The transport from Luang Nam Tha to the Laos-Thailand boarder was awesome. AC, smooth (no idea whyt that road is paved and most others in Laos cannot even be called roads), fast, and efficient. The boarder crossing was easy as could be and getting from the boarder to Chiang Mai took a little effort and some waiting but was not bad at all. It was, though, a day almost completely consumed by travel as I spent about 13 hours getting from one town to the other.
After a few days off it was time for another trek. The area around Chiang Mai is notorious for its trekking and as a result prices are inflated. I opted to take a two-day, one-night trek partly because of the cost and partly to return to the city in time for songkran (more on this in the next paragraph). This trek was not as good as the one in Phongsali but still enjoyable and worth the cost. The villages we went to were obviously fake, set up by the travel agency to get more money from you. The trekking itself was good enough, but the real highlight of the trek was not the elephant riding (boring and painful) or the bamboo rafting (boring again), but rather the white-water rafting. I had never been before, so I did not know what to expect and I am confident that this white-water rafting was pretty tame but it was still a lot of fun. The river bank was filled with people celebrating songkran (again, just wait a second) and splashing water on us. Naturally, we splashed back with our paddles.
Though I am quite possibly the least lucky person in Cook County, which would put me high in the runnin' for least lucky worldwide, I had something working in my favor in Chiang Mai. By pure chance I arrived in Chiang Mai a few days before the start of songkran, the Thai new year. Songkran is, without question, the best holiday in existance and Chiang Mai is the center for all festivities. Songkran is literally a 3-day (though in practice it is actually 5-7), nation-wide water fight. Everybody is pouring water on everybody. It is impossible to avoid. You are wearing a suit (not that anybody ever wears a suit out here)? Now you are wearing a wet suit. Important documents? Not any more. I have no pictures from the festival because my camera would not have survived. Each day, the entire day is spent pouring water on people, having water poured on you, and drinking. This holiday could not be better save for the fact that hundreds of people die each year, mostly the result of motorbike accidents. Thailand's goal this year was to have only 450 deaths. I have no knowledge of what the total ended up being.
More typical of my luck is that when I returned from the trek the dorm bed that I had reserved at Banana Guesthouse before I left was taken. (I had one of those Jerry Seinfeld-car-reservation conversations except with somebody that speaks only broken English.) I scouted the city for a bed but because of the holiday everything I could find was booked or way too expensive. I decided that my best option was to ask if I could crash on the floor of two American girls that I had met before my trek. I asked and was accepted with open arms, thankfully. This arrangement actually continued for four nights and even aften the holiday ended because it was mutually beneficial to all involved. For a couple of nights there was actually four people in the room and I began to wonder what the guesthouse owners were thinking.
Chiang Mai was my first place I stayed at in Thailand but I cannot imagine liking any place in Thailand more.
Songkran!
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