Pie... I mean, Pai

First of all, I must give props to Mike for a job well done! The new blog update is a great recap of the last few days of our awesome trip. You forgot to mention the seminar (and your ripped pants) though. :P Anyways, since Mike did such a good job blogging, I gotta at least attempt to blog a relatively interesting blog myself. Trust me, the stuff that has been happening the last few days will certainly garner a few laughs from you guys (even though I am certainly not laughing).

The trip to Pai

As mentioned yesterday, I had quite an "interesting" trip over to Pai yesterday.

The guesthouse I was staying in Chiang Mai was pretty crap. It's high season in Thailand at the moment, so it's hard enough to find a room as it is. The room itself was overpriced, laundry was not done on time (meaning I had to sleep in my dirty street clothes for a night), the room itself was not especially clean and to make matter worse, it was flea ridden on my last night there (I still have the flea bites to prove it). Still, I took everything in stride. It's just part of the whole backpacking experience. I could deal with everything except the fact they screwed up my mini-van booking to Pai.

The only other alternative (besides staying another night, which I was not willing to do) was to take the government bus. It was completely full when we left, but I was fortunate enough to get a seat to myself. Or so I thought.

I promptly fell asleep due to the lack of sleep the night before. An hour into the trip, I was suddenly jostled awake. An old Thai man took it upon himself to turn my one seater into a two seater. Everyone (including the Thais on the bus) gave me a pitying look, but no one said a word. Every time the bus made a turn (and it did so on a regular basis), the guy would push his butt against me to make more room for himself. He also tried to catch my eyes to motion me to move over, but of course, I wouldn't yield (dude, it was a single seater for a reason). So it became an unspoken battle. Every time the bus turns a corner, he would slide over and push me into the window and every time the bus swings away, I would push him right back.

After half an hour of so of this, I just started feeling bad. The bus was filled to the brim with people and here I am not even attempting to give him some space. It was probably due to the fact I was really grouchy for everything that has transpired, but I realised I shouldn't take it out on the old man. Plus, he even tried to offer me some of his lunch.

Finally, I just did the best I could (hey, I got "birthing hips"!) and allowed him as much space as I possibly could. So for three and a half hours, I was squished against the window pane of a tiny bus.

Now you guys understand why I was so tired yesterday?

In and around Pai

I signed up for a two day white-water rafting trip! The water level is not very high at this time of the year, so it's safe for beginners (like me!) Since the trek commence on Friday, I had today to spend in and around Pai.

Pai is basically Thailand's version of Santa Cruz or Berkeley. A hippie commune but with a Thai twist. Okay to spend a day or two, but like others I have spoken to, I am not hip enough to stay here for long.

I rented a mountain bike and biked ten kilometres out of town to a waterfall. The waterfall itself was not very spectacular, but the bike ride itself was very nice. I passed by some hill tribe villages along the way and saw some really beautiful scenery. So yeah, no updates for the next two days as I will be battling the rapids. I will end up in Mae Hong Son on Saturday night and hopefully will find time to blog about the trip on Sunday morning.

Alright, shower time and then meeting up with some people that I met today for dinner.

Until then, wish me luck!

Angel