Day 7 - Pai

This morning I caught an air conditioned van to Pai, which is 3 hours northwest of Chiang Mai and about 25 miles or so from the Burma border. It's a quaint little village in a valley among mountains. This used to be the opium capital of SE Asia, if not the world, until the government finally stepped in and cleaned it up many years ago. It is now a drug free zone with lots of bars, live music, and a pure energy about it.

I rode in the van with a really cool couple from Holland who have a daughter a couple of years younger than me and 3 girls from Minnesota who were about my age. It was a pleasant trip chatting and talking about Thailand. The road is very windy as it gains elevation over the mountains. Needless to say, we all got carsick but no one actually got sick. I was willing to fork over the $60 for a plane ticket home after that ride but I thought the better. I already paid 200 Baht ($6) for a ride back tomorrow so no sense in spending all that extra money. Instead, I found a cheap guesthouse that only cost $150 Baht for the night ($4.42) and then went and rented a motorbike for 24 hours. I really wanted to in Chiang Mai but the traffic is crazy and I thought it would be too dangerous. Pai is just the right place to hop on a moped and cruise through the countryside, which is precisely what I did!

I hopped on my motorbike and headed for the hills. My intention was to go to one of the hillside tribes but as I cruised up there alone I decided I probably shouldn't, even though I'm sure I would have been fine. Instead, I met 2 girls heading for the waterfall so I followed them up there. The most amazing part was seeing the rice patties and the corn and garlic crops. We saw men plowing or burning the fields as well as other men sorting out thousands of garlic cloves on giant straw mats. As you rode by you could smell garlic in the air and as you got further up the mountain side you could smell fire from the burning fields. It was really pretty amazing! Well worth being carsick the last bit of the ride out here I think!

I'm off to Wat Phrat That Mae Yen on the hillside of Pai and then I am going to wander the streets....