I knew about Thingyan. I knew it was Myanmar’s biggest annual festival. I knew it celebrated the arrival of the new year. AND I knew it was a water festival. (That’s one of the reasons I bought a waterproof GoPro and brought it with me.) But, honestly, I had no idea what it was really like. The level of happiness and the amount of water flying through the air and being poured down my neck and back were beyond anything I was expecting.

And this was only the first day. The festival went on for three full days, and, if my informants were to be believed, the happiness level only went up from here.