Water Fights and Motor Bikes
Sukhothai -> Chiang Mai, 10th to 13th April 2002
After a lengthy bus ride (about 6 hours) I reached the major,
northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. I quickly hopped onto a songthaew
to get to the guest house I'd chosen, when I got there, luckily,
there was one spare room, which I quickly accepted.
 Chiang
Mai is a great place. It's got all the amenities you could need,
it's fairly modern, but not noisy & polluted like Bangkok. It's easy
to find peace & quiet or a busy street packed with buzzing clubs and
bars, depending what mood your in. It's also quite compact and easy
to get around, the main part of the city is contained within a
square defined by the ancient city walls and a moat running all the
way round. Actually, a lot of the wall has gone now, but it some
places it can be clearly seen, especially by the 4 main gates, each
facing one of the main compass points.
Chiang Mai is also a good base for taking part in many of the
activities that northern Thailand is famous for. Trekking, Thai
cooking course and Thai massage courses can all be done from here.
Trekking is the most famous activity here, with dozens of companies
offering 2 to 7 day trips out into the wild. However, mainly due to
cost, I'd decided not to do any treks this time round, but next time
I visit Chiang Mai, I really want to do some jungle trekking. I also
found that due to the Thai New Year festival, a lot of companies
weren't operating over the few days I was in Chiang Mai anyway.
Talking about the Thai New Year, this is a very, if not the most
popular Thai holiday. Officially, it's about 3 days around the 13th
April where everyone celebrates the start of a new lunar year. Many
festivities & rituals take place, such as parades, music and food
festivals. But by far the most popular tradition now, is the "water
throwing". For the duration of the holiday (strictly speaking, only
3 days, but actually about 5 days) huge water fights fill the
streets. Everyone young and old lines the streets, armed with water
pistols, hoses, buckets, water bombs and many more things soaking
everyone else. The main targets are the vehicles on the roads, but
the pedestrians and other people all get drenched as well. Of
course, many open top trucks & cars crawl slowly along the road with
a small crew armed with water weapons riding on the back! It's great
fun, and you've got no choice but to take part! Wearing light, quick
drying clothes is the best option, and don't carry anything that's
not double wrapped in plastic bags, because YOU WILL GET WET, VERY
WET! (Note, that you must be modestly dressed at all times, i.e. you
can't walk around in just shorts/swimming-costume because this is
offensive to Thai culture. Some people do, but it doesn't make you
any friends. More can be found out about Songkran by clicking here.
So, for most of my time in Chiang Mai, although it was really hot &
sunny, I was completely soaked. But it's so much fun, I can't
complain! It's quite a sight seeing so many people line the roads,
especially by the river & canal, where there is and unlimited supply
of water! Also, on the main street, the council have connected up
taps to the main water pipes, where you insert some money, and the
tap turns on so you can refill your bucket! Chiang Mai is the best
place to celebrate Songkran, and I ended up here completely by
chance!
Chiang Mai, like most other Thai cities, has countless temples
dotted around the city, and I visited a few of the more impressive
ones on my second day.
On one day, I also hired a motorbike so I could do a bit of
exploration around Chiang Mai. For only 150B (less than 3 pounds)
for a 24 hour hire, it's pretty darn cheap! Note that if you come to
Thailand, although most locals don't wear helmets, it is actually
illegal not to. The police don't enforce it strongly, but they do
make random stops, where you can get fined. But being a sensible
English person, I used a helmet. Road safety is drummed into us more
in Europe than it is in Asia. It's interesting to note that it cost
nothing extra to hire the helmet as well, and especially with the
wet roads & water throwing, it makes sense!
Also, when hiring the motorbike they don't check if you've got a
license or had any experience. Seeing as I've never ridden a
motorbike before, I had to ask the guy what all the pedals & levers
did! He didn't seem too concerned by my ignorance, and after showing
me how to change gears & all that, off I went, slowly, hopping like
a kangaroo. I drove up and down the quiet alley a few times, until I
was comfortable, then off I went properly!
I had great fun burning around the fairly empty roads, exploring the
surrounds of Chiang Mai. Nothing beats the freedom of the open road
and the wind in your face. Read more about where I went in the next
diary entry...
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