I arrived in Bangkok to surprise surprise, chaos. But this time the naturally chaotic city was in overdrive. Everywhere you looked there were Thais with massive supersoaker waterguns and buckets of grey paste, shooting water at and swiping paste on anyone who passed, Thai or otherwise. I have never seen so much fun interaction between locals and foreigners, and for that reason alone, Songkran should be considered a great modern wonder of the world. The bus dropped us a few streets from Khao San due to the roads being shut for the sole use of water fights, and I made my way through the mania to my hostel, getting absolutely drenched and covered in the clay paste in the process. Dumping my bags I headed back out once again to surprise Kara and to somehow complete the errands I inevitably needed to carry out now I was back in Bangkok - a mean feat considering 90% of Thailand shuts down for the few days of Songkran to dedicate as much time to partying and getting soaked as possible. Later, after showering and a change of clothes (was there ANY point?), I made it to dinner with Kara, where we sunk a few Changs whilst exchanging stories of our travels over the last few months and comparing notes on all the gossip that had gone on, none of it blog appropriate.

Lauren and Jamie arrived at the hostel the next day just as soaked I had been and after checking in, we headed out to join the Songkran festivities in full swing, parking up at a street bar which was serving as a particularly active location of water throwing. One little Thai boy with a bit of an evil looking face (can you say that about kids?) was particularly vicious, getting me with a bucket full of water no less than twenty times during the hours that we were there. The verdict from everyone was that every country should have three days of water fighting as a national holiday and once again, it was proven that alcohol and water really do go together, despite what the Health and Safety department would say.

Having met our water quota we spent the next day running more errands in the massive shopping centre MBK and chilling out together before I had to take a ridiculous route through the busiest Songkran street parties with my backpack, my daypack and a small suitcase full of souvenirs and gifts in order to catch my overnight bus to Koh Pha Ngan. I arrived at the bus after an hour of being directed through Bangkok's back streets by the travel agent cold, wet and clay-covered - not ideal prior to an overnight journey. Not only that, but the bus was a regular bus, no leather beds a la Vietnam. I left Bangkok sad to have said goodbye to Lauren and Jamie, but excited to see some of my closest friends from home the next day on an island that is nothing short of legendary. Bring on the buckets!