Songkran. The world’s wildest water fight.

I sit in the back of a Tuk-Tuk and cruise along Phuket’s spectacular west coast. The Sunday sun slowly sinks into the Andaman Sea and conjures a breathtaking red glow onto the few lonely clouds in the sky. I sit and drive and let all those coconut palm trees pass by.

Simultaneously, I try to process the past 24 hours.

It is Saturday evening, the 12^th of April 2014. Adam, my good friend from Barcelona, and Sofie, our new Danish intern at Elephant Hills, hire a whole minivan to drive us to Patong – basically the Ibiza of Thailand. Adam and I bought supersoakers for the whole team, because it is…

SONGKRAN!

Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year. In former times, younger persons washed older persons’ hands at this occasion, to symbolically wash away the sins from last year. Over time, this has developed into the world’s wildest water fight. (Probably because only washing your hands wouldn’t be sufficient for all the sins we commit these days… ^^)

So we chuck our stuff in our hostel room and dress up. Sofie gets her black dress out, Adam and I – our swim shorts. After carefully elaborating our options for half a minute or so, we decide to go topless. A very wise decision, as we would learn soon.

As walking doesn’t get us anywhere, we hire a tuk-tuk to bring us to Bangla Road. What Khao San is for Bangkok, is Bangla for Patong. Just worse.

A tuk-tuk is a semi-open vehicle, perfect to have fresh wind blowing through your hair while enjoying a ride and the views. Not so perfect to move forward during Songkran – way before reaching our destination, we are soaking wet. And by soaking, I mean that I am certain there was nothing left in the inside of the tuk-tuk that was not wet. In retrospect I must admit that pointing my empty supersoaker at passersby and making a *splash* noise probably didn’t help much to keep us dry… ;)

So we finally reach Bangla Road. We are soaking wet. But – so is everybody else! I bet you cannot imagine what this place looked like: The roads were blocked with pick-up trucks stuffed with people throwing water from the back of the cargo area. The sidewalks were full of people, all armed with super soakers, water guns and other water sputtering gadgets. In front of each bar you’d find a massive ton where people refilled their equipment. And behind most corners there were kids lurking around with hoses, waiting to blast a heavy water-jet right into your face.

So we fight back. “Save the Queen!” Adam shouts, and instructs me that we two guys would have to save Sofie’s life from now on. We fight hard. We fight dirty. We fight … almost successful. I honestly believe if Sofie had had like 3.287 lives, there could still be one or two left.

We retreat to a bar. They have free water for all customers. And some kind of team morality: All bar clients fight together. Most of the time. Unexpected guerilla attacks do happen occasionally. Not that anyone would care anymore, every person along this road (and there are several thousand!) is as wet as the Andaman Sea itself. The only troubles are the varying water temperatures – from ice-cold to urine-warm, Tom Hanks would probably compare it with a box of chocolates. You never know what you gonna get.

We flee into another place, a closed one, and enjoy the dryness of the moment for around 30 minutes, before it’s time to hit the road again.

There are occasions when I imagine I am not too bad with words. But I must capitulate here – words cannot express what we witnessed that night. In case you’re up for a first impression: Type “Songkran Patong 2014” into the YouTube search engine. In case you’re up for the real thing: Book flights to Thailand April next year. Believe me – you will not regret a single Cent you’ll spend!

The following day. Adam departs to the airport. Estimated travel time is usually around 30-45 minutes. Today, the hostel receptionists hurries him to leave right now. He has only four hours left…

Sofie and I fight our way through Bangla Road again, enjoy a mouthwatering lunch and delicious strawberry milk shakes, dive right into an open air foam party and then recover at the beach for a little while.

Sofie somehow finds the energy to stay for another night; I will have to work tomorrow, so I head back to Chalong. We find a driver, deliver Sofie to the hostel to freshen up, and I snuggle into the back of the Tuk-Tuk to watch the sensational Sunday sun set while cruising along Phuket’s spectacular west coast.

The journey takes double as long as usual. By the time I arrive back at my apartment, I am still trying to process what has happened, but I am quite certain by now that I’ll probably never fully understand this unique event I have just witnessed.

But one thing I have realized once again today:

LIFE IS AWESOME!

Visa Run to Myanmar. From Phuket via Khao Lak to Ranong. And back.

Depending on your visa, travelers in Thailand has to leave the country between every 14 to 90 days. They call it a “visa run”, as it is truly just running out of the country, to then return and obtain a new visa.

It is a big business. Every day, dozens of vans, each filled with 10-12 passengers, cruise from Phuket along up to Ranong on the Burmese border – and all of them hurry back in the late afternoon. The price varies, some providers charge THB 1.500 for this, other just THB 1.200. The service remains the same: Up to Ranong, cross the border by boat, 10 minutes in Myanmar, back to Ranong, new visa stamp, lunch, and back to Khao Lak or Phuket. You can organize it with basically everyone in Khao Lak or Phuket; just make sure to insist on paying THB 1.200 from the beginning.

We agreed I’ll be at the new Tesco Lotus in Chalong at 5:30am. I hurried to make in on time, just to experience once again: It is never worth hurrying in Thailand. I got picked up around 6:10am.

As usually, nobody spoke in the van. 11 of us were visa running to Ranong today, 7 nationalities, ages ranging from 20-65. Everyone does it. Not a big deal.

Two stops along the way, for toilets and snacks. Other than that: Listen to music, relax, sleep, play smartphone games, read a book, enjoy the scenery – especially north of Phuket the landscape is beautiful.

Visa run drivers are madmen. The get paid per run, not per hour, so they of course hurry to get you there and back as quickly as possible. Tailgating, risky overtaking maneuvers and even the defiance of red traffic lights are normal behavior here. Close your eyes. Relax. Listen to music.

Choose your seat wisely: In the back, you will feel every single hump. But you don’t disturb anyone when reclining your seat. The choice is yours. Take a jacket. And socks. The air-con is icy.

Once you’ll reach Ranong, your driver will point you in the right direction to line up. Have your departure card filled in and at hand. In case you overstayed, be prepared to pay THB 500 per day. Many people do it. Not a big deal either. (You'll be brought to the little room behind the glass window. It's like 3x7m. 5 persons are present: Two official guys, one lady stamping passports, and two ladies preparing food, managing the YouTube playlist, regulating the aircon... it's well worth the THB 500.)

After handing in your departure card, a boat takes you to Myanmar. It’s like two kilometers, but it takes like 30 minutes. Relax. Enjoy the scenery.

Reach Myanmar. Get your stamp. Buy alcohol and cigarettes, if you like. Back on the boat. Back to Thailand. Back in line. Have your arrival card filled in and at hand. Next stamp. Bamm. Formalities finished.

Then the enjoyable part. Have lunch with the group. Make friends, if you haven’t done so yet. Return to the South.

As I was heading to the gulf of Thailand the next day, I got dropped off at Takua Pa. Absolutely underestimated beauty of the west! (Read more on Takua Pa here.)

Arrival in Takua Pa ca. 5:30pm. Time for a beer.

Amazing sunset at Takua Pa. Did anyone ever tell you this place even existed?