Staying behind for Songkran

It has been unusually hot at this time of the year.  Likewise, Bangkok has also been unusually quiet since last Friday.

The entire street in which we live in has been quite peaceful, and devoid of traffic. Throughout the day, one can count thenumber of cars actually passing through the expressway and by 6 pm (!), there hardly has been  any car at all! Traffic throughout the day is a dream. And it MOVES. We can drive to almost anywhere, and not get stuck in traffic for hours on end.

Traffic situation-wise, it is actually quite nice to be in Bangkok.

It is that time of the year called Songkran – the world’s largest water festival and essentially the traditional Thai New Year’s celebration. It occurs around the 13th to the 15th of April every year and celebrated by all for over a few days.

Unlike the previous years where we would usually plan for our annual vacation, this year, we stayed behind in Bangkok– the first time in our seven years in Thailand with NO plans to go anywhere whatsoever for such a long weekend. 

Given the long weekend, we actually found ourselves scratching our heads and scrambling away to find activities to keep Spud (and ourselves!) occupied. It is safe to conclude that finding things to do and running after Spud while trying to keep the household chores together is definitely more tiring that a 14 hour work-day for days on end! 

While it feels nice to have some family time together (and possibly making Spud all confused with her routine again), both Silver Bullet and I have been completely knackered by the end of the day. Apart from meal times which have proven to be very difficult with Spud refusing to eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner, we otherwise have had a rather pleasant time.

We have, so far,  managed to stay dry too despite seeing a lot of dousing activities out there on the streets, venturing only into the safe areas of Bangkok (enclosed places and shopping malls) and staying well-away from the crazy areas of water fights. 

Even whilst in the car, we made sure that we lock our doors, as apparently there had been cases where revelers would have no qualms opening the car doors and throwing water and/or talcum powder and /or flour  into your car to make you wet in the name of Songkran.

I would think though that if you are single or even married without small kids, Songkran would certainly be great fun. Otherwise, like us and possibly other parents with small kids, we avoid this devious festival like a plague! 

I tried taking some pictures whilst in the car, but none turned up well as we were mostly moving (!). So, to give you a flavour what it was like, I nicked off a few pictures from  Google Images of what lurked in the street corners of the big water party here in Bangkok.

And, uhmmm....no. I did not miss being a part of the water dousing chaos and mayhem.