Songkran = WET

Wow, Thais don't mess around when it comes to celebrating. Songkran, the Thai New Year, is celebrated for three full days ... and day number two is just starting. Yes, we're back in Thailand - up north in Chiang Mai this time. Which just so happens to be the main hub for celebrating Songkran. We're not talking party hats and noise makers, but all out water warfare - with a smile. Pretty much if you go out during the day you're going to get soaked ... and I mean SOAKED. We spent 11 hours on a boat in the Philippines (not the best idea we've ever had) which was basically Big Foot Rapids on steroids, but I think we got even more wet during our thirty-minute tuk-tuk (rickshaw taxi) ride yesterday. It's pretty amazing. People literally line the roads armed with buckets of all sizes and large bins full of water - some clean, some not so clean. Beds of pick-up trucks are converted into mobile water-launching machines when 5-10 Thais of all ages crowd in with squirt guns and buckets. But the absolute best part is the constant grins that you see everywhere you look. This is just a FUN festival. It's like a youth group event that the whole country joins in on for DAYS. Even when someone nails you with a bucket of ice-cold or river-warm water, once you wipe the water from your eyes and catch the smile, you can't help but smile back.