" super soaking songkran! "

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it's thai new year's!!! a time when people bless buddha statues, pay respect to temples, and their elders.

and time also for the craziest street water splash-fest ever. khaosan road is probably most well-known for the massive amounts of backpacker-type neo-crunchy travelers-of-the-earth with vegan muffins and GORP variety.

around this day, all of these crazy nutty folksy folk traverse down the wide avenue intermixed with thousands of young scantily clad youths, trying to capture what in essence is a purification of the mind body and soul.

although they fail miserably in light of picking up each other and the copious amounts of hip alcohol sales pitches, therein lies something really unique and funtastic.

you find yourself in the middle of 15,000 smiling happy people. everything is great, and happiness surrounds every cell in your entirety. you are soaking form head to toe and it's beautiful.

to your right, ridiculous tourists are obviously taking advantage of their international status to hit on water-soaked boys, girls, and lady-boys.

to your left, there are a plethora of post-op super gateuys (trannies) flashing their magnificently sculpted wares with that unmistakable sheen, that defiance of gravity, and that odd wide breastplate space. it's intriguing and alluring, as much as it is momentary and awkward for some. you think it's great, because it feels like freedom.

three smile-wide girls walk up to you and slather songkran traditional paste across your beaming face. they each say happy new years with a wink. the last one whispers it like nectar into your ear, then spreads a handful of mineral-rich grainy mixture from ear-to-ear, ending with a little finger tease at the base of your chin.

then they walk away in tandem.

you nearly faint from the sheer normalcy of it all. then you realize that you are in that moment, experiencing one of the best things that will ever happen to you in the entire length of your life.

sa was dee bpee mai!

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