The wetness of the new year celebration continues for days, but it certainly beats the humidity. Walking home from Sukhumvit Soi 11 felt great in the middle of the night. As we reached our hostel I noticed the commuter trains were operating again. 5am.
This seems to be the trend for the Songkran celebration each night, but I opt out of the debauchery and instead turn in early. On the walk back to our hostel I see a handful of guys outside playing music, so I grab my mandolin and join them. We tune up our instruments and play a little jam. I don't know any proper songs on the mandolin but I play along quietly with Woody and Da King. Then they have their sober friend Lucky pick up more whiskey. So much for an early night! Woody speaks the most English so he describes the group a bit. Lucky is 'mang sa we rat' which means he doesn't drink, smoke, or eat animals. I get excited and try to ask where to find vegetarian food but I can't communicate it simply enough. King is a motorcycle taxi driver. I don't catch much else, but we spend a few hours sitting on the bench in front of their house, playing and drinking and fending off the tiny mosquitoes.
Speaking of vegetarian food, it is rather difficult to find here. India truly spoiled us with Veg restaurants piling up on each other. Now I'm in pork paradise. It might make things tricky, but I just have to get better at Thailand. Challenge accepted. So I don't wither away. Because I'm already so frail.
On the last day of Songkran our little trio takes moto-taxis to Lumphini Park. Our drivers get confused and take us to a number of apartment complexes while we lose Harry while getting directions. It turns out that his driver went straight to the proper spot, so we're not really sure why we got split up. The language barrier is a bit frustrating, but we have no choice but to enjoy ourselves at the festival. Well, I could certainly try, but that would take a lot of effort. The crowds at Lumphini Park are awesome. There are tents everywhere, so I imagine people must flood in from all over to attend. On my walk around the temporary neighborhoods I see a man chasing a massive monitor lizard back into the water. What-the-heck-Thailand-is-awesome. I head back to the main stage where Nicole is getting a massage and I enter the crowd, getting soaked and dancing around the only way I know how. The cold water is so refreshing but I still jump three feet in the air when someone pours a bowl of ice down my shirt.
Our hostel, VX The 50, is great for meeting people and making friends. A nice Dutch woman, Jeanette, sits down next to me and shares photos of her dive resort in Indonesia. She is planning to head straight back after renewing her visa to finish dive master training. After that, New Zealand and Japan. And she's trying to get a working visa in Canada. Anywhere but home, I imagine she would say.
We talk about American history and travel philosophy and shopping in Bangkok. She shares a bit of tasty candy with me and we chat until sleepy time. We exchange our ideas of travel and I probably gain more from listening to her. Seeking out some historical knowledge is imperative to the enjoyment of any place. Not all enjoyment comes from pleasure, but understanding the culture's history as well. She encourages me to see some of the more sobering sights in Cambodia such as the killing fields. I can tell there's a lot more that had a significant emotional impact on her, but it's hard to describe. That alone was sobering.
Coming back to my room for bed, I meet our new roommate Hualing, or Amy for my benefit. Amy is eager to learn English as she doesn't get many opportunities to speak it outside of China. She asks a million questions a minute and it's a blast to talk to her. She's not afraid to be silly and her sense of humor shines through despite any barriers. She claims to be shy, but her speaking is so uninhibited. It's amazing to see how a sentence evolves after she learns a new word or concept, rapidly stringing it all together. I teach her a few words and she does the rest. Full of energy, that one. What a trip. She leaves us with a few gems gleaned from the bathroom stalls in Bangkok:
"If you can't be the best, at least you're different."
"Single? No. I'm just in a relationship with freedom."
She laughs heartily and clears her throat loudly before talking. I ask her if she wants to go to the planetarium and she says she doesn't care as long as she gets to speak English.
This seems to be the trend for the Songkran celebration each night, but I opt out of the debauchery and instead turn in early. On the walk back to our hostel I see a handful of guys outside playing music, so I grab my mandolin and join them. We tune up our instruments and play a little jam. I don't know any proper songs on the mandolin but I play along quietly with Woody and Da King. Then they have their sober friend Lucky pick up more whiskey. So much for an early night! Woody speaks the most English so he describes the group a bit. Lucky is 'mang sa we rat' which means he doesn't drink, smoke, or eat animals. I get excited and try to ask where to find vegetarian food but I can't communicate it simply enough. King is a motorcycle taxi driver. I don't catch much else, but we spend a few hours sitting on the bench in front of their house, playing and drinking and fending off the tiny mosquitoes.
Speaking of vegetarian food, it is rather difficult to find here. India truly spoiled us with Veg restaurants piling up on each other. Now I'm in pork paradise. It might make things tricky, but I just have to get better at Thailand. Challenge accepted. So I don't wither away. Because I'm already so frail.
On the last day of Songkran our little trio takes moto-taxis to Lumphini Park. Our drivers get confused and take us to a number of apartment complexes while we lose Harry while getting directions. It turns out that his driver went straight to the proper spot, so we're not really sure why we got split up. The language barrier is a bit frustrating, but we have no choice but to enjoy ourselves at the festival. Well, I could certainly try, but that would take a lot of effort. The crowds at Lumphini Park are awesome. There are tents everywhere, so I imagine people must flood in from all over to attend. On my walk around the temporary neighborhoods I see a man chasing a massive monitor lizard back into the water. What-the-heck-Thailand-is-awesome. I head back to the main stage where Nicole is getting a massage and I enter the crowd, getting soaked and dancing around the only way I know how. The cold water is so refreshing but I still jump three feet in the air when someone pours a bowl of ice down my shirt.
Our hostel, VX The 50, is great for meeting people and making friends. A nice Dutch woman, Jeanette, sits down next to me and shares photos of her dive resort in Indonesia. She is planning to head straight back after renewing her visa to finish dive master training. After that, New Zealand and Japan. And she's trying to get a working visa in Canada. Anywhere but home, I imagine she would say.
We talk about American history and travel philosophy and shopping in Bangkok. She shares a bit of tasty candy with me and we chat until sleepy time. We exchange our ideas of travel and I probably gain more from listening to her. Seeking out some historical knowledge is imperative to the enjoyment of any place. Not all enjoyment comes from pleasure, but understanding the culture's history as well. She encourages me to see some of the more sobering sights in Cambodia such as the killing fields. I can tell there's a lot more that had a significant emotional impact on her, but it's hard to describe. That alone was sobering.
Coming back to my room for bed, I meet our new roommate Hualing, or Amy for my benefit. Amy is eager to learn English as she doesn't get many opportunities to speak it outside of China. She asks a million questions a minute and it's a blast to talk to her. She's not afraid to be silly and her sense of humor shines through despite any barriers. She claims to be shy, but her speaking is so uninhibited. It's amazing to see how a sentence evolves after she learns a new word or concept, rapidly stringing it all together. I teach her a few words and she does the rest. Full of energy, that one. What a trip. She leaves us with a few gems gleaned from the bathroom stalls in Bangkok:
"If you can't be the best, at least you're different."
"Single? No. I'm just in a relationship with freedom."
She laughs heartily and clears her throat loudly before talking. I ask her if she wants to go to the planetarium and she says she doesn't care as long as she gets to speak English.
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