Songkran @ Kanchanaburi

I've been living in this country for years but never have I participated in the Songkran festivities. Getting wet in the middle of the street was not my idea of fun, so I had been avoiding it by flying back home. But this year, my friends and I decided to witness the highlights of Songkran -- not in the city, but in a wonderful province called Kanchanaburi.

It took us less than a week to plan the getaway. We were able to make a reservation even at the last minute, thanks to the wonders of the internet. Hotel/guesthouse bookings in provinces are usually full during this time of the year in Thailand, since most people from Bangkok leave the city for the holidays. Check out Sam's House. This was where we stayed for 2 nights.

Day 1: We were greeted by splashes of water, left and right! The songtew driver even tried to avoid the *busy* streets so we could arrive at the guesthouse safe and dry. As we enjoyed the moment, we wondered where all the water was coming from, because they were using an awful amount of water by the minute. We found out the next day that they pumped out water from the river Kwai.

Sam's House was just as we expected. Well, to cut the story short, the website pictures are the same as the actual place, hehe. We just checked in, dropped our bags in the room, then headed for the bikes. We pedalled our way across town while getting spattered by cold water and powder all over. There's no point avoiding the wet folks, they sure know how to hunt the dry ones down. We rode our bikes till sunset, right when the splashes stopped. That was truly a ride to remember.

Rain came, so we raced back to the guesthouse and had beers and chips at the back porch while waiting for dinnertime. There was something weird about dinner, though. For some reason, there was cauliflower and carrots in our tom yum... hmmm. Well, fortunately enough, we eat ANYTHING when hungry, so never mind about that. When the rain stopped, we headed for the massage parlor to relax.

Day 2: It was an early start. Got up at 7, then had breakfast at 7.30 while waiting for the tour group to pick us up. We had the day planned out for us. The tour included: swimming and trekking at Erawan waterfalls; elephant trekking and bamboo rafting; trip to Kra Sae cave (or rather *a glimpse of*) and the wooden railway bridge; train ride on the Death Railway; and, quick tour to the bridge on river Kwai. I liked bamboo rafting the most, not only due the fabulous scenery, but because my friend was having the time of her life with this mouth-watering hunk. (Well, she just sat beside him and had a little talk on the raft, in case you're curious *wink wink*)

The 400-meter hike to Erawan falls was a bit of a disaster. The national park was packed with people, and we had to climb really, really high to get a decent space of water and rocks. The water was cool, and the boulders of rocks were slippery, and two toes on my right foot are now swelling like chorizo de bilbao because I slipped and hit the darn thing. Ok, exagge. But my toes do hurt... *sniff*

Night came, and the rest is history... (clue: something to do with booze and whatever-occurs-in-this-room-stays-in-this-room kind of thing) Haha! Well, it was a fun night. Thanks to my friends, with whom I shared some good laughs till 2.30 in the morning.

Day 3: Woke up at 9.30 am, packed, checked out at 12.30, had lunch near the bus terminal at 1.10, got on the bus at 1.50 then headed back to Bangkok. We arrived 2 hours later, then went straight home to enjoy the leftover sinigang and adobo, with matching pusoy-dos.

Check out the rest of the pictures here. Enjoy!