here, there, everywhere

Banks of the Mekong.


In Chiang Khong on the Laos-Thailand border, where they've been celebrating the Thai new year for four days (and counting) of non-stop waterfights. Yesterday the festivities reached a fever pitch, with the entire main drag through town a virtual water park, with kids stationed by ominously huge tin drums of water and flatbed trucks of teenagers cruising back and forth, soaking everything they passed; the only break came when a small parade rattled its way through town, though even then the trucks were filled with the occasional Buddha statue and ... more people throwing water. Today is a bit quieter (it's noon and I'm still relatively dry), though the flatbed trucks are still looping their way through the streets and you can hear the odd splosh of water hitting the pavement amidst shrieks of laughter every few minutes.




Kids splashing in the Thailand-side of the Mekong.


Chiang Khong itself is a smallish border town stretched out alongside the Mekong, and yesterday the opposite bank in Laos was filled with bright tents and hundreds of people splashing around in the river to the accompaniment of tinny, festive music. Later that night, after managing to dry off from my walk through town, there was an amazing thunderstorm, with apocalyptically huge bolts of lightening cracking over the Mekong; every so often the power would blink out for a moment on the opposite bank, leaving it pitch dark except for the odd headlights and flash of lightening for just a moment before the electricity would come flickering back on.




Laos party!


There isn't a lot to do in Chiang Khong (unless you count the nearby tourist restaurant that offers Food! Drink! Disco!) , especially since being drenched by overzealous crowds of friendly-but-determined teenagers starts to loose its novelty after a few hours, so I'm glad I took advantage of Chiang Mai's touristy amenities and stocked up on non-guidebook reading material (House of Spirits, A Hundred Years of Solitude, both of which are looking a bit waterstained by now). At any rate, tomorrow I head into Laos, where I'll spend two days traveling south by boat to Louang Prabang. Happy Thai/Lao/Cambodia new years!