Pai is known to those travelling Thailand as the Black Hole. Many an unsuspecting backpacker has wandered here, wanting a break from the big city atmostphere of Chaing Mai or heading up north to do a visa run to Laos. But once in Pai, a 3 day stopover quickly becomes a 2-3 week visit. Sucked in by the beautiful scenery, small town mentality, plentiful alcohol, and bohemianly chill lifestyle some people, once you get to Pai leaving seems almost impossible.
I had sort of heard all this stuff before I left, and was excited to get out into some fresh air, and a place where the locals and the travellers mix (and not in the lady boy love, producer-consumer sort of way that occurs in Bagnkok or Chiang Mai).
The first day I got here, I heard that there was a really big music festival in town, the Pai Music Celebration. From what I heard it was a lot of local N. Thai raggae and blues bands. It was really great luck, but made finding accomodation a bit tricky.
After i found a pretty moldy smelling but cheap room on the main street, i went wandering around and met a really cool group of people. Like most groups it was a "cultural melting pot" containing: Ali (Mexican), David and john (French), Carol (California), Julia (German) and Deka (Kenya) - they were on their 3rd week in Pai! We chatted for a bit, and decided to check out a little pool located on the outskirts of town. We had a lovely and relaxing time at the pool (though we did play a very hilarious game of Kings) and then I went home to change.
I realize at this pace this blog will go on forever, so let's cut to the interesting things. The festival was amazing. There were two stages and the acts were really good (imagine listening to a thai guy sing a raggae version of Sinatra's "L is for the way you look at me." Classic! I got way to drunk, and we went to a bar with a couple of the musicians. It was nice to hang with some locals, but stumbling home at 6 wasn't that fun. And the Irish guy we met couldn't find a hostel, so me carol and him shared my single bed. It was hilarious, becuase a couple times during the night, we heard a loud crash because he had fallen out of bed. hehe.
Well due to all this good times, the next day was a wash. Jenni (a really cool english girl i met in the guesthouse in Chiang Mai) came up to Pai and we took a stroll around town (after a very strong, but effective Thai Red Bull). The town is only about a kilometer square, so that didn't take too long. We found the hospital, and I had my second dose of Rabies vaccine, and then met up with the Gang. Hung out at the guesthouse for a bit and then I got my first Thai massage. It was not at all as painful as i had been told, though I told the guy to be gentle. Afterwards we headed to a drinks cart (carts along the main street that serve beer adn cocktails and have a couple little chairs and tables...like a portably bar) and had a few beers. It was a nice night and as people we knew or had met walked past our little table, our group grew to about 20. The night ended at a bar, but I left a bit early, still recovering from the festival.
Yesterday was the best day. We rented motorbike (everyone finally left except for Jenni and David). So the three of us rented bikes and went to find some waterfalls. The ride was great, but I have to admit I was a bit nervous at first. The 10k ride through the Norhtern thai country side was amazing. We past a couple little villages on the way and the waterfalls were breath taking. On the way to the second waterfall, we all got a bit nervous. The road got really rough and we were almost out of gas. But we made it, and managed to pick up some gas from one of the villages.
That night, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Curry Shack. We wanted to have a chill night, so we found a little Blues Place. It was perfect. We sat for hours, rarely speaking, just sipping on beers and tea and listening to a really talented Thai guy sing the blues.
Today is internet day (which is good b/c it is a bit cool and cloudy). After uploading the millions of pictures, we are taking the mopeds to the hot springs. David and I are going to head down south to krabi on the 15th. He is meeting some friends to climb, and I am going to do my SCUBA course and maybe some climbing as well.
I realize that there is so much to do in Thailand (meditation classes, volunteering at the Elephant Conservatory, teaching english to monks in a temple) and I realize that 4 weeks is not nearly enough time. I would love to stay up North and explore longer, but my time is limited. So this is just a brief tour, but I definatley plan on returning to do a 6 month stint in SE Asia.
