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So I'm back in Thailand... I got into Bangkok and onto Kao San Road at 2am after our flight from Hanoi and as soon as I stepped onto that road and walked past dozens of wasted backpackers I knew I had to get out of there ASAP. Unfortunately I woke up the next morning with a raging flu so I had to spend a couple of days there before i had the energy for a bus ride. The bus ride was another overnighter and it wasn't pleasant as always... I thought I'd rough it by not taking gravol. Bad idea. I probably sound like a junkie, but I really need it to sleep. It's too bumpy and jerky to try and do it the natural way.
Anyways I arrived in Chiang Mai and liked it more than I expected so I ended up staying a couple of days. The first day I just walked around and sussed out some cooking schools. That evening I went to the night market which I had heard so much about. Really I'm not sure why... It's big, but it seemed like every stall was the exact same. I even went into some smaller underground set
ups but same thing. So I was a little disappointed, but not with the food. There is a separate night market food area and it was delish! I'm sure many of you are picturing me as quite overweight at the moment judging by how much I talk about food, but not to worry if I keep getting these flus I'm pretty sure it evens out... just kidding.
So the next day I had a teeny weeny breakfast and got picked up for the cooking school. I was SO excited to cook and eat thai food all day long! I was warned to pace myself but I had such a small breakfast (everybody also recommended that) that I was STARVING by the time we cooked our first dish - Pad Thai... and again I was starving by the time I cooked the second dish (here was my downfall) - Spring Rolls... I ate all 4 gigantic delicious spring rolls... I looked up and everyone else had either not touched them or just eaten a couple. I guess you can save food to take home... they didn't tell me that. So anyways, I was getting full early ... damn it. Sure enough
by the end of day we're cooking our last dish - bananas in coconut cream and I feel like I might be about to give birth. But sure enough I ate the damn bananas in coconut cream - which I don't even like!!! What is wrong with me.
Good thing I was leaving the next day because I was tempted to do another couple of days and learn more dishes... but really I think it's best I moved on.
So I headed for Pai! Ahhhh Pai! It really is paradise. I was still sick and really just wanted to relax. I pictured a bungalow right on Pai River with a hammock and just quiet and peacefulness.... so when I arrived in Pai I dumped my bag at the shop we got dropped off in and decided to walk until I found my perfect place... not really sure if it even existed. I walked for about an hour and looked at half a dozen places and then I found it. Pai Riverlodge. Heaven. I was like, yes please, I'll take it, and I'll be staying a week.
So I've been here a week now. I have done a whole lot of
nothing but have managed a few great days of exploring. So it's really been perfect. The owners of the lodge are super nice young guys. Their buddies own the swimming pool so I have free access to it which is fantastic on the hot days, and the rainy ones! But, the swimming pool is probably a 15 minute walk which I thought wouldn't be good for my recuperation so I rented a motorbike for the week... I realize this is the ultimate in laziness, but it's so darn cheap I couldn't not do it.
So my life in Pai is this... Get up, hop on my bike and go for breakfast... do a little exploring around Pai...hit the pool... lunch... pool... hammock... dinner... It's a rough life here.
My neighbour Peter had been here for a month already and while he had done some exploring around Pai he hadn't seen any other towns. So I convinced him to join me on a ride out to the next town (only 55km away) called Soppong and it was a beautiful ride. Winding all the way up through this pass with great views and then all the way down into Soppong where there
are tons of caves to explore. We stayed the night at the "cave lodge" which was run by an Aussie guy who has been living in this region for over 30 years. He has spent a lot of time with the hill tribes, much of which was back in the day when they weren't a major tourist attraction. His photos are amazing and he has written a book. Anyways, he also clearly loves Spalunking (sp?) because he has explored this whole area in great depth and knows of every single cave, nook and cranny there is in Soppong. The Lod Cave which is the biggest and you need a guide (well we did) to get through is very cool. It's massive and if we didn't have our lady with the lantern we would have for sure gotten lost. At the exit at sunset you can catch all the swifts returning to the cave. It was an amazing show. Half a million birds swarming in the air and dive bombing into the cave. Really very cool. I walked into the cave and some of the birds just fell onto the ground and couldn't fly again... John, the aussie, was telling me
that they spend most of their life flying and only land in the cave high up... so they have a really hard time taking off from the ground. He also said that tourists feel bad so they try and toss the bird in the air to help them fly but it never works and often they toss the bird in the water by accident. But in the water there are these massive bird eating fish just waiting for them! So apparently some tourists get very distraught having actually helped kill the bird rather than saving it.
The next day we attempted to find some other caves, many of which we just couldn't find and ended up dirtbiking with our 100cc motorbikes through really shitty trails getting absolutely filthy! We did finally find a coffin cave where apparently these wooden coffins have been for 3000 years. It was a good hike up into the cave where I started feeling a lot of heeby jeebies with all the bugs and spiderwebs and coffins and dark caves... So it was time to get back to my hammock in Pai!
Many people I've met have been here for over a month. It's a place
you could easily get stuck. But I'm getting restless now that I'm feeling better and it's time to move onto Laos. My last couple of days here I'll explore some more and use up my gas. I really have loved "owning" a motorbike. The only problem is how lazy i have become. For example, I really would walk to dinner except that the lane to the riverlodge turns into a lake after the evening rain so it means getting my feet wet and dirty... so it makes sense to take the bike right? I think so.
I'm getting really good at justifying my laziness. For instance, have I done any trekking in Thailand? No. Why not? Because I find that the hill tribes are far too touristed and commercial. Or because the groups are too big. Or because it seems somewhat wrong to parade through these villages pointing your camera in their faces as though they are circus animals. Or.... well I have a lot of reasons, all of which are true, but to be completely honest the biggest reason is I'm just feeling too darn lazy.
But I am heading to Laos and I expect sans-motorbike I'll get back
into the walking groove. Maybe even do some treks (minus the big group of people)...
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