Family Days at the Beach (Songkran again!)

By John Roberts 17 April 2008 01:44:00

Did I say, just a couple of blogs ago, that the last wild fling was over?  Knowing Songkran was upcoming and knowing what I know of that time, did I really believe that life would return to normal?

    Well, of course not, but I hope you noticed I did manage to get the Anantara ele-bios mostly updated in between the flinging and the flying, so some work was done before the madness of the Thai New Year festival engulfed us and the water filled the air.

    This year our front gate water sprayers - the betrunked cannons of last year, Makam and Bua Tong, were hors de combat - Makam looking after Nam Khong and Bua Tong not confident without her friend.
 
    Tong Kwao sprays only backwards, Jenny just likes to splash and the Galieng elephants frown on such behaviour anyway so it was left to the mahouts to uphold that side of the attack. 



    After a couple of afternoons of double dunkings (the babies were all bathed in the river first) we took the show to the beach where local folks - and mahouts - dine half submerged in the river while the sand banks and tall sacchuram islands await the rains and flood times...



...the walk out is always fun, pick-ups full of people slow down to splash the eles, keep 'em cool, and the grass verges are a buffet of fresh fodder at this time of year, add to this the local folks with their offerings of sugar cane and fruits; as long as there's a good place to rest and the distances are short it is great to break the routine...



...and when your destination has deep cool water and lots of grass...



...then life cannot be that bad, we spent the afternoon giving rides to the massed crowds and playing with the kids in the water, everyone camped down on the beach and - aside from a storm taking away the tent - all were refreshed for the public face day, the parade.

    I discovered on day one that my water proof camera, specially purchased to bring you the latest intimate photos, errrrm, wasn't waterproof so I didn't get any photos of the parade itself as that really was just a giant iced water fight.



    But here are a few pic's, Tong Kwao in her Sunday best...



    Hurry up and wait, all dressed up, but nowhere to go - every once in awhile, when it gets too hot, pop out to the street and get a soaking...



    ...and Phu Ki rests his trunk before his part carrying the boss of our local council above the crowds but not beyond the reach of a good soaking...

    ...and now the madness really is over, perhaps we can get some work done!

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