Well 1st it was a camel, then a horse and now a motor bike... Ok, moped, a fluorescent green one and its love. I have been careering around the hills surrounding Pai, startling cows and Thai villagers who seem as amused to see me on a moped as I'd imagine most of you would be. Aside from an a couple of false starts, I am a natural... Well, almost.
I arrived in Pai yesterday lunch time after a very windy bus drive which took us high up into the mountains. Pai is a small, pretty little town that has given itself entirely over to backpackers. The river is lined with little guest houses, all offering pretty little straw huts on its banks. There is an abundance of Internet cafes and ample opportunities for banana pancakes.
Still, all you have to do is drive, or ride, across the river and into the hills beyond for some beautiful views and lots of fields full of picturesque people wearing triangular straw hats and doing things with rice.
Currently they are burning the rice husks (or something) so there is a heavy mist that hangs over the valley but it is insanely beautiful in the early morning and evening.
My guest house is appropriately named Misty View and lies on the road to an evasive waterfall which I have failed to locate, after charging off on my trusty steed and nearly ending up in a pond, rather ungracefully. This morning I was greeted by the gorgeous daughter of the owner of Misty View, who threw herself into my arms. She is, I hasten to add, about 6 years old and we spent a happy time scribbling pictures all over my diary and making animal noises.
Tomorrow I am going for a 2 day trek into the jungle, because I wasn't quite cold enough last night and I want to see how many bugs I can fit in my sleeping bag...
Then on Sunday, I shall try and get a bus to Chaian Saen without having to go back to Chang Mai. Then onwards and South Eastwards towards Cambodia!
I do have a new telephone number which is: 0878096031. x