Songkhran Holiday Part 2

The bus we got to Pai was a local bus, over filled to the point of people sitting and standing in the aisle. Luckily the ride was a scenic drive through the precarious twists and turns of the mountainous switchbacks. The bus wasn't air conditioned, so windows were down and the door was open. I was fortunate enough to have a seat right behind the open door so i both got an unobstructed view of the fantastic countryside, but I also got a continuous breeze.

At first i took no note of the little kids playing by the road with buckets of water. We were passing through a small village and it was nearing the songkhran holiday. Then I noticed the meniacal gleam in their eyes, and when you are close enough to see a gleam in someones eye, it is too late. Within a second I was drenched with water that flew through the open bus door. Suddenly I didnt seem so lucky to have gotten the seat that I did. Although the day was warm and the sun was bright, when the bus started getting up to speed the wind was cutting through my soaked clothes. The countryside, while beautiful, suddenly became oddly hostile as my eyes went from admiring the mountains and valleys to checked the upcoming road for kids with hoses and buckets.

The sound of closing windows. Thats my cue to brace myself. I close my window but theres nothing I can do about the gaping hole that is the open door.

Eventually the bus fills as we pick up more passengers and someone stands in the stairwell leading off the bus. After getting drenched a few times he starts shutting the door when he sees what I came to think of as 'songkhran checkpoints' as the kids often flanked the bus on both sides of the road. Nonetheless the water still sometimes made it through before the door was slammed shut.