fight lingers for a day or two longer… I guess we’ll see!

– Elie