Red Shirts at Chiang Mai, shopping, a thai massage and partying in Pai!

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We left Kanchanaburi in a minibus for Ayuthaya (the old capital of thailand)having had to bypass Bangkok due to the troubles! we only had a few hours there but we managed to efficiently locate a steak restaurant for dinner! then it was onwards to chiang mai on the overnight train which was not the best of nights as the train jostled about really badly so it felt like we were being just thrown about in our bunks! as we arrived in chiang mai we saw lots of red flags and people at the train station and found out that as the troops had stormed the bangkok barricade they had now come here and there was a curfew in place! brilliant! to add insult to serious injury the main cinema complex was shut down completely so watching russell crowe as robin hood was now out of the question!! so wat now we said, well wats indeed - we started to look around the wats (temple) within the city. at our first one a taxi driver offered to take us around the outer city wats and to an umbrella making factory for the equivalent of 75 pence each! so we piled in, and went to a beautiful wat in the outer city which had a really large main hall with pillars which was pretty, then on to the forest wat which was pretty peaceful and had meditation tunnels but we both felt the wats began to look the same! then we were taken to a gem store, a silk making factory as our driver was collecting all his petrol coupons as he made us look around a furniture place just for 10 minuites and then come out! Our final stop (as it turned out to be) was the umbrella painting place which we had a quick look around in then came out to find no driver! we waited but soon came to the conclusion that we had been abandoned and think it may have been down to our refusal to go to the tailors after the umbrellas! still, we got a pretty good deal as we got a tuk tuk back to town having been taken around alot of the outer sity wats and done some shopping for free as we hadnt paid him before he took off! on our way back to town the main bridge in was closed off due to protesters and we heard some bangs and there seemed to be quite a few people about, so we had to take a pedestrian bridge back! after some shopping at a small market and a walk around town we decided a thai massage would do nicely! so we had the 30 min back/neck/head massage but they worked up from the feet! at times i just got a fit of giggles and you got pulled about a bit as your back and bones cracked in new places but we both came out feeling relaxed and more flexible!!! in the evenings we had to get food close by to the hostel then be back for curfew which was a shame as we missed the famed night market! we decided to head to Pai, the hippie retreat which turned out to be a great little place! the road there was not so great with most people on the bus (us included) feeling sick from the hairpins! our first sight here again was the wat which had 300 odd steps to the top and it had great views over the valley and pai! the surrounding countryside was really pretty, with a winding river, bamboo bridges and bamboo huts! after the success of our massage in chiang mai we went for the full body one in pai but it was disrupted half way through by a power cut, candles were quickly found and lit, but the window above cat blew open and showered her in dust causing commotion which disturbed the peace! we went out in the evening starting with a few cocktails and met a new zealand guy who was travelling alone, and he came with us to claim our free buckets at another bar which had given us a wristband earlier in the day! another power cut there and we were all talking by candlelight and playing drunken snap and memory! then we latched onto another big group of people which included alot of fun irish guys. we ended up at a club by the river and found ourselves with yet another bucket! the place was packed with people who were jumping up and down on the bamboo and it felt like it was going to break but it proved its toughness! before we knew it the sun was up and we began the early morning walk home, a couple of the lads walked with us, one of them in a drunken state who wanted the facebook details decided without a pen he would set fire to a twig and burn/etch her name onto a scrap of paper! after trying to walk into to the wrong guesthouse we eventually found our room! needless to say not much at all was done the following day, except rest in the hammock, and enjoy an iced mango drink for the hangover! we met everyone again for dinner at a jazz cafe which redefined laid back service! cats 2 and a half hour wait for her salad was the record as the groups dishes came out in batches with half hour gaps between them! cat ordered a strawberry shake and even with three reminders the shake was never to materialise! we were all convinced that the kitchen staff were probably the band as well so not much could be done too quickly! we continued out to a cross dressing party (though we hadnt cross dressed) but just to look at others was pretty amusing! we couldnt stay out as late due to our 5.30am bus to chiang rai but we felt sad to leave as we had really enjoyed the company of the group particulaly one when one of the irish guys who had a fear of dogs had been chased by six of them and had to climb onto the table as they surrounded him, eventually he decided he had to make a move so he jumped down, barked at them and chased them back down the street! there had been quite a few travellers in pai and british people , a couple of older british guys who were dressed as women trying to convince us to come to the cross dressing party approached these other two more posh english lads in their dresses saying 'hello sailors'...it didnt go down too well! but the party had been pretty good, and it hurt to get up at 5am for the bus, one german lad had just come straight from the party to catch it! Pai has been great fun and was a really relaxing place too, its on to chiang rai and hopefully some hilltrible trekking!

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