Splash!

On the day we arrived in Chiang Mai, it was Songkran, which is the Thai New Year.  To celebrate they have a days-long water fight throughout the entire city, and it is the biggest water fight in the world.  It's also the perfect place to have it, as the Old City is surrounded by a moat, so there is a source to replenish water guns, buckets, and barrels.

It is absolutely wild, and you better believe we joined in on the fun!

Once we were checked in to our hotel, we got ready to get outside and get soaked.  No one is spared when it comes to getting splashed, and I mean no one.  We saw numerous people on motorbikes speeding down the street as other people threw buckets of water at them. Groups of friends and families fill the backs of trucks equipped with barrels of water, and others had hoses hooked up outside their homes and businesses.  If you go outside during Songkran, you WILL get wet.

We made our way down to the Old City (a square within the city, surrounded by the moat), where the most amount of action takes place, and traffic barely moves, but each vehicle is loaded down with people and water.

It was so, so fun, and we were drenched to the bone.  April is the hottest month in Thailand, so it felt refreshing to get a bucket of water over the head.  At night every street becomes a Songkran party, with lights, water spraying everywhere, and bumpin' music.  The water fights and parties last for three days, and we were there for two of them.

When we return to Chiang Mai one day, we'll make sure it is during Songkran, which always falls from April 13-15th.  It's a crazy time, and an absolute blast.

Another day we had one of the most exhilarating experiences of our lives, when we went out to Bua Tong Waterfall, also known as the sticky waterfall in the rainforests of Chiang Mai.

The limestone becomes sticky in the places where the water runs the most, so it washes away any growth on the rock that would make it slippery.  The trick is to step in the places where the rock looks beige, and try to avoid the slippery green parts.  You can then climb right up the waterfall like Spiderman!

When we first arrived we saw this sign:

I asked about the types of snakes (knowing full well that the Thai rainforest is full of pit vipers, king cobras, and pythons, among many, many other types of snakes).  The guide confirmed what I knew.  The trees are teeming with a variety of snakes, and she explained that they come into the water to drink.  Haha!  Okay, let's do this!

We were scared of slipping at first (there are some sketchy parts), but after the first time up and down, we were revved up to do it all again.  The guide left us to climb up and down on our own, and we had the time of our lives, even in the super steep parts.

Going down was actually tougher than going up.

We stopped for some quiet moments to just soak it all in, and listen to the sounds around us.

For a man who isn't fond of water, and said he never wanted to step foot in the rainforest, Christopher could not wipe the grin off of his face; he loved every second of this adventure.

This is an excursion we would 100% book again.  We had a private guide, which I would recommend.  She picked us up at our hotel, gave us the low down on climbing up and down, and came with us the first time, got us lunch, and then took us back to our hotel after.

Two of the happiest people in Thailand:

Another new thing we tried on this trip, was getting our feet chewed on by little fish!

Not sure how pedicured we were after (they seemed a bit softer), but it was a neat thing to try.

What is the most exhilarating thing you've ever done?