This past week I stayed in a guest house due to a falling out over the planned living situation. This is what lead to buying a plane ticket home much sooner. Before leaving Thailand there were two things I absolutely had to do. See Pai, and return to Chiang Rai for a final visit to the White Temple, which also included a visit to the Black House.
After much debate between taking the mini bus that runs hourly from CM to Pai or Motorbiking it I decided to take the Fino. I had been on part of the road to Pai when I went camping in a truck, and it's no joke. Near the beginning of the journey I was coming around a corner and a snake was crossing the road at the same time. It was at least 6 feet long and the width of my arm. Scared me to death and there was no avoiding it. It squirmed and my guess is the truck I had just passed finished the job unless it made it's way across first. Biggest snake I saw while there but at least it wasn't face to face. We are talking major mountain switchbacks plus potholes and dodging water buffalo, along with their poo. Thing is the mini bus drivers are batshit and drive like maniacs insuring that on each trip at least someone gets sick. If that person isn't you, you still have to deal with the smell. I have in that situation just different destination. Fino won, and I did the 138 Kilometer drive on my motorbike. It was fun, I loved it, and some might think I am nuts but it made me happy.
Pai proved to be lovely. The first night I stayed in a hostel based on a recommendation by a friend. Beautiful, in the middle of a rice field, the accommodation is a hut with bunks, mosquito nets and no actual walls. I lasted there one night. Not because of the place itself, but the vibe of the group staying at the time. Luckily I met some lovely Irish guys who felt the same and we stuck together a bit.
The day I arrived I immediately took off for Pam Bok Waterfall. On the way in I had busted up my toe and the kind people at the hostel helped me patch it up. Well it turned out the only way to actually see/ photograph the waterfall was to get in the water. Oh well I figured there are lots of good minerals and shit in that water, never mind all the bacteria. It was beautiful. Next was Pai Canyon. It was about half past 4 so I headed up with the intention to hike around the canyon and take photos back at the top for sunset. Well my attempt was foiled by my busted up, now waterfall soaked, toe.
It's about 13 km out of town so it didn't make town to go and come back. I just hung. Sunset was at 7. I arrived about 5. Let's just say a lot of photos, and directly following my "cousin it" photo a Chinese man approached to as if "I need some help."
Sunset proved to be worth it. I headed back into town and found a place to eat. Ran into some acquaintances, went to a bar, had a beer. Then a bucket. Then some more drinks. I don't recall paying for a single drink and I am not quite sure how that happened. Eventually we ended up at a bar just near the road to the hostel. The Irish guys jumped in the back of a police pick up truck and hitched a ride. Once I arrived at the after hours bar I decided it was time to call it a night and went to my bunk, snuggled into my mosquito net and assed out.
The next day I woke up and decided that I needed my own room that night. It was fine I just had this feeling there were going to be thunderstorms that afternoon (which proved true) and wanted my own space to hang out. I checked out and found a great little guest house that gave me a room w/ double bed, cable tv, own bathroom/ shower for only 50 baht more than the night before. He also gave me low season plus a bit of a discount. I set off for a waterfall and ended up on a trek through the jungle only to find the trail washed out. So I high tailed it out of there and went to another falls. It was quite the jungle trek, all alone and I got a bit freaked out. I am pretty hard core and tough but turns out even I have a limit. I set off for another waterfall and spent about an hour there before the thunder started so I left and went to take a nap in my cozy room. I woke up just in time for sunset, and the storm had passed. I decided to motorbike up to a well known temple that is a viewpoint over all of Pai. Well the storm hadn't cleared enough and it was still rainy and too cloudy for a sunset. There were about 10 other people up there and I sat for a bit. Then when I went to explore the temple I slipped on the wet tail and bruised the hell out of my ass. A few of the guys rushed over to help. Mostly embarrassed and wet, but we had a good laugh. So typical.
Later that night I went out to buy a souvenir tee shirts and ran into the Irish guys. We had a lovely steak dinner and I had a great nights sleep only to leave the next morning back to CM for the super fun ride on my motorbike. Trip complete, mission successful and all around lovely.
This past week I stayed in a guest house due to a falling out over the planned living situation. This is what lead to buying a plane ticket home much sooner. Before leaving Thailand there were two things I absolutely had to do. See Pai, and return to Chiang Rai for a final visit to the White Temple, which also included a visit to the Black House.
After much debate between taking the mini bus that runs hourly from CM to Pai or Motorbiking it I decided to take the Fino. I had been on part of the road to Pai when I went camping in a truck, and it's no joke. Near the beginning of the journey I was coming around a corner and a snake was crossing the road at the same time. It was at least 6 feet long and the width of my arm. Scared me to death and there was no avoiding it. It squirmed and my guess is the truck I had just passed finished the job unless it made it's way across first. Biggest snake I saw while there but at least it wasn't face to face. We are talking major mountain switchbacks plus potholes and dodging water buffalo, along with their poo. Thing is the mini bus drivers are batshit and drive like maniacs insuring that on each trip at least someone gets sick. If that person isn't you, you still have to deal with the smell. I have in that situation just different destination. Fino won, and I did the 138 Kilometer drive on my motorbike. It was fun, I loved it, and some might think I am nuts but it made me happy.
Pai proved to be lovely. The first night I stayed in a hostel based on a recommendation by a friend. Beautiful, in the middle of a rice field, the accommodation is a hut with bunks, mosquito nets and no actual walls. I lasted there one night. Not because of the place itself, but the vibe of the group staying at the time. Luckily I met some lovely Irish guys who felt the same and we stuck together a bit.
The day I arrived I immediately took off for Pam Bok Waterfall. On the way in I had busted up my toe and the kind people at the hostel helped me patch it up. Well it turned out the only way to actually see/ photograph the waterfall was to get in the water. Oh well I figured there are lots of good minerals and shit in that water, never mind all the bacteria. It was beautiful. Next was Pai Canyon. It was about half past 4 so I headed up with the intention to hike around the canyon and take photos back at the top for sunset. Well my attempt was foiled by my busted up, now waterfall soaked, toe.
It's about 13 km out of town so it didn't make town to go and come back. I just hung. Sunset was at 7. I arrived about 5. Let's just say a lot of photos, and directly following my "cousin it" photo a Chinese man approached to as if "I need some help."
Sunset proved to be worth it. I headed back into town and found a place to eat. Ran into some acquaintances, went to a bar, had a beer. Then a bucket. Then some more drinks. I don't recall paying for a single drink and I am not quite sure how that happened. Eventually we ended up at a bar just near the road to the hostel. The Irish guys jumped in the back of a police pick up truck and hitched a ride. Once I arrived at the after hours bar I decided it was time to call it a night and went to my bunk, snuggled into my mosquito net and assed out.
The next day I woke up and decided that I needed my own room that night. It was fine I just had this feeling there were going to be thunderstorms that afternoon (which proved true) and wanted my own space to hang out. I checked out and found a great little guest house that gave me a room w/ double bed, cable tv, own bathroom/ shower for only 50 baht more than the night before. He also gave me low season plus a bit of a discount. I set off for a waterfall and ended up on a trek through the jungle only to find the trail washed out. So I high tailed it out of there and went to another falls. It was quite the jungle trek, all alone and I got a bit freaked out. I am pretty hard core and tough but turns out even I have a limit. I set off for another waterfall and spent about an hour there before the thunder started so I left and went to take a nap in my cozy room. I woke up just in time for sunset, and the storm had passed. I decided to motorbike up to a well known temple that is a viewpoint over all of Pai. Well the storm hadn't cleared enough and it was still rainy and too cloudy for a sunset. There were about 10 other people up there and I sat for a bit. Then when I went to explore the temple I slipped on the wet tail and bruised the hell out of my ass. A few of the guys rushed over to help. Mostly embarrassed and wet, but we had a good laugh. So typical.
Later that night I went out to buy a souvenir tee shirts and ran into the Irish guys. We had a lovely steak dinner and I had a great nights sleep only to leave the next morning back to CM for the super fun ride on my motorbike. Trip complete, mission successful and all around lovely.
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