pleasant life in Pai

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we are in the relaxation capital of Thailand. Pai. tis a town in the north of thailand and it's lovely. we are spending a day doing absolutely nothing. aahhhhh...
we arrived yesterday, by bus, from Chiang Mai. about four hours, into the mountains, up up and away! again to hairpin bends, s bends, z bends and u bends and every other kind of bend imaginable. there was actually a yellow line dividing the road, warning signs and even the odd barrier to stop u tumbling over the edge - major change in comparison to Laos - but a billion more would be a little more comforting! anyway, shocked as we were, we had a great driver! he decided to stick to his side of the road, refrained from putting the minivan into 1st gear at the bottom of every hill and the only other thing on his mind was his hair! which was a fantastic change to most of our other drivers on their mobile phone's or staring into a smoking engine or listening to mind numbingly loud music or squeezing the life out of the gear box. still, climbing up hill snaking around trees and rocks and mounds of earth for and people on mopeds, trucks and diggers, certainly 30 minutes at a time, only to slip downhill for maybe 10 did leave my internals feeling like id just plopped them on an unsteady raft in the middle of a cantankerous sea, despite the polite driving. the sounds of the forests/trees increased as we ascended, birds that sound like bad brakes on a bike and a concert of insects sounding like crickets attached to a 100amp speaker!amazing!
one other thing that strikes one in Thailand, is the presence of the king - pictures of him everywhere. in some posters hes looking reverent and thoughtful, more of the time he kindof stares at u, bamboozled looking, even creepy - eyes fallowing you everywhere, hes in posters, pictures in houses, pubs etc and all the time, wearing what are only Darina Allen glasses! , he's even staring at me know, from the filing cabinet in this internet room, maybe he was pissed for the photo, or dazzled with the flash -one would think, the king, having i can only assume a wee bit of cash and possibly even a fashion advisor - encouraging him to wear that gold suit - would maybe, fancy a pair of smaller glasses! to make him look a little less startling. funny thing.
so Pai is peaceful, relaxed, lazy spacious place, with a river running through it. smiling people, herbal tea, hippey shops, yoga classes, hammocks, live jazz to let the night slip away while we sit on swings in the restaurants and beed and shell jewelery for the masses! i have amassed quite a few pieces of the later as well as a few lampshades - every sales mans dream me, ohhing and aahing wanting it all! today was total relaxation. restaurant to coffee shop to bar, drinking fruit shakes, green teas, getting my teeth into another gripping dick francis novel and avoiding what had to be the most unbearable heat yet. im not joking, id swear my liver was starting to bake and my stomach contents simmer. my freckles multiplied in a walk of about 15 minutes down the road. safely, unburnt, we had a sit down in the river - too shallow for a swim and for whitewater rafting too unfortunately - and cooled down. so now were killing time before we have some more deliciously satisfying food and drink and off to our wee hut (king size bed!) costing about 3$ apiece - -and en suite! life is good. back to Chiang Mai 2moro and then to Bangkok. so- not exactly the action packed, fast paced incredible adventure you may like to hear about, however i know your jealous! ill have a swing in a hammock for ya while im sipping my glass of house white looking at the stars, in no rush to go anywhere!
toodles
gracie

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Comments

[roisin]

God, Grace, if I was a published I'd hire you straight away...I can see the whole thing there, brilliant! am nearly feeling sick after your description of the bus trips. Thanks for the email. Enjoy the rest of your mad adventures, and fasten your seatbelt!