Cleansing our sins in Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok on Saturday afternoon. After switching hotels (our original hotel was very swanky....in the seventies...before someone closed the door and smoked in there for thirty years before giving us the keys) we headed over to the fancy hotel associated with our cheaper version, to take a bit of relaxing pool time before heading out to meet Marc.

I originally met Marc at one of Lisa's parties just before I went to Barcelona. As luck would have it,he was heading there too, to stay with his friend Steve. So, I hung out with Marc and Steve in Barcelona, and haven't seen him since then. As luck would have it, he's been living in Bangkok for about 5 months, knows tons of people, and knows his way around!

We met up with Marc in the early evening and we began by taking a brief tour of the seedier side of Bangkok. We began in a small area filled with hostess bars, where young thai women dance on stage in skimpy clothing. They are each identified by a number (just like Thai restaurant menus) to make ordering easier. We get to witness firsthand the disgusting scene of old men purchasing the company of young Thai women. We stay for a beer, then move on for a little "same, same...but different" at a bar featuring ladyboys (male to female transexuals). They are quite fabulous looking and very flirtatious (compared to the self-conscious women) and we are pretty sure that the three muscular frat boys in the front row have absolutely no idea that the "ladies" they are making eyes at and high-fiving each other about, were men not too long ago. Buyer beware, indeed!

From there, we make our way through market stalls and push past offers of "ping pong /banana shows" (if you don't know, I am not telling you) to Silom Soi 4, an exuberant area filled with a variety of lively,non-seedy, bars. There, we get an opportunity for a good and throrough cleansing.

April 13-15 is Songkran, the Thai new year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_New_Year), but often the festivities begin earlier. Songkran is about cleansing, and part of the tradition involves pouring water on others as a sign of respect, but this tradition has evolved to become the world's largest and longest street water fight. The first time you get shot with a super soaker, it's surprising. By the fifth time, you give up. Eventually, you have to give up as streams of water come at you from all directions. Some of the more enthusiastic participants fill buckets of water and splash them on passerbys. Krisi, Marc and I are thoroughly soaked by the time Marc finds some friends and the 3 of us are co-opted to "Team Bar Bar" which is in direct competition with the bar across the street. We borrow super soakers and water guns and we join in the fight. At this point, you have 2 choices: be soaking wet and miserable or soaking wet and happy, so Krisi and I join in full force, dancing to the music and aiming our water guns. We keep our beers covered and our eyes and mouths closed as water is thrown at us from all directions. By the time we get home, we are like drowned rats and the dye from my very cheap Chiang Mai market-purchased skirt is dripping down my legs into little black puddles on the floor.

The next afternoon, we get soaked by the time we return to our hotel from pool time. We buy $3 t-shirts and prepare ourselves for an afternoon of water by wearing bathing suits and water shoes. We meet Marc and begin heading to meet his friends around Kho San road. What we find is pure chaos. People are walking around with super soakers and buckets filled with warm and ice-cold water. I purchase my own super-soaker for $6 and join in. There's nothing you can do except go with it, and I soon find myself aiming squarely at the tourists who look like they want nothing to do with the celebration. People are also walking around with a white chalk mixed with water, which they smear on your face (politely saying "sorry" or "thank you" as they do it). We've got all our belongings, including a camera, in plastic ziplocks to avoid getting soaked. I find I have dead aim with the water gun, and my square in the face technique wins me a number of individual battles.

At the end of the day we look like we've gone swimming with our clothes on and there is white paste dripping from our faces all over our clothes. We decide to get a Tuk Tuk home, and about 6 of us pile in. What we don't realize is that a Tuk Tuk, when stopped by the curb at a red light, is basically putting us right in the line of fire with no possibility of escape or retaliation. People are hurling buckets of water (alternating warm and ice cold) into the Tuk Tuk, and all we can do is close out eyes and mouths and get drenched.

We've had a great time here in Bangkok, but with two more days of Songkran we realize that we aren't going to see any sights and we haven't got enough clothes we can ruin. So, we've changed out flight and are heading out to Krabi today, returning for 3 days in Bangkok at the end of the month.

Without Marc, we never would have been able to participate as actively in the Songkran festival. It was such a great experience and I feel quite thoroughly cleansed as we head to Railay Beach for some serious relaxation and beach time....although, Krisi has decided we are going rock climbing...we'll see.

Sawasdee Pi Mai!