Picture Me Rollin'

Day two of Songkran was similar to the first with the notable exception that this time we had wheels.  We had accepted an offer from Sophie’s massage teacher, Timi, to take us to town and drive us around in her pickup.  Having witnessed the formidable powers of trucks filled with water-combatants armed with fifty gallon drums, blocks of ice, water cannons and buckets, we were excited to deliver the same type of shock and awe.  Sadly, when we climbed in the back of our little Mazda we found only a six gallon bucket, a little ice, and a couple of tiny buckets which we were compelled to fill only half-way in order to increase our number of potential attacks.   When we hit the battlefield I was reminded of something I’d heard somewhere about bringing a knife to a gunfight.  Although we were able to get a couple of nice shots in on some unsuspecting and unarmed tourists and locals, we were woefully overmatched whenever another vehicle approached or when we passed a bar-front bunker.   Compounding our problems, Timi had an infuriating practice of slowing down as we approached one of these bunkers, most of which were equipped with unlimited ice water and powerful hoses, allowing them ample time to rain down a deluge upon our defenseless heads.   I asked her why she did this and she replied with a smile of complete innocence, “So you can play with them!”