Songkran 2556 was awesome! Bangkok is one of the best places to experience this celebration of the new Thai year. If you’re in Bangkok, the place to be is the infamous Khao San Road.

Filled with foreigners and Thais alike, the area around Khao San Road is a hot, wet mess of bodies. The moving crowd on the street and the sidewalk hawkers throw water from buckets and waterguns. You shriek when the water is surprisingly icy and sputter when it gets you straight in the face. Another custom is to put chalk on each others faces, evoking the monks’ chalky blessings.

What I especially love about this holiday is the interaction that you get to have with the local Thais. The streets around Khao San were more Thai than tourist, and those streets were the most fun to travel on. To play with the little kids, gently if they’re young and with some good-willed vengeance if some 10-year old just got you in the eye, is so much fun. And a bucket of icy water down your back from a street vendor is the best kind of shock… as opposed to the shock you get from an expensive tuk-tuk ride.

This is my second Songkran celebration. If this year proves as amazing as last year, it definitely won’t be my last!