Christmas In Pai

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I was kind of having a pity party on Christmas. Even though we are enjoying our vacation, I still missed home. Pai is a great place, but if we come here again, I would not stay as long. I think three days is plenty. I need options and action! Zach and I got a proper American breakfast at Burger House: scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast. Ohhh, bacon. I miss bacon in Thailand; it is very difficult to find. I also got muesli, which really needs to happen in the US. Technically we do it, we just call it fruit, granola, and yogurt. Muesli is the one and only thing I can tolerate raisins in.

For lunch we were lazy. Didn't do anything but read books (me) and play Age of Empires (zach). Zach did surprise me with dessert as my Christmas present, and ohhhhh boy, it was good. The dessert places in Pai are probably one of the best I have seen in Thailand. I also went and got a manicure/pedicure. Totally waste of money. We went to some hole in the wall, and Zach got a massage while he waited for me. He said the best part of it was when it was over. I am surprised my toes haven't fallen off from infection due to the questionable tools she used on me. Also, I realized the color was very.... bright. I thought it was red; I'm still not sure if it is. I think it may be orange.

We headed to Charlie and Leks for dinner. Almost every place around had private parties and was closed to the public. Zach recently discovered massaman curry and is now obsessed with it. He ordered that and I had the glass noodle salad, which was one of the best ever. As we were eating, Melonie and Charlie, the German couple Zach met the night before, walked by. Zach waved them over and they joined us. Wonderful couple!!! We spent the remaining evening with them, walking the night market and then settling down for drinks in front of live music. We stayed here for hours, and I finally discovered the magic of Pai. It was so laid back and the music was great covers of Pink Floyd, the Beatles... GOOD music.

So while we were watching the band, this very drunk, old, white guy starts rocking out with his cigar. He was so into it, he sat down in front of the bongos and "joins the band." The musicians actually don't even seem to notice. At one point, the guy turned fierce and just beats the hell out of the bongos. He's got his cigar in one hand and he is just wailing on the drums with the other. Then, after a few songs, he gets up, bows, and staggers down the road. I do have him on film but it is really dark. I just opened one of the videos up, and I actually said out loud "what the hell am I looking at?" Turns out not only is it dark, I filmed it upside down. Must have drank too much that night!

As we were walking back to our motorbike, three girls from Wales stopped us and asked if we knew where they could find a taxi. It was around midnight, and there is no transportation left in Pai at this hour. They were staying 8km out of town at Thom's Elephant Camp. Thom dropped them off for Christmas, and now they had no way of getting home. We took them back to our guesthouse to try and find a ride, but everyone was either sleeping or out celebrating. They ended up walking to the police station. They forgot their pineapple they were carrying around so Zach delivered it to them. We hope they got home!

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