A minibus arrived to pick me up from "Your Guesthouse" where I was staying*. I just about found a nook to sit in amongst all the people and bags, and we set off.
The scenery changed from town, to fields, then hills as we hit the northern highlands. The views were spectacular as we ascended and it was pleasantly cool. Bliss compared to the smokey, mugginess of Bangkok! The roads did become absurdly twisty, and the driver was not shy on the accelerator, so I chatted amiably with the other amiable passengers whilst attempting to avoid spewing everywhere.
After an hour or two in the hills we were stopped at a roadblock. Some military looking types opened up the door an demanded our passports. Concerned, I obliged. The rest followed suit until one young local lady who was by herself couldn't. She said in English she'd left her documents at home, so with that the men took her out of the bus.
They spoke to her for around thirty minutes, with us straining vainly to hear what was going on. Eventually they slapped handcuffs on her and marched her off!
We were waved on. We were very curious and asked the driver what that was all about. Apparently there was a problem in the north with illegal immigrants from Burma coming to find work.
After arriving in small town of Pai, the first thing I learned was that most of the people here are lawfully required to be expats, have dreadlocks and wear beards.
The previous night I had once again consulted my trusty guidebook to somewhere to stay. I had picked a place called Charlies, where they had some stupidly cheap rooms. So after I got off the bus I asked a friendly hippy the way, and found it without too much trouble (for a change).
I asked the stern lady on the front desk if I could see the room. This appeared to be the worlds biggest chore, but she obliged. The room was about as big as a matchbox and had all the charm of a prison cell, with a little less charm. So I asked her if there were any other rooms to see and was told, flatly, no. So I thanked her and went off to find somewhere else.
I quickly found a place a million times better just around the corner called "Blue", which lived up to it's name by being very blue.
The next day I decided to take a jaunt to some nearby hot springs. The town had people stood around in yellow jerseys that you could hire to take you places. So to get to the springs I approached one of these people and negotiated a fare. As soon as we'd agreed on a price the surly driver handed me a helmet and we got on the bike. We then belted off at top speed. The driver was pretty much flat out the whole way there. I hung literally hung on for dear life.
The terrifying journey was worth it. The hot springs were stunning and serene. I had a paddle and bought an egg to cook in the scalding water at the top, since that seemed to be a common thing to do.
That night I ended up bumping into people from the bus so went drinking around the town and made friends with a thoroughly awesome policeman from Bangkok who was there on holiday.
I spent a couple days in Pai. I found the sleepy town to be pleasant, beautiful and calming during the day and lively at night. All too soon it came time for me to leave and make the marathon trek from the far north to the distant tropical islands of the south. I was very excited to finally get to the beach!
* It was a name. I don't mean it was your guesthouse, reader. Don't be silly.
The scenery changed from town, to fields, then hills as we hit the northern highlands. The views were spectacular as we ascended and it was pleasantly cool. Bliss compared to the smokey, mugginess of Bangkok! The roads did become absurdly twisty, and the driver was not shy on the accelerator, so I chatted amiably with the other amiable passengers whilst attempting to avoid spewing everywhere.
After an hour or two in the hills we were stopped at a roadblock. Some military looking types opened up the door an demanded our passports. Concerned, I obliged. The rest followed suit until one young local lady who was by herself couldn't. She said in English she'd left her documents at home, so with that the men took her out of the bus.
They spoke to her for around thirty minutes, with us straining vainly to hear what was going on. Eventually they slapped handcuffs on her and marched her off!
We were waved on. We were very curious and asked the driver what that was all about. Apparently there was a problem in the north with illegal immigrants from Burma coming to find work.
After arriving in small town of Pai, the first thing I learned was that most of the people here are lawfully required to be expats, have dreadlocks and wear beards.
The previous night I had once again consulted my trusty guidebook to somewhere to stay. I had picked a place called Charlies, where they had some stupidly cheap rooms. So after I got off the bus I asked a friendly hippy the way, and found it without too much trouble (for a change).
I asked the stern lady on the front desk if I could see the room. This appeared to be the worlds biggest chore, but she obliged. The room was about as big as a matchbox and had all the charm of a prison cell, with a little less charm. So I asked her if there were any other rooms to see and was told, flatly, no. So I thanked her and went off to find somewhere else.
I quickly found a place a million times better just around the corner called "Blue", which lived up to it's name by being very blue.
The next day I decided to take a jaunt to some nearby hot springs. The town had people stood around in yellow jerseys that you could hire to take you places. So to get to the springs I approached one of these people and negotiated a fare. As soon as we'd agreed on a price the surly driver handed me a helmet and we got on the bike. We then belted off at top speed. The driver was pretty much flat out the whole way there. I hung literally hung on for dear life.
The terrifying journey was worth it. The hot springs were stunning and serene. I had a paddle and bought an egg to cook in the scalding water at the top, since that seemed to be a common thing to do.
 |
| Cooking an egg. Seemed like a long way to go for breakfast |
That night I ended up bumping into people from the bus so went drinking around the town and made friends with a thoroughly awesome policeman from Bangkok who was there on holiday.
I spent a couple days in Pai. I found the sleepy town to be pleasant, beautiful and calming during the day and lively at night. All too soon it came time for me to leave and make the marathon trek from the far north to the distant tropical islands of the south. I was very excited to finally get to the beach!
* It was a name. I don't mean it was your guesthouse, reader. Don't be silly.
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