The changing of the plans
Well, there was no accomodation to be had in Chiang Dao and since I was considering coming to Pai anyway, here I am! Mark, Lorna and Kylie who I met at the Green Tulip have been here a week so I'm staying at the same place, in a little hut by the river. It's a little place with huts and teepees run by a german woman called Deniz and her partner Chai, who's a Thai hippy. She makes really nice croissants! The hut is quite basic, the walls are made of woven palm leaves and the roof of leaves wrapped around bamboo but I'm enjoying having the little space to myself and Pai is lovely and laid back. It isn't too busy at the moment, there are quite a few bars and restaurants here, it's definitely a tourist place! Apparently its popular with Thais in the holidays as a romantic comedy was filmed here but at the moment its just the locals, some old hippies and a bunch of young backpackers.
The bus ride up was rather crazy; it's basically in the mountains so first we went up lots of windy bumpy roads, but it was the coming back down them into the valley which was the real killer. We must have taken at least 20 hairpin bends in a row. And I mean hairpin! These could easily rival the old bend on the road down to Pantdafydd! (think, Wales, bottom of a valley, only wide enough for one car) I was so relieved to step out of that bus! There's not much to do here but thats fine by me. I've got several books to read, including a Sylvia Plath. Really not my usual reading material but Liz has raved about her so I'm giving it a try. Its called the Bell jar and apparently she committed suicide not long after finishing it, so I'm sure it's going to be highly uplifting.
My plans this afternoon consist of getting a massage, having a coffee and reading my book. What a chore! It's freezing here at night, I've left most of my stuff in Chiang Mai so have had to borrow some socks and am rather relieved I bought my jumper with me as I even had to wear it in bed. Because we're at a higher altitude I guess. It's boiling during the day. I'm sitting here in a very thin cotton dress and sweating like mad! Strange. Going back to Chiang Mai tomorrow to see the flower festival then hopefully on Sunday I'll be getting the overnight train to Ayutthaya to see the ruins. Then it's either Khao Yai national park or Kanchanaburi, I can't decide in what order. Anyway, my massage awaits, ciao for now!
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