Pai

Just in case I haven't mentioned it yet...Pai is gorgeous. Absolutely stunningly beautiful and gorgeous. It is a small village surrounded by mountains- warm, jungle mountains. Clouds mist and gently surround the peaks. It is just as beautiful as the clear ocean- but a very different beautiful.

Wednesday I went rafting. White water river rafting. First time ever. It involved a bit of driving...an hour to the drop site, and about three hours back to Pai. It was worth it though. It was a beautiful way to see the jungle. floating along the river. Of course the most fun places, the rapids, couldn't be taken pictures of because you had to be paddling. There was one waterfall on the way that we got to stop and take pictures of...and it wasn't just one waterfall. It was a whole series of small waterfalls cascading down to join the river. We had lunch on a quiet part of the river. Floating along and out of the water proof casket in the center of the raft and out comes fried rice neatly packaged in banana leaves for lunch. It was quite fun and really natural. We stopped at a natural hot springs along the river too...just little areas of hot water...and if you buried your feet in the sand they got quite hot. The most fun rapids came after the hot spring stop...got wet but didn't fall in! By the end of the day I had this weird half sunburn going on one arm from paddling. The drive home was a lot of fun...lots of curves. We also stopped at some gorgeous view points overlooking the mountains, shrouded in mist and golden sunlight. Just like you see in the movies. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died at the very end of the boat ride...and it refused to take any pictures for me.But it was so gorgeous that I didn't really mind.

Thursday was travel day. I got up and hit the road, me and the motorbike. I was pretty nervous at first...not sure I had the motorbike mastered, and some of the roads are rather iffy. I got more comfortable driving as the day went on though. In the morning I stopped at the Chinese village...which has certainly kept up a touristy feel, Chinese huts and part of a castle greeting you. Plenty of Chinese decorations and food for sale. After the Chinese village I continued on to a waterfall...over some definitely iffy sections of road. Still, I made it! The waterfall was pretty and multi-tiered...but I scraped my foot when I lost my sandal the other day. Too much walking was a pain so I didn't explore as much as I would've been tempted too otherwise. That went until about lunch when I finally gave in and sought out some band-aids. Then I hit the road again, stopping at the Coffee in Love sign. It is a coffee shop overlooking Pai that is very popular among Thais because of a movie. I drove on to the World War II memorial bridge and Pai canyon. Pai Canyon is very pretty but definitely doesn't make you feel safe...when you are standing on a narrow strip of red rock and sheer cliff on either side. Then I went to the natural hot springs...relaxing in hot springs outdoors. It is always amazing to see steam rising from natural pools, but climbing in and relaxing was amazing. One pool was at 80 degrees Celsius! Obviously, people didn't go in that one. My last stop of the day was Wat Mae Yen...a temple that made me nervous of driving because of the sheer drive up, but had a gorgeous view of Pai. It was a nice temple in and of itself, but the view was what made it really amazing. Instead of going back right away after Wat Mae Yen I decided to go on another cruise...a circuit of the area I'd already been to. Just a nice drive on the motorbike- it was wonderfully refreshing.I even stopped and had coffee and cake at Coffe in Love!

Pai was wonderful, overall, and there were some nice people staying at the guesthouse as well to make the evenings even more enjoyable. The owners and a fun crazy hippy old guy and a few other younger females travelling through. If you ever visit Thailand...go to Pai. You will love it! I promise!