Wet 'n Wild...

If you like to have fun with water, then this is for you! It is where the whole town or better yet, the WHOLE NATION will join you (or you joining them) to play with water.

Every year in celebrating the New Year (Buddhist Calendar), Thailand will hold a water festival called SONGKRAN (song-kran), usually held between 13-15 April and it is regarded as the longest holiday in Thailand. The word means 'passing' or 'approaching' and this festival marks the traditional Thai New Year.

Pic Source: therealsingapore.com

Water is the important element so if you don't plan to get wet, DO NOT TRAVEL TO THAILAND around this time of year. Your only "safe place" will be your own hotel room. To me, if you're not in the zone means you'll be missing all the fun! There will be street parties, foam party, water war, food, and so on.

I didn't want to miss it either, so me and some of my mates decided to ride to Hatyai and join the Songkran festival there. From Kuala Lumpur, we planned to group up at Petronas Station, Rawang Rest Area at 0100hrs on 12 April. However, we were delayed because we had a Songkran prelude, RAIN! Since the words "we ride, rain or shine" have been instilled in our minds, all of us minded the rain. We left the Rest Area at 0210hrs and took a steady cruise up north.

Our first refueling stop was at the Simpang Pulai Rest Area. We reached there around 0330hrs. Around 0530hrs we reached our next stop, Juru Shell station. Traveling at these hours started to take its toll. All you think of was your cosy bed at home..haha. But hey, the journey had to go on.

We wanted to reach the border (Bukit Kayu Hitam-Danok) when it opens (0600hrs) as we anticipated that there'll be lots of people there trying to cross the border for the Songkran Festival, but that didn't happen 'coz we were delayed from Kuala Lumpur. We only reached the border at 0730hrs. We were right! The road was already jammed at least 3km away from the Immigration Centre. Full of busses, cars, trucks, you name it! Lucky us, we were on motorbikes..hehe. 

It took us a solid one hour to settle everything at the Immigration Centre, stomachs were growling hence it was a high time for breakfast. Yes! So we strolled down Danok town and went straight to a muslim hawkers area. They are also famous for Daging Bakar Harimau Menangis or Crying Tiger Grilled Beef (haha...direct translation). There's no issue looking for halal food in Danok for one simple reason, many Thai muslims in the southern part of the country.

The food at this hawkers' area was so tasty and cheap! I had the pulut (sticky rice) and rendang. Simply delicious! They also have nasi kerabu and such.

pulut and beef rendang

Ok, time to hit the road again. Danok-Hatyai is about 55km apart so it took us another hour to reach Hatyai. We were heading to our hotel. In anticipating the Hatyai town area will be packed, we chose to avoid it. We stayed 3km away from the town area and after searching for quite a while, we finally reached our hotel, the Boom Forest Resort.

MYR110/nite with breakfast

front desk

The resort was nice, clean, and quiet with parameter fencing and you get to park your bike at your doorstep. They also have a small restaurant where the serve a small buffet breakfast and other meals in a day. After a good catch up with our sleep, we went to Sami Kitchen. It offers, halal and good local cuisines. The resort we stayed in also offers shuttle service for TBH100 per one way trip.

selfie!

At the town area, Songkran celebration has already begun, so we head down there to get our share of fun. There are many ways you can join in the fun either by spalshing others with a water gun or you can buy talc powder and mix it with water and simply pour it on people..haha....but I always look for action so I chose the water gun!

The guns come in many sizes (hehe). The most expensive would be MYR60 (5500cc) a piece. They are sold everywhere. Now, it's time to rumble!

In Hatyai, amongst others, the Songkran will last until midnite. So please don't think that you will be dry at dinner time. Playing with water for hours will make you hungry! ;) We actually minded everybody and sat down at a nasi lemak hawker and take our meal smack in the middle of the "war zone".

teh tarik with straw

13 April was our second day of Songkran but it was the first day of the real Songkran celebration (13-15 Apr). So on this day, was the real deal.

ready to war!

The whole town has started splashing water from as early as 0900hrs. We arrived at the town area ard 1100hrs and went straight to Hamid Restaurant for our brunch. The food there, to me, was alright, tasty enough, but it's halal.

Meals done, game on! The streets were full of people, whenever you are there and you see this....START SHOOTING!

gang war!

If you think that you'd be safe in a tuktuk...think again!

sitting duck!

Some prefer the water and some just like to enjoy the concert, street party, and foam party...yeah baby! FOAM PARTYYY!!!

After all the hustling and water splashing, fingers were pruning, we decided to call it a day. We went to yet another tourist spot in Hat Yai, the Khlong Hae Floating Market for dinner. There you can find local delicacies, souvenirs, and such. They are open daily from 1500-2100hrs. It's better to go after 1700hrs when it is not too hot.

It has been a great experience riding 500km in the middle of the nite. Less traffic and much cooler, although you might get sleepy and will turn out to be dangerous. I'd say, with proper rest or even getting some sleep before your departure will definitely help a lot.

I have been to Songkran Festival for two straight years in two different places (first was Phuket) and I must say that so far it has never turned me down. It is a Festival in Thailand that you must go and experience it first hand. I will definitely be back next year, God willing...

Songkran thru my lense...