13th Apr – Songkran day. Got up and expected to see the people on the streets this morning. But it was very quite. No water splashing or hosing like the night before to be found. Had breakfast and proceeded to check out form the hotel. Asked the staff in English if they are celebrating the New Year and they said yes, but someone had to work! So I teased them saying that they would probably be paid more working on New Year. We then proceeded to load the bikes, getting ready for the ride back and the girls from reception came over to look at our bikes. This was when our Kwa started to sprinkle water on the girls who ran away. A little later, they came back to complement Kwa’s gesture. So, it was with this New Year blessing that we 4 bikes started the journey back.
All along the way, we saw people standing by the roadside with water guns, hoses or dippers as they tried to soak the passersby. Quite often, we would see a truckload of people at the back , complete with huge containers of water. These are the mobile “blessing” units. Like army
vehicles, they would travel slowly along the road and would splash water on passerby or have a water war with another similar passing vehicle. Of course, this was all in good fun, in the spirit of the festival.
As we traveled the roads thru the towns or areas with a smaller population, there would be instances where the merry making took those celebrating onto the road, i.e. they would wander or stand at the middle of the road and try to flag down those passing by. Some would just pour water on you while some would apply saffron or chalk powder/paste o
n you. Sometime you get scented water and sometimes color water. All these, though merry making, have to be approached with care as they do pose a hazard to traffic, and we do not know how far they’ll go in this celebration. On my part, I have been “watered” numerous times, even though my bike was moving. I found that my left side would tend to be wetter than my right side of the body. This was because the people who splashed me usually are those who stood on the roadside to my left. While riding under the hot sun, the splashing water was a welcomed blessing as it cools me down, albeit one sided. After a while, I would seek out the trucks and follow behind them slowly and I would signal those at the back of the truck to splash me! They were usually very surprised that I wanted to get wet and would happily splash me with the water. With a nod of thanks, I would then speed of until the next truck. There was once I actually pulled over to the side of the road and signal for the children to pour their water on me. Of course, they all ran over but only to my left side and I would signal for some of them to get to me right side to “wet” me.
Towards noon, we came into Klong Tom, a small town and we looked around for a place to lunch. Did I say this was Songkran?
After lunch, we continued on the road and then got separated. LoneRider and SkyRider disappeared. So it was I and Kwa riding along as we approach Trang. Somehow we got on a new highway that bypassed Trang while the other 2 Riders went into Trang. Realizing this, I SMSed LoneRider to wait in the town for us while Kwa and I U-turned back to Trang. Where about to meet in Trang, I am not sure. But at least, we would have narrowed down the area. And as the someone watching over us would have it, the 4 bikes merged into the same junction from different roads at the same time as we entered Trang! Talk about timing. Happy that we were now together again, we continued along the main road and decided to stop by a 7-Eleven for a break. Sitting by the roadside, I could see the people of Trang happily celebrating with water. As we prepared to continue the journey, Kwa started the water sprinkling of the 7-Eleven staff. Hmmn…is there a pattern here? Kwa and his water?
The scene along the road was almost the same and we arrived into Hat Yai. If you can recall, from Pt 1, I mentioned that we do not have any hotel reservation here. Time was about 4 pm and we started to look around for rooms. Came to one of the hotels that bikers frequent, and found that the owner had taken the initiative to book some rooms at a nearby “mansion” for cold cases like our. Very quickly, we grabbed 2 rooms. This was the Wanthana Mansion. Very basic and quite run down as some of the fixtures were dropping off. But we needed a place to stay, so who’s gonna complain? We parked our bikes at the bikers’ hotel and walked to the mansion.
While trying to settle in, I had to walked between the 2 places to get my things and to charge my phone (using bike’s battery). While all these were going on, Kwa went down to the road side and bought some mango pulut rice as his roommate was hungry. Once we got ourselves settled, we proceeded to walk out on the streets towards Lee Gdns.As we approach the Lee Gdns Hotel area, we could see that the main road had been turned into a party area. People were just dancing on the road while the music was pumped out from big speakers on the road side. There were “bubble” machines who made “soap bubbles” and the whole road around the place were covered by the bubbles Mostly young and some more senior people could be standing on a platform dancing away, as if in a trance. While mostly were dancing and having a good time, those at the peripheral of the crowd were playing with water. Vendors and hawkers somehow were still able to continue with their business.
We went into a bazaar type area and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. While having dinner, I got the waiter to make a hole in a mineral water’s cap. I then filled it up with ice water from the bucker of ice that most restaurant would supply to the table. This time, I would not only get wet, but would join in too!
After dinner, we proceeded to walk back and as expected, people were spraying water all over. Then, there was this driver of a truck who sprayed me with his water gun. Then he continued to drive slowly, concentrating on his driving. I sneaked up and emptied the bottle of cold water thru the driver’s window on him. Ha! Got him. But I too was “shot” in return. We then looked and just laughed at each other, smiled like little boys! Now, I can say I participated in Songkran! We then went back to the hotel.
As the evening tuned into night time, the water splashing ceased. The Songkran celebration had now ended. People would now return to their normal lives and shops, etc. would return to what they had been normally doing, if not for Songkran. We walked back to the Lee Gdns area and everything had gone back to their usual activities. After walking around for a while, we went back to the place near our “mansion” and I and SkyRider had our feet massaged. Kwa wanted a body rub so he went upstairs. LoneRider preferred his own thing and was not with us. After that, we bought more mangoes for "supper" (see how quickly they can cut a mango).
All along the way, we saw people standing by the roadside with water guns, hoses or dippers as they tried to soak the passersby. Quite often, we would see a truckload of people at the back , complete with huge containers of water. These are the mobile “blessing” units. Like army
vehicles, they would travel slowly along the road and would splash water on passerby or have a water war with another similar passing vehicle. Of course, this was all in good fun, in the spirit of the festival.As we traveled the roads thru the towns or areas with a smaller population, there would be instances where the merry making took those celebrating onto the road, i.e. they would wander or stand at the middle of the road and try to flag down those passing by. Some would just pour water on you while some would apply saffron or chalk powder/paste o
n you. Sometime you get scented water and sometimes color water. All these, though merry making, have to be approached with care as they do pose a hazard to traffic, and we do not know how far they’ll go in this celebration. On my part, I have been “watered” numerous times, even though my bike was moving. I found that my left side would tend to be wetter than my right side of the body. This was because the people who splashed me usually are those who stood on the roadside to my left. While riding under the hot sun, the splashing water was a welcomed blessing as it cools me down, albeit one sided. After a while, I would seek out the trucks and follow behind them slowly and I would signal those at the back of the truck to splash me! They were usually very surprised that I wanted to get wet and would happily splash me with the water. With a nod of thanks, I would then speed of until the next truck. There was once I actually pulled over to the side of the road and signal for the children to pour their water on me. Of course, they all ran over but only to my left side and I would signal for some of them to get to me right side to “wet” me.Towards noon, we came into Klong Tom, a small town and we looked around for a place to lunch. Did I say this was Songkran?
Well, almost all the shops were closed. No much choice. We stopped at probably the only 2 shops that were opened and had lunch there. The next time we talk about Songkran, must remember to consider where/what to eat!
While having lunch, some of the locals with their kids came around for lunch too. And Kwa started a water fight with the kids. They were having such a goo dtime that I think Kwa must be re-living his childhood years!
While having lunch, some of the locals with their kids came around for lunch too. And Kwa started a water fight with the kids. They were having such a goo dtime that I think Kwa must be re-living his childhood years!
After lunch, we continued on the road and then got separated. LoneRider and SkyRider disappeared. So it was I and Kwa riding along as we approach Trang. Somehow we got on a new highway that bypassed Trang while the other 2 Riders went into Trang. Realizing this, I SMSed LoneRider to wait in the town for us while Kwa and I U-turned back to Trang. Where about to meet in Trang, I am not sure. But at least, we would have narrowed down the area. And as the someone watching over us would have it, the 4 bikes merged into the same junction from different roads at the same time as we entered Trang! Talk about timing. Happy that we were now together again, we continued along the main road and decided to stop by a 7-Eleven for a break. Sitting by the roadside, I could see the people of Trang happily celebrating with water. As we prepared to continue the journey, Kwa started the water sprinkling of the 7-Eleven staff. Hmmn…is there a pattern here? Kwa and his water?
The scene along the road was almost the same and we arrived into Hat Yai. If you can recall, from Pt 1, I mentioned that we do not have any hotel reservation here. Time was about 4 pm and we started to look around for rooms. Came to one of the hotels that bikers frequent, and found that the owner had taken the initiative to book some rooms at a nearby “mansion” for cold cases like our. Very quickly, we grabbed 2 rooms. This was the Wanthana Mansion. Very basic and quite run down as some of the fixtures were dropping off. But we needed a place to stay, so who’s gonna complain? We parked our bikes at the bikers’ hotel and walked to the mansion.
While trying to settle in, I had to walked between the 2 places to get my things and to charge my phone (using bike’s battery). While all these were going on, Kwa went down to the road side and bought some mango pulut rice as his roommate was hungry. Once we got ourselves settled, we proceeded to walk out on the streets towards Lee Gdns.As we approach the Lee Gdns Hotel area, we could see that the main road had been turned into a party area. People were just dancing on the road while the music was pumped out from big speakers on the road side. There were “bubble” machines who made “soap bubbles” and the whole road around the place were covered by the bubbles Mostly young and some more senior people could be standing on a platform dancing away, as if in a trance. While mostly were dancing and having a good time, those at the peripheral of the crowd were playing with water. Vendors and hawkers somehow were still able to continue with their business.
We went into a bazaar type area and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. While having dinner, I got the waiter to make a hole in a mineral water’s cap. I then filled it up with ice water from the bucker of ice that most restaurant would supply to the table. This time, I would not only get wet, but would join in too!
After dinner, we proceeded to walk back and as expected, people were spraying water all over. Then, there was this driver of a truck who sprayed me with his water gun. Then he continued to drive slowly, concentrating on his driving. I sneaked up and emptied the bottle of cold water thru the driver’s window on him. Ha! Got him. But I too was “shot” in return. We then looked and just laughed at each other, smiled like little boys! Now, I can say I participated in Songkran! We then went back to the hotel.
As the evening tuned into night time, the water splashing ceased. The Songkran celebration had now ended. People would now return to their normal lives and shops, etc. would return to what they had been normally doing, if not for Songkran. We walked back to the Lee Gdns area and everything had gone back to their usual activities. After walking around for a while, we went back to the place near our “mansion” and I and SkyRider had our feet massaged. Kwa wanted a body rub so he went upstairs. LoneRider preferred his own thing and was not with us. After that, we bought more mangoes for "supper" (see how quickly they can cut a mango).
The we retired and prepare for the next day.
14th Apr – checked out of the mansion, had breakfast nearby and proceeded towards the border. Got thru the border quite fast and soon we were on the Malaysian side riding back.
Skyrider parted from us at the Butterworth ares as he wanted to go back to Penang. Then it was 3 of us riding to Klang. Apart from the regular stops for fuel and food, no much to mention here. But at the last stop, we noticed that the sky was getting darker, and we were about 1 hr from home. Should we prepare for the wet weather? Hey, we just came back from Songkran. We went there to for the water festival. So, we decided to just ride. Somehwhere around the Sg Besi area, it started to pour, I mean really pour, Cars slowed down with the blinkers on. Visibility was low but we had gone thru Songkran. No problemo. We continued riding in the rain and reached Shah Alam before the weather let up. By then we were all dripping wet, a reminder that this was what we wanted in the first place. To celebrate Songkran and to get wet.
Then it was home sweet home.
IHVR
14th Apr – checked out of the mansion, had breakfast nearby and proceeded towards the border. Got thru the border quite fast and soon we were on the Malaysian side riding back.
Skyrider parted from us at the Butterworth ares as he wanted to go back to Penang. Then it was 3 of us riding to Klang. Apart from the regular stops for fuel and food, no much to mention here. But at the last stop, we noticed that the sky was getting darker, and we were about 1 hr from home. Should we prepare for the wet weather? Hey, we just came back from Songkran. We went there to for the water festival. So, we decided to just ride. Somehwhere around the Sg Besi area, it started to pour, I mean really pour, Cars slowed down with the blinkers on. Visibility was low but we had gone thru Songkran. No problemo. We continued riding in the rain and reached Shah Alam before the weather let up. By then we were all dripping wet, a reminder that this was what we wanted in the first place. To celebrate Songkran and to get wet.Then it was home sweet home.
IHVR
Hi James,mana ada lalu Sg.Besi.The heavy downpour started after Rawang lah.
ReplyDeleteKwa, have to forgive him na...he still dream about Songkran festival na....ha ha ha
ReplyDeletePoh