Thailande - Un Nouvel An bien "arrose" :)

Le Nouvel An en Thailande, ou Songkran, est une gigantesque bataille d'eau. On m'a dit que les racines sont Bouddhistes, ou l'eau versee doucement par dessus l'epaule est sensee purifier le corps et l'esprit. Je vous laisse juger par les photos de la douceur de cette benediction :P

Thai New Year, or Songkran, is a real water battle! Some say it roots back to Buddhist celebration of purification of body and soul, where water was gently poured down over the shoulder. Let's judge with the pictures about that gentleness... :P

Alors on se prepare: pas de telephone, pas d'ordinateur... too bad pour ceux qui pensaient s'en sauver en se promenant avec leur appareil photo, hehe....

Petite histoire drole
Un groupe de "farangs" et de locaux occupaient un coin de rue. Quand les gens arrivaient et nous voyaient, ils soupiraient ou faisaient demi-tour. Un petit monsieur de 70 ans environs a tourne le coin lui aussi avec sa moto. Quand il nous a appercu, il a stoppe la moto en souriant, l'air de dire "ok j'y echapperai pas". Il a pris son portefeuille de sa poche et l'a place dans le siege de la moto pour ne pas qu'il soit mouille. Puis il a repris la moto et a avance vers son humide destin... pour arreter de nouveau un metre plus loin. Quelqu'un lui avait lance un seau d'eau a la figure et il avait perdu son dentier, le pauvre!!! C'etait tellement drole que tout le monde riait (y compris lui, il ne faut jamais perdre la face en Asie) Mais serieux, pauvre monsieur! Il jouait le jeu et tout!

Funny little story
In Pai, we were a group of around 30 people, ambushing passer-by and motorcycles turning the corner of the street. People would either accept their fate, or turn around.

Then there was this gentlemen, an old Thai guy on his motorbike. He saw us and sighed with a smile. He raised his hands to make us wait, and took his wallet from his front pocket to put it under the motorbike seat where it would be safe. He then graciously went back on the motorbike and came forward to his fate: 30 people waiting with waterguns and buckets of water, ready for him! He only could move about one metre, and raised his hand to his mouth. Someone shot a bucket of water towards his face and he lost his denture! Poor man, I was so ashamed for him, yet this was REALLY FUNNY!! Everyone was laughing, including him, but that could have been to save face. Oh poor man! 

The Songkran went for 4 days in Pai. Other than water, there is also some sort of paste locals put on your face. It looks more like a war make-up, but hey this is war all right! 

Me, ready for war!

Et on pense qu'on peut faire confiance aux moines??? hahaha