Off to Pai. Got a taxi to the bus station, terminal 2 to get the 12.30 minibus. This is our bus and driver behind sticking his tummy out.
All aboard
We booked the seats behind the driver, the buses have aircon, but Matts got a window he can open and I've got a view straight ahead, thought that'd be a good idea with 762 bends coming up. Don't want breakfast coming up!
The only person who was sick was a Thai girl next to me and she managed to hold on til the checkpoint.
We arrived in Pai around 4pm. First impressions were 'oh shit we're at Glastonbury', lots of crusty hippie westerners trying to grow dreadlocks.
Couldn't get a moped from AYA (the big rental company just up from the bus station), all the bikes were out. Same response from other places, it seems Saturday's are busy. We needed one as we're staying out of town at Bueng Pai Farm (This place was recommended to us by a lady called Paula we met at Tri Gong). We sat and had a coffee in CafeIn, a cute little place and the lady rang Run (he and his wife Orn run Bueng Pai Farm) came to pick us up in this, a motorbike with a cart attached.
He was chuckling and said 'either you are very heavy...or the bags are very heavy!' Matt said it was the bags, hehe.
Hehe...he nearly crashed us into a barrier by the farm!
He whizzed us around a few other places to try and find a bike, none to be had, so off we went to Bueng. Bungalow 2 was to be our home for a few days...
Aaaaahh, and relax, the view from no.2
Even the hammocks are smiling
Runs mate dropped us into town later, we ate and managed to get a moped, yay.
Sun 25
Oh no.....food poisoning. Really bad, both ends and a fever. Bed ridden all day. Matt fished on the verandah inbetween running in and out when I was sick. He zipped into town on the moped to get antibiotics from the pharmacy, £1!
Bit better next day but still ropey, chilled out all day, Matt fished.
One of several that didn't get away
Tues 27
Went out on moped...
Wat Prah Mae Yen, the Buddah on the hill
Pom Bok Waterfall
Stopped at Thoms Elephant place for lunch, you can ride the Elephants, but we've decided against doing this touristy thing as not sure about the Elephant welfare. This place seemed pretty good in that no iron seats are put on their backs, you ride bareback, and they're not chained up, but they're still in pens for the day until people come to ride them, then they're loaded up with three people at a time.
We're gonna wait and hopefully see them in the wild at some point.
Moped practice
Hey! Hay stack
Hehe, counted 14 ghekos on our verandah tonight! Ghekkotastic :-)
Weds 28
Moved to bungalow 6 today as ours is booked out. Lovely view..
Morning mist on the lake
Off on the moped again, to Sappong, a picturesque windy mountain road. Bum ache from being on the bike too long!
Bamboo bridge, Pai
The life of Pai
Had dinner at Bueng with Paula, she prepared a meal for us, a well travelled American lady who lived in Pai for a while, she even helped open a school here.
Thurs 29
Bus back to Chiang Mai today, 11am, had our last breakfast at Bueng Pai Farm, hard to tear ourselves away from this idyll. We booked 3 days originally, then extended to 4...then 5. Run dropped our bags to the bus station for us, we dropped the moped back.
We really enjoyed Our time in Pai, apart from the vomiting bit. Can see why people end up stuck here for a while, the guy on the bus next to me had been there for 3 months! I wished the girl behind us had stayed there, she threw up all the way to Chiang Mai :-/.
Stayed at Tri Gong (the place we stayed before) just for the night, off to Chiang Rai romorrow.
Had a pizza! A little place with a wood fired oven, made a nice change.
Fri 30
Green bus to Chiang Rai 12.15. A large bus with aircon, it was too cold! Got off when the bus stopped at Chiang Rai Bus station, not realising that they're are two stations, we were 5 km from town, easily remedied with a Tuktuk ride into town.
Found a room at Orchids, 500tb a night. Near the Night Baazar, which is fantastic. Best night market so far, they have a central seating area, then food stalls all around the outside and a live music stage. You can get food and drink from different vendors.
We had our first insect!!! I saw a girl buy some crickets and asked what they were like, she offered us to try. They actually taste nutty, no chewiness at all and you can't feel the legs once it's in your mouth. That's what I was worried about. These were quite small, I don't fancy the big ones, he had some that looked like giant cockroaches. Uugh.
Just off the food area is a massive market stall area selling all sorts, some beautiful textiles and materials from the hill tribes. Matt tried on a pair of baggy thai trousers, they were so big he asked the stallholder to climb in with him! ...he didn't buy them.
All in all a feast for the senses.
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