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Published: December 11th 2006
Chiang Mai Night Market
Wall to wall people and wall to wall cheap stuff - nice one.First off, thanks everyone for your lovely comments. And I hope you checked out the video of Tom playing guitar... I figured out I actually do have sound on my camera, it just doesn't play back on the camera for some reason. I'll sort it out.
BUT! I think I've just found the best place on the planet. I've totally fallen in love with Pai, in the Mae Hong Son province. But let's start where we left off!
On Saturday night after wandering around the Chiang Mai night markets buying stuff, I was of course back in the rasta bar listening to some tunes - the more I hung out there the friendlier everyone got and they would be bringing me my drinks every time my beer was running low. I knew it was my last night so I was prepared to make it a big one - bearing in mind I was supposed to catch the bus to Pai at 12:30 the next day and be checked out of my guesthouse by 11 (speaking of 11, Debz, 11:11 is everywhere here in Thailand. I think its my guardian angel haha - everyone else, pay no attention to the
Tom & Nom
Yet another photo of the band man behind the curtain). So I sat there getting drunk by myself again, and then this girl sat down on my table. So I went and got another drink and then slid over and introduced myself, her name is Charlie and we started chatting about our travels and life, the same conversations you have with everyone while you're travelling, but that never seem to get boring. She'd been in Chiang Mai for a week and was looking to head out, so I asked her if she wanted to come to Pai with me in the morning or meet me up there. She was keen, and we kept drinking copiously, haha. After the band finished we again had a wicked jam session sitting around the table, met some really nice French and Irish people, and an American ex-pat who is married to a Thai and has two children, she's been here for eight years! They were all really lovely, I know I sound like a broken record, but I can't get over how nice the people are here. Anyway, after that was all wrapped up, we went and brought more whiskey and went over to Nom's house (Tom's other guitarist mate),
Charlie & Nom
Bit of banter in the reggae bar listened to some tunes, and looked at all his tattoo art, he does bamboo tattoos and some of it is amazing. Nom & Tom decided that they were going to come to Pai as well, and said that they'd drive us up in Tom's jeep. Result, no bus for me! I didn't get back to my guesthouse til about six that morning and had a really sore head when I did get up - around 12:30 much to the disgust of the people at my guesthouse!
But I packed everything with only a little difficulty, had a shower, and went to the internet cafe where my leg was humped by a cute little dog. But it wasn't THAT cute. So I went to a different cafe because apparently the dog wanted to have a serious relationship with my leg and just wasn't letting up. After having some brekkie I went and found Tom & Nom. Charlie never showed for the ride, so we left without her around 3pm (I found out today it's because she lost her cashcard. Gutted, but she'll meet me here today hopefully). It's a three hour drive and Nom sat in the tray at the
Conrad's campfire
It took forever and lasted a short time, but it was worth it :) back of the jeep, which was extremely squeaky and I thought the windscreen was gonna cave in a few times, but all was good. The road's a bit gnarly - actually, it's really gnarly, bumpy, potholed, and STEEP... but the views were absolutely breathtaking up in the mountains, I was sitting there speechless the whole time just shaking my head with my mouth open. I fell asleep after a while and when I woke, we were reaching the top of the mountains and the sun was setting. I almost peed myself with absolute delight, the colours were amazing and set in the jungle, well let's just say it was a sight I never dreamed I would see. We arrived in Pai just after 6pm and it was already dark, so I didn't get to see much aside from the inside of a couple of bars. But they're awesome, hammocks everywhere and cushions to sit on around campfires. The girl I met at Big John's, Nina, was already here and had booked me a bungalow next to hers. I texted her when I arrived and she and her new friend Conrad came down to the jeep and picked me up, then
The bridge across to my bungalow, Pai
She looks pretty rickety but I haven't fallen off yet! we walked across an extremely rickety-looking bamboo bridge over the river. I was very aware that I probably weighed about 110 kg with my backpack on (think I'm gonna have to send some stuff home cos I've gone a little mad with all the clothes, doh). I got set up in my little bungalow, which has a double bed surrounded totally by mozzie netting, a little balcony out the front, and its own bathroom at the back. It's absolutely wicked but totally rustic... lots of gaps in the thatching and stuff cos its totally made from bamboo! You can hear the people next door walking around because it creaks. But I love it!! I'll post pictures soon.
When I'd sorted my stuff I went outside and down to Nina's bungalow. Conrad laboured over this tiny little campfire for ages and finally got a decent blaze going for us, so we sat around and had a beer out there shooting the breeze, and then we went up to the guesthouse they'd stayed in the night before. There's a bar there and the guys who run it are so lovely! I got photos of them with POH and we all sat
My little bungalow
Apart from the lizards and grasshoppers, it's a regular little home around drinking and playing pool and joking around. The atmosphere here is something else, I just can't describe it. It's full of travellers at the moment, but everyone is amazingly friendly and happy all the time. The guys behind the bar had their family staying as well and the older of the two has a gorgeous two year old son who was hanging around. Beautiful. After that, me and Conrad went up to a bar just up the road and sat and watched Tom & Nom jam with some other guys, Conrad plays bass so he got up and had a go. Tom mentioned going to another bar called Be-Bop, so we jumped in the jeep and went over there, it was absolutely rammed with travellers and Thais. We found a table and sat and watched the band playing - the singer was great, an English ex-pat woman from Brighton, fronting an all-Thai band. She played Rock & Roll by Led Zep and I had to get up and have a boogie, it was so cool. I went and spoke to her afterwards and she was hanging with some other ex-pats and a Thai guy who convinced me to talk
POH, the bar guy, and Conrad
The guys at this bar were so sweet. the others into going onto a place called Bamboo Bar, so we again got in the jeep and drove up there. So yeah, I talked Conrad into coming with us to Bamboo. He was glad I did too because after his fire efforts he was totally delighted to see that they had big log fires going all over the place. It is totally made from bamboo and its kind of a raised deck with all these different sitting areas and heaps of cushions to laze around on. We were the first there and I was the only girl but eventually more and more people trickled in, I met people from Israel and Japan, and we sat around talking drunken crap for ages, it was a great night. Tom dropped me and Conrad off at our bungalows after a while and we sat on the porch having one more beer and talking (probably too loudly for the thin-walled bungalows), and then I went and fell into bed.
Woke this morning at about 10:30 and the burn on my leg was hurting like hell. So I gave it a clean and sorted myself out, then I stepped out on my porch
Nom, Tom & friends at Bamboo Bar, Pai
It was so cool sitting round the campfire for the first time in daylight. WOW. The river runs right past me and you can see the mountains and across the river to Pai town. It's so gorgeous, I really feel like I'm in paradise. I wandered up the street, found a little cafe and had some brekkie, sat reading my book. A couple across the way noticed what I was reading - 'Veronika Decides to Die' by Paulo Coelho. Apparently the guy had read it and his girlfriend wanted to, so we talked about that. I had my brekkie and then I ended up finishing the book so I just went over and gave it to her. She was really pleased and gave me a little good luck token she had picked up in Thailand in return and asked me to write my email address in the front of the book so she could keep in touch. I told her to come visit in New Zealand. They were a really nice couple and it was nice to brighten up someone's day. As if a day in Pai is ever going to be anything but bright!
After that I forgot the time (pretty much happens everytime I have to be anywhere on time, because I just don't even think about it, time disappears) and I was meant to meet Nina for lunch at one, obviously I wasn't very hungry by that stage. But I sat with her and had an orange juice (loving the juice drinks here) and we chatted about things to do that day. But by that stage the burn on my leg was hurting so much that I basically decided it had to be infected. So off we went in search of a doctor. Found one, walked straight in off the street, it was clean, the nurse that saw me was lovely and even though her English wasn't very good she still managed to explain everything to me. So now I am on anti-biotics til Friday, and I have to go back every day to have it re-dressed. The whole thing cost me 270 baht which is about four pounds or 12 dollars NZ.
So no drinking for me and two tablets four times a day! Bloody hell - trust me to do something like this my first week in Thailand. I'm gonna have to tape it up or something tomorrow, I WANT to do the elephant trek and I know I'll get wet, but I have to do it. Maybe I'll give it a couple of days to heal up more first. Just means I have to stay here longer than planned, but I never want to leave anyway! If only all my favourite people could come and live here with me in a little bungalow forever and ever, then Pai really would be paradise.
Love you all!
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ersby
non-member comment
Sober for a week. That's one new experience you weren't expecting.