A Chiang Khong Songkran 2018

[DavidFL]

A first official Songkran in Chiang Khong since I took up residence here.
The "master plan" was to join in some "dam hua ceremonies" but somehow I seemed to miss these at the right Wat.

Officially it got underway at the amphur office downtown.

The local dignitairies come to pay respect

Then the local Buddha images from Chiang Khong district are paraded around town for people to bathe the images & start off the year fresh clean. It is a huge line up of vehicles & Buddhas from every temple in the area.

There's some characters & interesting vehicles in the parade

the guy above saw me walking down the line taking photos & insisted I take a photos of him with his tractor. Such was the good spirit, previously I had been taking photos of him with his wife!

proud happy people & super friendly...

more to come.

 

[DavidFL]

Some fun bathing the Buddha images

 

[DavidFL]

The highlight of the afternoon was a massive parade of traditional dancing from all the villagers filling the main street of Chiang Khong.
Impressive & colourful it was!

The massive line up ready to go

 

[GTR-Admin]

That was a fortuitous relocation then, with impeccable timing. Usually, the smart move is to stock up on groceries and beverages a few days before Songkran, go home and stay there until the madness is over! It's the safest option, but clearly some places have spectacular parades that you miss if you don't venture out....

 

[DavidFL]

It was outstanding..
Here's live facebook vdo I took walking through the parade.

 

[DavidFL]

The following day was water wars day in the main street.

and the traffic jam at the north end of town wasn't a great deal different to the Chiang Mai mayhem

Going by motorcycle was the easiest way to negotiate the traffic jam

There was a nice party scene in the Bamboo Mexican

There were some interesting characters out there throwing water

 

[Conemeister]

Love the traditional side of these events......good to be in the right place at the right time.
Certainly was fun down south in Ao Nang, glad the locals gave up early though