Wallace & Gromit do Pai

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We had a feeling Pai would be a sedate mountain village full of travellers who had gone to "find themselves". After our long mountainous bus journey of 792 bends upon arrival it seemed we were pretty close to the mark - Pai was a small village within 3 main streets housing shops selling numerous dreamcatchers, happy trouser shops and organic cafes. It was like a Thai version of Glastonbury.

We found a group of bamboo huts down by the river and overlooking the surrounding mountains run by a friendly Germa woman and her Thai boyfriend. I have always liked the idea of living in a bamboo hut on stilts, but the first night I realised that having this little bit of paradise means you enevitably end up sharing it with a host of lively creatures looking for a room. Most terrifying the spiders!!! We have been let off pretty lightly on our travels when it comes to creepy crawlies until now, and after a good hour of trying to coax the bloody thing out we decided that in furture maybe the more modern concrete structures were better..........

The next two days in PAi were uneventful butpleasant & relaxing. We took the gamble of taking to the open road on a hired mopeheadto see some of the local sights. A Cjinese village & waterfalls were within easy reach on the bike. After a few fake starts and wobbles we got the hang of it & like wallace & grommit we were off.It was great having our own set of wheels for once and being on the bike brought a welcome cooling down from the 30 degree plus heat.

When we arrived first we were concerned of the lack of our fire throwing skills & dreadlocks would mean we would feel a little out of place here but we had a really nice couple of days and both of us would come again.

Next stop - the border (Chiang Kong) to float down the Mekong into Loas.....

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Photos

Our bamboo hut for a few days!!!
Massive spiders also...........