beautiful Pai

Sawatdie - ka!
(or at least that is how you pronounce it ;-)

Yesterday afternoon I arrived in the lovely village Pai, very close to the border of Birma. Let me quote the Lonely Planet, because I can't describe it better:

"Pai is a little corner of the world that happens to be in Thailand and seems to attract artists, musicians and foodies. Oh, and it's in the middle of a gorgeous green valley with hot springs, rice fields and a lovely lazy river."

Doesn't that sounds great? Well, big was the shock when I arrived and my expectations started to high... That's what you get when you don't let yourself getting surprised. The big shock was mostly because of the state of the guesthouses over here. Plenty of nice huts, seems very romantic, but it is absolutely back to basic. Okay, you pay nothing, so can't expect anything, but I simply want a little bit more than just the romance of ants everywhere and muscitos getting in because the bamboo walls are full of holes. In the end we found a better looking hut, but I felt not good in there. My main problem was the complete darkness inside and because of the little space, it felt almost claustrophobic. Next to that it was kind of smelly....
This morning I found the perfect place... Together with Eline, who wasn't happy there either, we passed by many guesthouses. At this moment I'm in the middle of the village, but absolutely quiet around it, perfect room, private hot shower, nice garden around the guesthouse and super friendly people. I was just lying on my bed for a moment and the only noice I heard were from the many birds around it. This guesthouse has got such a terrific atmosphere!
Tomorrow, Eline, Evelyn (belgian girl we met in Chiang Mai) and I will do a 2 days trekking. It's just a hiking, as we don't want to have the commercial elephant rides and rafting. We thought 2 days would be enough, as it is really cold overhere! In the night, morning and evening it's below 10 degrees, increasing in the afternoon to approx 30 degrees celsius. What a difference!

What about my last days in Chiang Mai?
As I said I met Eline and Taylor again, so after 2 days of being on my own, which I absolutely loved, I had some nice people around me again. In the evenings you could find us at the weekend markets where they sold plenty of nice stuff (didn't buy anything yet....) and local food. I tried for example sticky rice in a bamboo, which was delicious! Just sticky rice, combined with cocomilk and some black beans (yes mum and dad, I ate black beans....).
After the market we went to this amazing Rooftop Bar, which is also the name of this bar. Such a relaxed atmosphere, lounging on the bamboo roof, sipping some drinks and enjoying the view. The dark sky was ligthened by many lantarns, which the locals were buying on the market, set fire in it, and then let them go off into the air.

We also went out of town, but not on a motorbike as we first planned. We took this kind of taxi van and visited Doi Suthep, which is (again) a wat, but then on top of the mountain with a nice view over Chiang Mai. After this we went back to Wat U Mong for the english chat with the monks. However, our taxi driver was kind of crazy. He wanted to collect our money in advance, which is not usual, so we only paid him the half. He started to screem but decided to take us there. You can probably understand how he started to drive.... Crazy! And not so good for our stomach.

The mornings in Chiang Mai I filled most of the time with searching for a new hostal as they were constantly fully booked which meant that I had to leave after one night. This was however kind of funny! But not that funny anymore during my last day in Chiang Mai. I felt kind of sick, returned from Wat U Mong with stomach aches, sweating and pain and because of this and the constantly moving from one hostal to another I couldn't find my hostal anymore... Was walking circles for ages, wishing I was lying on my bed. Most probably I was suffering from food poison. Luckily, after some rest and sleep, this dissapeared. I wish I could say that as well for my coughing. The syrup I was taking didn't work at all. It just made me wanted to sleep all the time.... So Taylor gave me some heavy medicine, but also no result. At this moment I have hardly any voice for already 3 days, so tonight I'm going to visit the doctor, as unfortunately I'm not recovering on my own and need some help.

The bustrip from Chiang Mai to Pai was cool. Evelyn and I arrived at the same time at the busstation, just in time to get the 10h30 bus. But this meant that we had the 2 last seats at the backseat, packed between Thai people and next to an open door. So good for my throat... not! Luckily I had my scarf in my back and could keep myself a little warm. The bustrip took about 4 hours and after the highway of Chiang Mai, we went into the mountains. Lovely green views all around us! Luckily we had one stop. Because I was afraid that we wouldn't have any stop, I didn't drank at all during this trip. Not so good for my throat either, I know. At this busstop I treated myself and Eline and Evelyn on Chup-a-Chup lollypops :-D
As we went higher into the mountains it got colder and colder, no sun, just clouds. I started to doubt why I wanted to go to Pai, as I have hardly warm clothes with me... The descent of the mountains was an adventure. Just imagine that the breaks are not the same as in Holland and the road is pretty steep :-) Luckily, when we arrived in the valley the temperature went up again and besides of the eves, mornings and nights it is very hot over here as well.

So far about Pai, you'll here from me when I'll be back from my trekking!
Thanks for all you replies! I love it!