Team Swissden Last Day On Road Trip

Today we set of bright and early as we had to have the jeep back by 11am and still had some waterfalls to see and a bit of a drive as well!
So off we go, Team Swissdens last leg of the road trip. Spirits high and everyone keen to see the waterfalls as they were supposed to be the best ones in the region. We first stop to fill up gas and notice a morning market with food and stuff so we decide to get breakfast there. Alex and I order noddles with chilly! Bloody hot chilly, our noses were running and tung paralyzed. I think the girls had fruit, safe choice!
Not even 20 minutes into the trip we start going down a steep hill. We smell breaks burning and hear a scraping noise. Next when I push on the breaks, nothing! No breaks, then I try again and get some breaking. So I shift it into 1st gear and that is how we drove for 3 hours or so. 3 or so hours up and down steep mountains with many bad corners. This was going to be a long ride!
We managed to find a village with a mechanic to check the problem. The problem was clear, the break pads were worn down to the steel. So we call the rental agency and tell her the problem. She gives the go ahead and will pay me back when we get the jeep back. 2 new break pads, 200 baht, that's about £4. How do these guys make money? Anyway, the girls head off to find coffee and Alex and I play a game of Takore, a Thai game with a woven ball.
Not long after, we are good to go. So I call the lady from the rental and tell her we will be late because of the break situation, she says fine, no problem!
So we arrive at the waterfalls with our new breaks and the smell of break fluid burning. When we stopped, smoke was coming from the tires and the locals were just looking and pointing! We care less, as long as the breaks work and we can get back to Chiang Mai, who cares?
The first waterfall we stop at was a bit of a walk through the jungle then down a steep cliff, so we head back to the car as there was n way the girls were going to make it. The next waterfall we had lunch and wondered around. The falls were pretty amazing, lots of spray coming from the falls causing a rainbow at the bottom.
The last waterfall they wanted to charge us 200 baht each. Mmmm.... We never paid to see the other ones, but I think we got into the national park by accident for free. I remember driving through a big entrance and all the cars were just going in, locals driving, and not stopping so we did the same. It was getting late and we had enough of waterfalls so decided to head back home.
We dropped the girls off and Alex and I head off to drop off the jeep.
Now, we get to the place where we got the jeep and told the lady we were the ones who phoned we would be late. I was pretty calm and relaxed at that point, then I gave her the invoice for the breaks. She gave me the money for the breaks and all was going well. Then she checks the time and says to us, we have to pay for a extra day because we were late! That's when my wheels fell of and I gave her and her staff hell. I slammed the worn brake pads on the table and asked her, how well she checked the car before we left? Clearly not to well as the break pads were finished. I told them we almost died driving in the mountains and had to drive 2km a hour for 3-4 hours. I also asked them if they were mad, there was no way I was paying for a extra day as the jeep was screwed! She then made a few phone calls to someone and I was getting more and more angry with these people. Then I saw her with my photo copy of my passport so I took that out of her hand and demanded our deposit back straight away. After a while she reluctantly gave me my money and we left feeling happy we got our money back. Too many times they try take a chance and keep your deposit, not this time! Team Swissden 1 - Car Hire 0, final score!

---

---