Messages At Midnight: Life in Myanmar : My 1st Water Fest in Myanmar :)

Being part of the fun !! :)

(p/s : This article is also available on Vanity Shack here)

Hello folks! And a very happy Myanmar New Year (albeit a rather late one)…. !

So it was that the entire nation celebrated the Thingyan Festival (also Water Festival) from 12^th April – 22^nd April 2013. That’s right. That was 10 days national holidays to celebrate the festival and the new year. Wooohoo!! MOH and I were very excited to be celebrating our first Water Fest in Myanmar. Because it was such a long break, we took the opportunity to travel to Ngapali as well, also known as the Hawaii of the Orients :)

We have had our taste of Water Festival in Cambodia before. However, their “Water Festival” there isn’t about splashing water, but it’s the boat race. But during the Khmer New Year, there is water splashing. Unfortunately, in Cambodia, they do it with flour and powder – which was really not so enjoyable. Myanmar was a whole different ball game altogether.

For about 3 weeks running up to the celebration, workers were manually constructing these pandals all along the Inya Lake and the Kandawgyi Lake – the main source of water for the splashing (eeewwwee factor included). Tickets were being sold for access to these pandals. It was such a big thing for the locals. However, the government only issued licenses for 35 pandals this year but still, there were some make-shift shacks in front of shops, private residences and other establishments too. Of course, the ticketing and the modernized celebration on the pandals were only introduced some 3-4 years back (talking about alcohol-induced patrons jumping to Oppa Gangnam Style blasting from the speakers).

We stayed in Yangon for Day 1 of the Water Fest and after a lunch celebration with the children from the homes where we volunteered at, we took to the streets of Yangon. And my, oh my…. It was exciting indeed! They were trucks after trucks of people going around, stopping under each pandals to get a dose of water, splashing water out to people on the streets (like me!) and dancing as the trucks went along the roads. You see, if you get splashed, it supposedly meant that you have been blessed. Although, I don’t think that is the real reason one gets splashed anymore. It’s really all about having fun these days. I quickly learnt that a quarter of the fun was in the avoiding of the splash, a quarter of the fun was in the sneaking a splash, a quarter of the fun was in chasing down a splash and a quarter of the fun was getting splashed. One of my City Mart colleagues also had a pandal built right in front of his house and we were invited to go over for free beers and great music too. Oh, I had a tremendously awesome time!

And then we left for Ngapali. The “Hawaii of the Orients” hype was a bit overly-done. BUT, here’s it – I fell in love with Ngapali. It is a charming beach town in the state of Rakhine. Despite the place being packed with tourists (everyone wants to go there it seems) and rooms were all full, it was still quiet and nice and you don’t get crowds – really different from Bali. The water-splashing continued on in Ngapali, though not with the great water pandals of the city. In fact, it was so much more ‘real’ here with little kids trying to get at you with just a tiny improvised tin can. On the hotel’s shuttle bus (we stayed in Sandoway Resort which was superb) from the airport to the hotel, we were splashed. Yes, did I not mention any vehicles with windows down were main targets for the people splashing water? Even when we left for the airport at the end of our trip, we were splashed thoroughly! – though this was much to the annoyance of some ‘gwai los’ who were in the same shuttle as us.

We had a splendidly great time in Ngapali, just chilling and relaxing by the beach, the sea was awesome though the waves were a bit rough but the water temperature was just right and of course, enjoying a whole lot of fresh and cheap seafood on the menu! I had always loved Rakhine food and here I was in the state of Rakhine enjoying their best :) 3 days passed by very quickly and soon, we found ourselves unwillingly on the flight back to Yangon. Ngapali closes for the season at the end of April as the rainy season takes on Myanmar and will reopen Sept / October. (For those planning to travel there, best to check with your travel agent!).

We arrived in Yangon on the final day of the ‘water-splashing’ and to do what the locals do, we set-up our own little “pandal” right in front of our house and started splashing passers-by too! The locals were laughing at us – the two foreign idiots. But they love us, we know. What amazed me though was how respectful people were of each other. Monks and police were a big no-no, of course. But anyone who puts a hand up as a sign of protest will not get splashed. Some taxis had their interiors all wrapped up in plastic in preparation for all the ‘wetness’. Some would laugh at you for missing. Some would slow down for you. Some would go out of their way to avoid you.

Whatever it is, Myanmar certainly opened up the new year with a splash and we were glad to be a part of it. I’m sure it’s not too late to wish all my Myanmar friends a new and prosperous year ahead and may all good things come their way :)

Hope you enjoy the photos!