Dazzled and drenched

April gets underway today and all over Southeast Asia, thoughts are turning to how to spend the upcoming holiday as the old year gives way to another new circle. April is also the month when the Sun God ramps up the thermometer from hot to extremely hot, depending on where you are – Chiang Mai, Mandalay, Luang Prabang or Bangkok. Many Southeast Asian cities, who are connected by a “water culture” not to mention a network of low-cost carriers, respond to the Sun’s call for a hot, airless summer by cooling down with water. 

From Jinhong in China's South to Luang Prabang in Laos' North and from Yangon in Myanmar to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, millions of Asians will be gathering with buckets full of water at city landmarks to dance, sing and pray their way into a new solar year. 

Here are the best cities in which to soak up both water and culture over the next two weeks.

 

MANDALAY, Myanmar

Date: April 13 to 15

Known locally as Thingyan , the water festival runs at the same time as Songkran and involves (depending on how old you are) water splashing or exchanges of well wishes between the elderly and the young as well as family get-togethers. For people in Myanmar, Thingyan is a big deal and celebrations last for an entire week but for tourists, the best place to visit is Mandalay – where the action and is centred around the city moat and walled Mandalay Palace. Big and small stages are put up along the roads and people are quick to jump up to sing and dance. Colourful processions and parades add a carnival atmosphere.

 

LUANG PRABANG, Northern Laos

Date: April 13 to 16

If the traditional New Year needed a home, it would probably be Luang Prabang – the attractive town on the banks of the Mekong River in northern Laos. Legend has it that King Kabilaprom had seven daughters (known as Nang Sangkharn), but lost a quiz challenge to Thammakuman, forcing him to pay a penalty – decapitation. Since a monarch’s head couldn't touch the ground, it was placed on a tray and kept on Mount Krailard, to be brought down every year by one of his daughters for a procession. Known as the Sang Klan Long Festival, the legend is recreated annually for Pi-mai Lao (Lao New Year), with a vibrant parade overseen by the most beautiful local women and senior monks seated on a palanquin, over whose hands the faithful pour perfumed water. Find your way to the banks of the Mekong on April 14 and explore thousands of sand stupas. The locals make them to keep the evil spirits at the bay over the new year celebration. 

 

CHIANG MAI, Northern Thailand

Date: April 13 to 16

Chiang Mai is the best place to celebrate the water festival in Southeast Asia, and it draws many thousands of visitors to the old Lanna capital. The city offers both gentle and wild options when it comes to Songkran. Early in the day, the faithful pay respect to their elders and gently sprinkle water on temple grounds. As the day heats up, shots of water are fired from a high-power pump and balloons are filled with cold water. The target is, of course, anything that moves. Expect to finish the day looking like a wet puppy. The festival culminates at night with cultural shows at Thapae Gate.

 

JINHONG, Southwestern China

Date: April 13 to 16

The water festival is very obvious in Jinhong, since the locals celebrate it every day to earn tourist dollars. For around 50 yuan (Bt260), tourists can enjoy throwing buckets of water at the locals – usually young women in colourful costumes and flowers. More serious soakings take place over the next two weeks as the city celebrates the Dai New Year. For three days, the streets and surrounding villages will be totally wet, as locals roam around town with buckets of water, hoses, water pistols and water-filled balloons. Nobody goes home clean and dry. Follow your nose to the banks of the Mekong (or Lanchang as it is known to the Chinese) for cultural shows and dragon boat races.

 

BANGKOK, Thailand

Date: April 12 to 15

The traditional Songkran Festival is celebrated all over Bangkok from residential areas to Wat Suthat, Wat Pho and Siam Square shopping district. But the centre of the action remains Khao San Road, a backpacker ghetto that evolves into a cool hangout every April. For a really wet-and-wild scene, Khao San Road is definitely the place to be. Armed with pump-action water cannons and buckets of coloured powder, thousands of fun-lovers will be soaking everything that moves. Starting officially from April 12 though it’s likely to get underway unofficially the Friday before, it continues until there is nothing left to soak. Khao San Road and Santi Chaiprakan Park in Bang Lamphu play host to the unofficial International Songkran Festival, the most boisterous of the Asia's water festivals.

 

SIEM REAP, Cambodia

Date: April 14 to 16

Angkor Wat, with its surrounding rustic moats, offers the perfect setting for the water festival in Siem Reap – once the seat and soul of Cambodia’s art and culture. Sankranta, as the Cambodians call the festival, expects to draw more than 500,000 visitors to Siem Reap for Khmer traditional art performances, games and chess competitions.