Pai & Bangkok

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December 28th 2013 - January 9th 2014

We spent a good chunk of time in Pai, what was intended to be 4 or 5 days turned quickly into 2 weeks. . I anticipated wanting to stay for a long time, small mountain town, reggae music, hippie backpackers, cheap hostels but it was not the best energy for me for some reason, emotionally and physically I was running on empty.

Not getting much sleep the night before probably contributed to the nausea during the car ride up. The road to Pai from Chaing Mai is 175km with 765 twist and turns. Its a narrow road, people drive fast and pass on blind corners, the journey to pai is part of the grand-jour of the town. Leanne and I arrived first and found a beautiful little patch of bungalos to stay at. Accross a precarious bamboo bridge, that I honestly questioned if it could hold both my bag and I, through a medow of shoulder high flowers and accross a dirt road to our simple yet wonderful grass woven home, I loved this little place.

Only a few days into arriving in Pai I was feeling ready to go, but found always something to stay for one day more. My energy was low most of the time as I seemed to be batteling a cold of some sort while we were there. That being the case I still had some wonderful times as well.

Leanne and I rented old cruiser bikes one day, which we tried to ride up a mountain, despite an inability to raise the seat, proper working breaks or any gears. We didn't make it all the way up the mountain to the waterfal at the end, but we did make our way to a beautiful vista where we sat and had a juice snacked on roasted cashews and swapped stories of our past with the valley of Pai and a setting sun as our backdrop.

The night Zara arrived was also the night of the reggae festival. Tickets were more than we expected them to be but we figured how often when teaveling do you happen upon such an event and so we went in. It was in a small field, there were not many people but there were a couple bonfires and fire spinners. The music was ok but it was the conversations around the fires that turned out to be the gem part of the night. Leanne and I stayed late talking with locals and young travelers working in the area for the circus school, where you can learn to spin fire, hoolahoop and all sorts of other wonderfulness.

I got a new tattoo and my nose pierced. I had not planned on getting either, but I've always wanted to get my nose pierced, so I thought why not, and after spending time at the tattoo shop Monkey Magik, with Bok, the artist, and seeing that he is such a beautiful person as well as a talented artist I decided I wanted him to do a piece on me and found some font for an idea I was toying with previously. Leanne and I went to a "yoga", asana, class with the one lady in town who dominates the market. Mam Yoga, she is an elderly lady in her 60's, she wears large fur coats, complains about the way of Thai people, though she herself is Thai, colors her long choppy curly hair a redish orange, and sputters about so discombobulated and franticly she would have you under the impression that the sky was falling over any little thing. It was the craziest, least yogic yoga class I have ever been to, an experience yes, but not something I'd reccomend others spend their money on doing. Do a self practice instead! I must admit I do see the world a bit differently after my WLYA training.

New years eve turned out to be a beautiful night. We (Sabina & her boyfriend, Leanne, Zara & I) sat at a little bar on the walking street. I decided to have a Roi Tee, which is like a crepe kind of, and the one thing my grandma said I had to try. It was divine, and since it is made with eggs and the last night of an amazing year I also indulged in one of my other non-vegan favorites and sipped on Baileys on ice. (if anyone knows a vegan alternative I'd so love to know it!) We slowly made our way through the crowds with cups of tea and whisky till we reached Sudset bar, made of bamboo and situated on the river bank. We spent the evening swapping stories about our favorite moments of the year, funniest days, lessons, and things and people we were greatful for having been a part of our year. As midnight rolled around thousands of paper lanterns were released up into the sky. It was a magical moment. Fireworks began being released and the night sky was filled with stars, and fire, I have never experienced anything like it. one of those, life is wonderously beautiful moments.

Most of the rest of the time in Pai was spent walking around, relaxing, chatting with new friends, eating dinner with the WLYA family, and enjoying live music. Pai is a super chilled out town, most people dont do too much but hang out. At nights it was cold but as it was still warmer than the ashram we found ourselves out and enjoying amazingly good live music at the local bars many nights and talking with both locals and fellow travelers. Within 3 days of being there we had made many friends whom we would go visit throughout the day at their shops, and many other travelers we would meet up with for meals. I met another burner who invited me to join living with them in their little community and was offered a job at a bar. While the idea was tempting, the energy of Pai was not working well with me and so finally after many delays and goodbyes to Leanne, Sabina, Sarah, and Miki, Zara and I made our way back to the busteling city.

Our ride down from Pai was packed but the twist and turns did not have me feeling as sick, I turned on some music and found my energy lifting once we were headed back down the mountain. We arrived in Chiang Mai at the bus station where we booked a nigh bus to leave in a couple hours to Bangkok. We tried to have dinner but I was feeling sick again and by the time we climbed on the bus my tired body could have slept just about anywhere. It was not solid sleep, we were woken up at security checkpoints along the road more than once, but it was also not the worst overnight bus ride I have ever been on, think that gold medal still goes to a bus ride to the sea in Egypt.

January 10th 2014

One night. In Bangkok. And the world is your oyster. Or at least thats what the song says, though I must admit I'm feeling quite the same. Zara and I landed in Bangkok this afternoon. Our hotel is nice and near the sky rail. We took our time showering and then went to a shopping center called Terminal 21. It is the biggest shopping center I have ever been in. Each floor is a different country theme. The bathrooms have sanitizer to wipe the toilet seat off with, the seats are heated, and then you push buttons to get spray washed off and blow dried on your neather regions! yup. Heated toilet seats! When just hours before I was squatting over a hole in a water flooded floored bathroom. We walked around for a while, didnt buy anything but enjoyed looking and seeing the difference in styles, food, and everything. Then went to see The Hobbit, part 2. I really enjoyed it, I thought it was well done and faster paced than the first part. The theater was nice, the seats were big and tilted back. Before the movie starts everyone in the theater stands in honor of the king and they play a song and video to honor him, then everyone sits and the movie starts, which was played in english and had Thai subtitles. Bangkok is huge, and much cleaner than I expected it to be to be honest. Though the smells of the sewer and the market are sometimes to be reconed with. It is quite a modernized city, and in many senses felt much the same as London or New York. ...

We only had 2 days in Bangkok sice Zara's visa was about to run out, however even if that had not been the case we still would have probably left. There are anti goverment protests flooding the streets, while things are still peaceful, the city was sceduled to shut down on the 13th and tourists were advised to stay inside and avoid the areas that these were taking place in, just blocks from major tourist areas.

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Photos

At Fluke's
We made friends with a local who had a jewlery making shop, we spent a few afternoons sitting on the floor hanging out with him while he worked and we picked out music. Leanne, Sarah, and Zara are drawing up Leanne's tattoo in this one.

DSCN0456
Leanne and her new tattoo