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Published: August 13th 2008
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Pai "pronounced Bye" is a small town North of Chiang Mai. It is a wonderful leisurely journey through the hills by bus. Actually, it is a 90 mile drive there and back that takes 4 hours each way due to its 700+ hairpin curves. Not to mention the bus is ancient and the windows are all kept down feeding your lungs with exhaust the whole journey. The driver also slows down on every uphill slant to about a crawling 10 mph all the way beeping stray cattle off the road. The best part of the bus was the seats (more specifically, only our seats). I was lucky because mine just bobbed back and forth (kinda like one of those bouncy chairs for babies). While Laura's was actually broken; permanently "reclined" back, but add a 45 degree slanted sideways seat. (kinda like a three legged lazy-boy rocker for grandpa minus any form of comfort or padding). Hers bobbing along side mine, but oddly enough, not at the same speed or rhythm. It was ready at any turn to toss her into the aisle. We decided to find the humor in our situation and ended up having some good laughs along the way.
On the other hand, a couple of young girls had three normal, mind you, seats in the back. They were loud and complained the whole way (demanding a discount price-on a $6 ticket) and screamed "we're going to die" more times than necessary. Along the way Hilltribe people got on the bus periodically and stood in the aisles holding their packages and children until getting off at their stop a couple miles up the road. After one of the three girls got done complaining about the "dirty mountain people" she noticed, of all the bags piled in the back of the bus, hers had been puked on. I would call that a good lesson in karma.
The uncomfortable bus ride was forgotten the moment we stepped off the bus. Pai is tucked away in a beautiful valley, with yoga, hot springs, organic food, hammocks and village hippies. We spend the first day relaxing and watching the Olympics and exploring the town. We found a hooded sweatshirt with Madison College written on it and a bar called the buffalo exchange in the exact same font and style as the resale clothing stores found back home. The second day we went
on a hike to the waterfall. I learned two things on the hike; "waterfall" can also mean "a brown water damn" and also, that I have a fear of cattle (regardless if they are desperately trying to run in the opposite direction but can't because they are tethered to a 2 foot long chain all the while clanking their cute bells). Laura learned she has watched too many murder mystery shows after being spooked on the trail by a moped totting a "spy" couple in which the woman was wearing heels and carrying a fendi purse. All in all Pai is amazing and should be on everyone's itinerary for Thailand.
It makes me feel relaxed just thinking about our time there. I almost forgot i am killing time (8 hours to be exact) at a bus station waiting for our 9 hour bus ride (8pm-5am) which is identical to how we spent the previous 24 hours. The people watching alone makes it all worth it, not to mention we will be staying overnight in the jungle at a National Park tomorrow night and then onto the beaches!!! Miss you all, and thanks for your comments...they make traveling that
much easier.
Love, Aubrey
PS: I am also learning some factual outside of the "usa" box lessons that some of you may find obvious
but are new to me. I won't bore you with any details but will list three of them.
-It is not the year 2008 for every country, ethnic group. Our bus tickets say 13/8/51.
-people in other countries have not so correct stereotypes about us too, this one is obvious, but in this specific situation we apparently love Nescafe brand instant drinks. You can find them anywhere for the American tourist; restaurants, stores, gas stations, vending machines, remote villages on the way to Pai, you name it.
-Unlike reading spanish in-which the letters are the same, in Thailand the letters are completely different like characters, and once you figure out which character corresponds with which letter, it doesn't help you because the words aren't spelled the same or mean the same thing anyway.
Travel Info
GH: We stayed at the Palms. The best place I've seen so far, amazing, laundry done actually smells clean.
Food: went to this couples place right next to the yoga studio. Walk to through the hall to the
back. Very fresh and healthy.
French Toast that I tried in Pai was deep-fried bread.
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Diana
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Grasshoppers
What, you don't love Nescafe!? The trick to reading foreign languages is to learn words instead of characters. For example if one day you order your meal and get a plate full of seasoned grasshoppers, it would probably be a good idea to never again order anything that contains the words in the name of the dish you ordered...unless it turns out that you like grasshoppers.