I don't know if there is a Pai heaven, but if there is then mmm good.

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So i'm going to write about where i'm staying at the moment before giving the recap of the amazing two weeks with Jess. After a tearful goodbye with Jess(mostly on my part in which I practically held onto her legs and forbade her to get on the plane), I jumped on a minibus from Chiang Mai to Pai. The windy four hour journey was far and away the most beautiful traveling i've done in Thailand. The mountains of northern thailand are like nothing i've ever seen before. Layers upon layers that seem to go back for miles creating the most incredible silhouettes. As we got closer to Pai, the landscape just exploded with bright green palms trees and small meandering rivers. I had heard that Pai is a little hippie paradise where you intend to stay a day and wake up a month later not wanting to leave. After about a minute I completely understood why. It's this small little town filled with funky shops and restaurants with live jazz music by dreadlocked thai hippies. The streets are lined with vendors, which strangely doesn't seem touristy. All of the guesthouses are along the river with the backdrop of the mountains. They have amazing bungalows on stilts for four dollars a night and campfires by the shore. I went to yoga this morning with an incredible thai woman called Mama. She taught a two hour class then had us all stay for snacks and talking which lasted a while because Mama is a chatter. Then I rented a bike and took off on a beautiful trail through the mountains and fields. I took a break for a hammock and a smoothie in the middle of a field. I can't believe how incredible northern thailand is. I'm sad I didn't spend more time here. The landscape is breathtaking, but there is also a huge difference in the vibe all around. I've had such a positive experience with all the Thai locals, which has definitely not been the case in central thailand. It's great to end my trip up here on a such a positive note though. I'd love to come back and trek for a while through the north. It's spectacular. I'm here in Pai for two more days of Mama's yoga and biking to waterfalls then off to Laos for the Gibbon experience.

Now for the two week summary of Jess and Amy's excellent adventure. Jess got into Bangkok and met me on Khao San Road. We both burst into tears the minute we saw each other. It definitely hit hard how long it has been since we've seen each other. After a marathon dinner catch up session. We crashed before a full day of traveling into Cambodia. I had done some research about getting into Siem Reap. We were supposed to take the bus then grab a tuk-tuk to the border. There were hundreds of warnings on the internet to make sure that the tuk-tuk went all the way to the border. Under no circumstances were we supposed to stop earlier and let someone claiming to be a guide in with us. Under no circumstances were we supposed to pay more than $20 dollars for the visa. So we get to Siem Reap and promptly get in a tuk-tuk that stops before the border and allow a guide to get in with us and charge us $40 dollars. The problem with getting ripped off by con-men is that they're conning you so it seems legit at the time. This smooth-talker had me convinced that we were at the right place. It was only when we had paid the equivalent of $40 that we got shuffled to the real border and realized we got hosed. So after trying to shake that off, We got in a shared car and took off for the next leg. Take in mind that Jess has never backpacked before and this was a three hour long journey on roads that had potholes the size of pools. At one point, our driver took a "detour" because apparantly the normal bridge had caved in so we headed out into the countryside where periodic traffic jams were caused by motorcycles loaded with pigs on the back and herds of cattle. About an hour into nowhere, we got stuck in a giant pit and had to push the car out. Adventurous first day to say the least. We arrived in Siem Reap and spent three days there. We rented bikes and went to Ankor Wat, which was beautiful but HOT. I'm not sure if this makes me sound ignorant, but a big part of me was underwhelmed. Yes, it's amazing that such an expanse of land has been saved and restored, but most of the ruins have been totally rebuilt at the cost of millions upon millions of dollars. I believe in the importance of history and preservation, but another part of me thinks that giant piles of rocks shouldn't necessarily be continuously rebuilt and restored when that money could be used for other purposes.

Siem Reap was a cool town. Both of us really liked it. Primarily because khmer food is amazing. If you have the opportunity to try "amok," grab it. It's pretty much joy in your mouth. The bummer was that Jess took a bad spill on her bike on the second day and ended up really hurting her arm which was in pain for the rest of the trip. She was a trooper though and pushed through everything, hopefully not at the cost of any ligaments! After Siem Reap we took a boat trip to Battamabang. This was beautiful. Although a four hour trip turned into eight, it was amazing to float down the river through the tiny villages. There were a bunch of floating villages where these families have lived for years. It was incredible that even in the middle of the river in tiny little huts, there were still battery operated tvs! The trip was so relaxing and wonderful though. A huge highlight of Cambodia. Battambang was a little rundown but we took a great tuk-tuk ride into the countryside and had an hour climb up to a temple. We hired a twelve year old guide who took us up for a dollar. He showed us the caves where Pol Pot had brought victims of the Khmer rouge. They were thrown to their death from the tops of the caves, with a giant casing of skulls commemerating the sight at the bottom. We took off to Phenom Penh for the last three days. The first night we went to the riverfront which was really beautiful. We went to the foreign correspondents club and had a drink on the rooftop before a fantastic dinner (that ended up making both of us incredibly sick the next day!) The next morning, we walked down to the market which was giant and really fun to wander through. We went to a traditional shadow puppets show, which was interesting but kind of funny. You think about the kind of stuff you do when you are traveling just because it's "traditional," but really you would never sit through anything like it at home. It was kind of like sesame street but there was a group of twenty white people trying to look interested for the full hour because it's "traditional." Our last day we went to the main prison of the khmer rouge Toul Sleng which has been turned into a museum and then onto the killing fields. We had both read a book on the genocide called "First they killed my father," which gave us a good context and background. The day was really powerful first for the pictures and torture devices and then to go to the fields where it all took place. The most impactful thing for me was how beautiful the fields were. It was so strange to be in a place where such horrible mass killing had taken place and not to feel an air of death around you. Strange reminder of how many different world our environment has seen. There was an incredibly large and beautiful tree in the middle of the fields. When you walked closer you could see the sign that read that it was where a loudspeaker had been hung to drown out the cries of the dying.

The next day we took off for Bangkok and shamefully putzed away a few hours in Starbucks (a traditional thai joint, i know) before getting the the overnight bus and early morning ferry to Koh Phangan. I had been so excited about showing Jess my favorite island. So excited that I forgot to check the weather. We got there and it was not just raining but full on monsooning. We had booked to stay in these bungalows far into the jungle on a private beach which would have been great if we could have gotten out and hiked around. After a night there we decided to suck it up and jump on a flight up north as the weather wasn't lettting up for days. We got into Chiang Mai and immediately knew it was the right call. We heart Chiang Mai. Its an awesome city surrounded by huge mountains. We biked around the first day and took a great open air bus ride up to the top of a mountain to a temple called Doi Suthep. We got blessed by a monk and saw some pretty amazing wats. That night we went to see a Muay Thai match which was in a local gym and way scrappier than anything i've seen before. Muay Thai boxing is based on points and is usually really technical and skilled but these kids were just throwing punches and kicks left and right. We even saw two girls fight. There was a lot less skill and a lot more throw downs and face slaps with them. The next day we did a "trek." We had heard about all the trekking up north and were excited for a full day. It started with a great hike in the rainforest to a hilltribe village of the Karen Tribe. They are a long neck tribe, which means that starting at age four a ring is added each year onto their neck. It creates the effect of what looks like an abnormally stretched neck but it's really depressing the collarbone. They stop adding rings at the age of 22. It was interesting but definitely felt a little exploitative as the young girls looked miserable to be there. There is two sides to the argument of the trekking that has become such a huge industry for southeast asia. On the one hand, you're providing income for the tribes and allow them to maintain their life away from civilization. Some argue that this keeps them frozen in time and locks them into being a tourist show. After the hike we took an elephant ride in the mountains which was amazing. We waded through streams, and walked on tiny paths that seemed like they'd crumble with one false step in one of the most lush and breathtaking landscapes i've ever seen. Our guide jumped off and let us climb onto the elephants neck and ride him which was awesome. This day sounds great so far right? We thought so too but after lunch it took a steep turn downhill. We were supposed to finish the day going whitewater and bamboo rafting. This turned out to be getting quickly herded into rafts by seriously mentally unstable young thai guys with no instruction on what to do. The river didn't have much rapids but with no idea what I was doing, I screamed like a little girl on the first minor bump. The crazy guide kept jumping up and down in the back and wacking jess' arm which at this point was apparantly searing pain. We got to a rough spot and three people were standing on rocks from other boats all bloody after being knocked. Needless to say, not the most fun we've ever had. We were hoping to just get out alive and onto the rafts for some calm floating. Unfortunately when we got on the rafts they sank halfway down so we were sitting up to our chests in buggy dirty water. The only good part was that there was a guy taking pictures at the side of the river to sell as commemerative photos and we got a stellar one of me giving the finger to the camera. I am that american.
So we decided to rescue the night by heading into the night market and splurging on a great meal and some shopping. The next day we putzed around Chiang Mai before Jess had to go. Overall, a fantastic trip. We've made a pact to do a week every year in a different interesting place. This was the first official "life partner week." Next year we're thinking Germany. I have a feeling me and Octoberfest are going to get along.

I'll post our pictures when I get home. I'm heading into Laos today for a trek and ziplining in the jungle with a company called the gibbon experience. check it out: www.gibbonx.org

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