Lots of pie please...

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Firstly thankyou for all the comments people have sent especially the ones from people we dont know - maybe the badger on our front page enticed you. If so you have our full respect.

Anyway, although when in Chaing Mai I was happy as larry (mainly to be out of busy Bangkok) and fully endorsing my life of massage and hedonism - it's all changed again. I've now found an even better place that rivals palolem for looking and feeling like paradise. Pai (pronounced 'Bye' unless you're us - then it's Pie) is located right in the northwest tip of thailand - pretty close to the border, and officially has some of the most amazing scenery ever. rolling hills full of thick lush greenery (way too many colours of green for me to understand), little thai people working the fields and real buffalo wandering about - usually just chilling in which ever field they happen to be in.

We arrived here from Chaing Mai yesterday (i've no idea what day yesterday) on a bus that tested the old nerves nearly as much as the bus rides in goa, taking about 3 hours. I got stuck as usual next to a somewhat larger person than myself and he had no trouble minimising my seat. So arriving hot sweaty and squashed i'd began to wonder if it was worth going all the way to Pai, but as soon as we got off at the 'bus station' (small patch of earth) and looked around, i realised it really was. We're staying in a batch of bamboo huts near to a small riverlette called 'Rainbow Lodge' and even the setting for 'home' is amazing. All the huts are built around a central camp fire area. Lots of Beatles classics belted out before bed last night.

The actual day has mainly been spent relaxing and mooching around - well deserved really. The afternoon when we got here we got some bikes to aid getting to the surrounding sites (this after a hilarious attempt to rent a moped - i assumed it would be really easy to just pick it up and ride but 4 or 5 minutes of continually stalling and falling off meant we admitted defeat (maintaining british upper lip of course - i say it's to help the environment) and hired push bikes.

The early evening was spent making new friends of french, german, israeli and thai origin at what was meant to be a bar crawl - but ended up being a bar sit, as we found a ace bar run by a real thai hippy who insisted he play me a selection of led zeppelin, jimi hendrix and most brilliantly of all Pink Floyd. Afetr asking him on a whim he rewarded me with a full playing of Wish You Were Here. That definately helped Pai in general achieving Hero Status.
Then after a wobbley wander home and songs around ye olde camp fire it was bedtime (in one of the best beds yet incidentally - actual duvet and sheets).

Then to this morning and the icing on the Pai cake - we cycled out to some natural springs (after a well earned lie in) about 7km away and enjoyed an afternoon of bliss. It was a perfect bath temperature rock pool, surrounded by greenery evrywhere, a small waterfall running into the end and no=one else to be seen....and the cost: nothing. Its totally free. Every sports complex with a hot pool is trying to be where we got to go for real. nice.
A couple of hours later (only to medicinally help my growing collection of mozzy bites) we cycled back to Pai and watching a beautiful sunset over the surrounding mountains (Pai is in a little valley with hills pretty much everywhere else).

I think this evening it will be back to the same bar to begin with as it provided so acely yesterday, food is tending to be on the plain side at the moment as claire has done really well at having an active digestive system - all seems to be fuctioning ok at present though.

I'll sign off now as it's time for a beer and food - hope everyones not too chilly with the big freeze and all that - slightly different here as i've got sewat rolling off me at 7 in the evening outdoors - lovely image for you i'm sure.

marc

p.s just looked at the bbc and city websites...weak.

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Photos

This is the life.....
Relaxing in the hot springs

On the road again
Finding a new home for the night in the mountains of Pai

Comments

[Joy]

lovely image for you Im sure
Roast beef, yorkshire pud, and a pint of speckled hen!

[JP]

Sweet, actual Pie?
Awesome man, cant believe youv been to a place called Pie....and Madras. Should do a round the world trip of places named after favourite foods... Went Bradford for a curry, was weak man, no alchypol served in this place, and id never heard of any of the curries. Weak house is suprisingly weak at the moment, full of hippies and general filth. Hope you catch malaria or rabies while your out there, face you later man im at work in my cold cold office

[Davwe]

Owlas
I saw a bawn owl yestereday it a tue keyboafd love and kisses mr b