Pai, Thailand 07/10

In the middle of our week in Chiang Mai, Kristyn and I got up and hopped on a bus to Pai. Pai is a small mountain town a few hours from Chiang Mai that is known to be a little artsy town. The town was a bit cheaper and also had a more earthy, creative feel to it. I really liked it! Our guesthouse was very cute - it consisted of maybe ten little huts in a very green garden. Five bucks a night for a room, wifi, and a pool. Hell yes! That night, we meant to stay in and rest, but the ladies who ran the place were drinking in the lobby with some other people, so we went out dancing and drinking with them.








Wednesday was spent scootering around town, finding temples, hot springs, and eventually a pool party with this great pool that had a gorgeous view. We partied with some crazy Irishmen and other foreigners. We didn’t even meet other Americans yet!











We meant to set up a trekking tour Wednesday night, but this awesomely honest travel agent told us we could just hike to this waterfall ourselves and see basically the same trek for free. So on Thursday, we kept the bike another day and went off into the jungle. We found the trail and set out on our 4 kilometer journey. Not 50 feet into the trail, we met the stream we were meant to follow, and we had to cross it. Kristyn was wearing tennis shoes, and I had her hiking sandals on. I crossed over, then tossed the sandals back for her to use to get across. We changed back once we were both over. Oh, then four horses and a hippie lady walked by right in front of us...random! We kept going, but not a minute further, we had to cross again! So we changed again. On the third crossing (another minute later), there were rocks to help us cross, so we didn’t change shoes. The rocks were just barely too far apart though, and Kristyn stepped in accidentally. From then on, she just walked through the water in her shoes. The stream crossings didn’t stop. On our way back we counted and we had crossed a total of 30 times in around two and a half hours. That was ridiculous. We didn’t make it to the waterfall, the trail got a bit treacherous and it was getting late. We did run into some other trekkers though, and their Thai guide offered us local whiskey. As we were still hungover, we politely declined. Couldn’t help but notice his huge shotgun though.
When we got back to our place, I realized my purse wasn’t in the scooter basket. It must have bounced out on our way home without us noticing. I immediately drove back in search, but failed. I even saw the other trekkers and asked them, but they hadn’t seen it. I went back to the guesthouse with a sad face. My camera was in my purse. As I walked through the lobby, just barely realizing I didn’t even have my room key, one of the workers I’d partied with a couple days ago called my name. She smiled and said, “Heather! I have something for you!” I looked at her, confused, and she said, “Did you lose something?” She had my purse. I couldn’t believe it! A friend of hers saw it fall and picked it up, but we didn’t hear him calling after us. He opened it and recognized the room key, so he dropped it off at the guest house. How cool is that?! Some amazing luck I had.




















Later that night, walking around Pai, we heard people calling us - it was the trekkers from earlier. They wanted to know if I found my purse (everyone in this town is so sweet!) Then the guide, Mr. Chart, proceeded to try and get me drunk off the local whiskey out of his hand-carved bamboo shot glasses. So we drank a little with the guides and talked with the tourists there. Yet another great fun night in Pai.




On Friday we decided to go back home. The night before we bought 9am bus tickets back to Chiang Mai, and I set an alarm on my laptop and plugged it in before bed. Kristyn was supposed to set her ipod alarm, but her battery was dead. I woke up at 8:35 and my computer had run out of battery - the socket I used didn’t work! Amazingly, Kristyn woke up around the same time on her own and we both rushed to the bus station. We were so lucky to have just randomly woken up with enough time to get to the bus! More good travel luck that day.

I was sad to be heading back to Chiang Mai. I really enjoyed Pai. The other travelers there did too - many of them only had come for a few days, but ended up staying for weeks! But I’m sure I would tire of the constant partying after seeing all the sights I could see. I would definitely recommend Pai for anyone who is in the area. It was gorgeous and had a rad, friendly atmosphere.

Chiang Mai, Thailand 07/10

First stop on this trip to Thailand was Chiang Mai. I was meant to meet my friend Kristyn at the airport, then go together to our couch-surfing host’s house. Kristyn and I actually met while my friend Heather and I were couch-surfing in Seoul. Through Facebook we figured out we were both going to Chiang Mai by ourselves the same week, so we decided to hook up and also couch-surf there. She ended up being a day late to Chiang Mai though, so I went to the host’s place myself. His name was Tom and he is a Thai guy who runs a guesthouse. He took me around to see Chiang Mai a bit, the temples and markets and whatnot, then we ate at some yummy local restaurant.














The next day, Sunday, Kristyn showed up around the same time that Tom got some new guests at his place - a couple from England. We all went out together that night to a market to shop around, then to a bar to dance and watch the World Cup final. Fun night!




On Monday, Kristyn and I toured around ourselves, renting a scooter for the day. We stopped at a lake, but it wasn’t amazing. Later, we met up with my friend Andy’s good friend Matt, who just happened to be in the same city as me. Andy noticed this because of Facebook and introduced us online. So we went and met him for a couple drinks.

On Tuesday, we took a bus to Pai to spend a few days. You can read about that here.

Kristyn flew to Phuket on Friday, and I couch-surfed with a different host that night. His name was Daniel, an Aussie who lives and teaches in Chiang Mai and has an apartment with his Thai girlfriend. They were really cute and took me to some local restaurants. Daniel teaches math and science to Thai kids in English. Not an easy job apparently! Compared his students, my Korean kids were a dream! The Thai kids just aren’t very enthusiastic about English and seem to just want to play all day. Daniel also told me that the Thai boys start turning into ladyboys pretty early, as early as grade school. That’s an interesting part of (Thai) life I really did not experience in Korea! It’s amazing to see a culture where it is SO acceptable to dress and act like the opposite sex. The Thai girls are starting to do it too - they call themselves Toms.

On Saturday I met Andy’s friend Matt again. Matt’s a Kiwi and there was a New Zealand vs. South Africa rugby game on. We watched it at a pub and he explained the rules. It’s kind of a weird sport to watch to be honest! It was fun though. New Zealand beat South Africa, so it was a good day. Afterward, Matt and I ate and decided to set up a zip-lining tour the next day.

Sunday, we got up incredibly early and drove into the jungle for some zip-lining - one of the main attractions in touristy Thai towns. We did it early because I had a plane to catch later on, and it worked out really well because we were the only people there! So no waiting, just joking and chatting with the silly Thai guides, who really loved to scare me! They would say go, so I would let go, then they’d yell, “wait!” or “brake!” when I couldn’t wait or brake. One of them also tried to put a spider on me. Sort of like hanging out with my brother again. Anyway, it was a really fun last day in Chiang Mai. Now, off to Bangkok to meet my lovely friend Chelsea!