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Published: December 23rd 2007
Pavement Napping
Wouldn't be travelling without it
APOLOGY: I'm now so far behind on my blogging (about 2 months) that I have actually already sent the pictures for this blog home... sorry! I've borrowed two from Rob, but thats all I'm afraid.
A current update is that I'm back on Gili Trawagan for Christmas, just passing the time on the white sandy beaches and diving around the lush coral reefs. Its hard, but someone has to do it.
Enjoy the European Christmas crowds....
Further on North
After the crazyness of off-roading (LINK) we left Pai to the some-what more sedate town of Chiang Rai, further north in Thailand. The journey there was possibly one of the most amusing and annoying at the same time. I can't really mention it now, but let's just say poor old Rob didn't really get his fair share of the seat thanks to his seat-mate Jabba the Hut...
To top it off, the driver kept stopping every 30 mins, so we didn't get any sleep - bearing in mind this was the night of the day's offroading so we were completely knackered!!! Then, even worse, the bus dropped us off at a cross-roads in the middle
of no-where and pointed in each direction, stating: "Chiang Rai, Laos, Don't go and Don't go". Right, so I guess we'll try to go that way then, pointing to Chiang Rai... "Yes, Public Bus come at 6am"... its was coming up to 4am at the time! Queue some pavement sleeping!
After the night's excitement we finally arrived in Chiang Rai. It's like a smaller more sedate version of Chiang Mai. In fact, there wasn't a whole lot going on - hardly any tourists and not too much to do. Though as we arrived, it was pretty cool to see all the monks coming out for breakfast - they walk along the streets and people give them money or food. A real view of a clash of era's with the monks walking under billboards and electric signs etc.
We found ourselves a nice little guest house and had a rest, a 2 hour oil massage and .. yep you've guessed it... rented a moped. We managed to go and see a really cool temple called the white temple. It is totally unique and unlike any other temple I've ever seen!
The temple is themed around death and destruction for some reason adn was pretty creepy. The whole building is white, with the detail being lined with small pieces of mirror which gave it a really creepy look! It was definitely worth the visit!
The next day we drove off around Chiang Rai. Some equally beautiful scenery, though much more spread out than Pai - we completely underestimated the distance to the hot springs we were trying to visit and ran out of fuel - we had to barter with some local villagers for some petrol!
We had to get back by mid-day so that I could catch my flight...
Back at the ranch I had to say goodbye to Rob 😞 as I embarked on my next adventure - back to the UK for graduation...
loving
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