Faces and flavours of Chiang Mai

I scream, then laugh as a smiling stranger empties a bucket of iced water over my head and respond by squirting them with a water pistol. Everyone around us is laughing and water flies everywhere because it’s Songkran – a three-day nationwide water festival in Thailand from April 13 to 15, celebrating the lunar New Year.

Songkran, Sanskrit for “astrological passage”, begins with a blessing ceremony led by monks, who sprinkle water over images of Buddha, before turning into the world’s biggest water fight. If you visit Chiang Mai or Bangkok over this time don’t expect to stay dry! The upside is getting