Scooters, Bamboo Bridges and Pumpkin Spring Rolls
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2011
1
9
36
Trip End
Jun 09, 2011
Pai, Thailand
Saturday, February 5, 2011
We got the local bus from Chiang Mai to Pai for 72B (very cheap). The journey was quite an experience - the bus was like a tin box on wheels and it went very slowly up the hills. There weren't enough seats for everyone so people were sitting on the floor and it looked like it was built in the 1920's. Ad noticed that the driver had to take a breathalyser test before we left so that was good to know.
We arrived in Pai at around 3pm and we were already taken by the relaxed atmosphere. The bus station wasn't a bus station as you would expect, it was more like a little courtyard where a couple of buses just happened to be. We decided to find 'Family Hut Bungalows' which was in the LP so we headed across the bamboo bridge to find it but we were told they were full but he said Phuview Resort which was at the back of Family Hut had a room. We were shown a gorgeous little bungalow with a veranda and hammock. They did overdo the bamboo decoration inside a bit though.
Whilst wandering around we bought some delicious pumpkin spring rolls from a lady on the side of the road which were easily some of the best we have had yet. We signed up for the slowboat to Luang Prabang in Laos with Aya tours which gave us 3 more days in Pai. We were quite interested in going on a tour to a Karen long-neck village (where the women wear brass rings around their necks to give the impression that their necks are longer) but we thought it would be a bit too touristy and imagined that they must feel like they live in a zoo.
We went to d'Artists for dinner where Ad had the best Pad Thai he has had yet. It was a lot colder in the evening because we were at such high altitude so we were wrapped up in jumpers and were pretty glad that we didn't fork out for the A/C that we didn't need.
Day 2 06/02/11
We decided to rent a moped today and have a drive around. The day started off well as we went to The Witching Well for a really good breakfast. Ad had a banana and chocolate pancake with whipped cream and a fresh fruit muesli. I had a really good mushroom, potato and garlic in curry sauce pancake followed by a really moist carrot cake. We had the best tea we've had so far in really cute little teapots. Unfortunately our good mood was scuppered when the ATMs wouldn't let me get any money out. 3 hours later the whole fiasco was resolved after them telling me mum had no authorisation despite us both signing a form before I left, them telling me I'd be sent a new pin in 3 days and asking me my Thai address, before finally speaking to someone who knew what they were talking about.
We finally rented a moped (Ad driving with me on the back). It took me a while to find a helmet that fit the best (they were all apparently the same size). The guy muttered something about petrol and pointed to where you put it in so we thought we had to go buy some (they did tell us we had to get our own petrol). We walked 15 minutes to the petrol station and what we understood from the man there was that you needed to bring the bike rather than buying a petrol can. We went back to the hire place and started to push the bike back to the petrol station before a Thai man kindly pointed out that we could buy it from the lady across the street. We put the petrol in and still it wouldn't work and the Thai man couldn't get it to work either so we pushed it back to the hire place and the man told us we needed to lift the stand up for it to start. We definitely felt like idiots then. Even more so when we found out the tank was full of petrol and we didn't need to buy any. I think we need to start learning and speaking more Thai!
We drove to Fluid, a nearby swimming pool and stopped there for a bit before driving through the hills to the temple on the hill and took some photos of the view.
Back at our bungalow I had a go at driving the moped but I wasn't very good and ended up falling off. We spent the evening strolling around the night market.
Day 3 07/02/11
We still had the moped until the afternoon so we drove to where the waterfall was on our map but at the info point we were told it was a 3 hour walk to it and 3 hours back. We didn't fancy a 6 hour walk so we spent the day lounging by the pool at Fluid. Despite not going to the waterfall we did have a nice drive around on the moped.
Day 4 08/02/11
We were up early as we had arranged elephant riding with Thom's Elephant Camp. We were the only ones who decided to ride bare back as we had already ridden one with a seat when we did our trek. I struggled quite a bit to get onto the elephant's back. The elephant didn't sit down, instead we had to pull on it's ear which made it lift it's foot up and you had to scramble up that way. As soon as we set off on our 2 hour ride the elephant tried to go down a slope and eat some grass. We really thought we were going to fall off. It was quite hard work as the elephant's shoulder blades are about 20cm apart and with them pummeling your bum it was quite uncomfortable. The ride through the mountains was really good apart from when the elephant started going down a really steep hill and I was sliding further and further down, so much that the mahout got off and I sat on the elephant's neck with only it's head to hold onto. After riding through the mountains we reached the river. Ours started off by just drinking before the mahout encouraged her in fully. We had so much fun in the river but it was pretty cold. We always knew when the elephant was going to throw us off because the mahout said the same word everytime. I decided that I had had enough when Ad fell on top of me in the river. Instead of spending time in the hot tubs (the power had gone) we fed the elephants before heading back into town.
We had 7 hours to kill before getting the minibus to the Thai border so we had lunch and tried to stay out of the sun. We met a woman called Nicky who had done quite a lot of travelling and voluntary work. She was even doing a masters degree as a distant learner while she was travelling. She helpfully informed us that in order to climb Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia you have to book one of the huts up the mountain well in advance.
We got the minibus from Aya tours at 8pm. It wasn't very comfy to sleep in but we managed a couple of winks before arriving at the border town of Chiang Khong at 3am.
Comments
What a great time you are having.
Awww love the pics guys! You're both so damn tanned, no fair :) . Also, polite request, please don't start riding mopeds when you get back!
Lots of love,
xMx
Dude, this looks ace man!! your having a well sick time!! cant wait to hear all the real stories when you get back!!
xxx