Well I made it to Pai (pronounced pie) and now I dont think i can leave. It is a wonderful small village with narrow streets lined by wooden shops and guest houses. Bamboo bungalows grace the waters edge and the landscape is filled with mountain views. The sunsets are magnificent, aided by the fire sun which sets behind the cloud of nature haze. It truely is beautiful if only it were the wet season I could also through in that the scenery is a gorgeous green, but it's not. Its the dry season and instead of fresh green hills, the mountains reflect the intensity of the sun upon the bamboo leaves and hold a golden brown colour. The smell is of heat and dust with the occasioanl woft of the unpleasant (yet so tasty) smell of fish source cooking as you pass some restaurants.
Pai is a wonderful place to be.
I have met up with Leanne from Bathurst, NSW who just happens to be over here catching up with her thai boyfriend, Pet. It's great having a friend to chill with. So far she has introduced me to drinking 'Sang Som' (thai whisky) from a bucket. But other than the drinking we have been to the Hot Springs, Pambok Waterfall, Pai Canyon, World War II memorial bridge near Pai, visited another waterfall and enjoyed another Thai massage. She has also taught me to ride a scooter! All went smoothly. There were a few corners that I took a bit wide but overall I survived without falling off. Hurray!
We are ment to go to a Thai boxing training session this afternoon but its ment to be in 5 minutes and I'm not dressed and still on the computer.
I have met many fellow travellers since being in Pai. A spunky East German guy named Frank and an Irishman, Michael. Leanne and I went touring with them one day and doubled on the scooters. During this trip we did the hot springs, waterfall, canyon and bridge. It was stinking hot so the hot springs wasn't exactly weater fitting. It was 80C where the water came out of the ground. Hot enough to boil eggs! You could swim down the river a bit where the water had cooled but still it was about 40C and as hot as getting in a bath. Despite the weather, we had to try the mineral rich water. It was very boyant and soft but we were ready to get out after about 20 minutes.
Later on we made it to the waterfall which was known by locals but not so easy to find by tourists, lucky we had Leanne. The swim was much needed to cool us down and the water was freezing, but great!
We finished our tour for the day and were exhausted. Met for a few beers later but an early night was good. Had a bit of heat stroke I think.
The next day we did some P.R work for the bar that Pet works at and designed their t-shirt logo. Felt good to actually use my brain!
But that night I successfully killed any brain cells I had replenished that day. We met some french people who had organised to do a fire show at the bar. They were great value and we had an excellent night. I was on fire! but gee whizz I paid for it the next day! But it was worth it.
Well who knows when I'll leave Pai. It is beautiful. I think I have been captured by the taste of life in Pai!
