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Published: January 30th 2010
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This is my 3rd attempt to post something - the Thai internet is about as reliable as Brett Favre’s retirement announcements. It has evolved, this posting, as the second one was written in the confused and exhausted point of view of one that has eaten something one shouldn’t have.
Well we’re back in Chiang Mai after 5 days in Pai, back to the big city. Pai treated us well and hitting it mid-week seemed to be a fortunate thing to do. As the weekend approached there was a noticeable increase in noise, people and motorized chaos on the small streets. It was a great visit there, though, nice and relatively peaceful and in a lovely setting.
Our last day was spent on a waterfall hike that we had heard about. Three hours, they said, one way. We thought that was some silly approximation for people not used to hiking. Turns out three hours was probably about right, if not a bit hopeful. We had wandered up the trail about an hour and asked a local guy hiking with his dog how much further it was and sure enough, he said ‘at least two hours’. We weren’t exactly prepared for
a 6 hour hike so just turned it into a destination-less wander. The trail followed a stream that must be much larger during the wet season. It hasn’t done any significant raining here since October…
It was a pretty hike, through large trees strung with medieval vines, crossing back and forth through the stream a hundred times…a nice respite from the day’s heat to be under the forest canopy and with wet feet. We ran into a couple from Belgium and talked with them for a while. It’s been so nice, this trip, to interact with all of the Europeans and Canadians, to get the world’s perspective on so many things. This couple worked for the Belgian prison system and were taking a mental break from their jobs. It sounds like a pretty messed up system where the inmates are not made to do anything (like wake up and shower) and the prison guards have no rights when it comes to defending themselves as this guy had had to do a few weeks ago. It led to an inquest on him, not on the inmate who came at him with a Molotov cocktail. I guess sometimes it’s good to
hear that the rest of the world is goofy too - one can start wondering if we’re the only ones with crazy laws. Turns out, for better or worse, we’re not alone in our exasperation.
We also ran into a couple of local guys with a gun hunting something, not sure what, was just happy they didn’t seem too interested in hunting us. On the way out the only other people we saw were a group of 20 somethings and mentioned that there were a couple of guys ahead with a .22, just so they weren’t caught off guard. The last guy in line said ‘oh you must be from the states - only someone from the states would know enough about guns to say ‘a .22’. Well sign us right up for the NRA.
We ran to town for some food after the hike. Todd ordered a beer and pita chips with hummus. I ordered some food poisoning. F
Really it was just a matter of time and as my long list of experience with puking in foreign countries goes, was quite a nice version of the usual. Just one bout of ugliness followed by total
exhaustion and relief to have that feeling go away. It knocked me out for the whole next day (that would be yesterday now) including for the mini-van ride from hell which I dreaded as one might dread any sort of foretold torture. To go into one of the world’s more confined spaces on a road designed to make people not typically car sick properly understand just why it is that car sick people carry on so…to enter into this willingly with a stomach and head just struggling to survive, well, I got through it somehow.
It was with the definition of relief that we found ourselves delivered to our new guesthouse - air conditioning, a bed and a Ginger Ale - life couldn’t not have been better. Todd went out and explored a few temples nearby while I surrendered in total happiness to gravity’s pull. I didn’t make it to dinner either. Todd went and found what was supposed to be an Irish pub that served overpriced crap food and $5 Guinness. We got through yesterday fairly unscathed and was happy to wake up today feeling a million times better and ready to eat something. Not wanting to eat is just a depressing way to be for someone who loves to eat as much as I do.
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