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Hello from Pai!

Day One

We are just loving it here. Pai has about 3000 people in it and I swear about half of those are farang (foreigners). When we got off the bus we ran into this very nice woman named Dara (she's from Florida) and it turns out that we were all going to the same guesthouse (Baan Tawan). She's been traveling for the last five months and plans on spending a year away from home. She's got some great stories from her adventures in Europe, India and South Africa. We spent our first day here (the 27th) just relaxing and exploring the town. The three of us had a nice dinner and called it an early night.

Day Two

Our second day in Pai was SOOO MUCH FUN! Dara, Paul and I rented motorbikes (don't worry we had helmets) and toured around the countryside. We spent the whole day exploring. Our first stop was Mor Paeng Waterfall. The ride out there was beautiful and made the not so spectacular waterfall worth the visit. There were some people swimming in it, but we didn't bring our suits. Our next stop was Wat Mae Yen (known in Pai as the "Temple on the Hill"). Paul and I had some problems getting up the hill. We ended up renting a standard bike because they were all out of automatic. Although they showed Paul how to operate the thing, let's just say it was easier said then done. With the two of us on it the bike was too heavy to make it up the hill so I ended up walking. Side Note: We did eventually figure out the whole down shifting thing so I didn't have to walk too much more after that. The Temple was pretty cool, but I think the view was what drew us there. We got a perfect picture of Pai from above. If we ever get the photos uploaded look for one of a painting inside the Temple. It was actually quite violent and depicted people being tortured and killed while Buddha watched over. It was not what I was expecting out of a Buddhist Temple at all.

Our third stop Tha Pai Hot Springs - again without our suits we had to settle for a nice foot soak. At the top of the springs the water was way too hot (80 degrees Celsius), but as you reached the bottom of the springs it cooled down to a nice hot tub temperature. Our third and final stop was one last waterfall called Pam Bok. It was quite out of the way and we ended up doing what Paul called "off roading". The dirt road was full of potholes and we almost fell of the bike once. Once we got used to the driving conditions it was great fun. We reached the waterfall (at least what we thought was the falls) and I wasn't too happy. I got off the bike and walked a bit up the hill and we realized that we could climb 150 metres to what the sign said was the "high falls". We figured since we made the perilous journey out there that we should at least check it out. The 150 m. Consisted of muddy trials, one rickety wooden bridge and lots of slippery rocks. At least the high falls was better then the bottom of it :) I still can't believe I made it across the bridge twice. I guess this trip is bringing out the adventurous side of me!!

That night after dinner we stopped for a drink at one of the local restaurants. As we were sitting there Dara recognized some people she had befriended earlier in her travels through Thailand. They joined us for a drink and we ended up hanging out for a few hours - it was great fun. Duncan and Susan have been traveling for two weeks and aren't planning on leaving until March. We're meeting them for dinner tonight.

Day Three

We got up early and took the bikes for one last spin before we had to bring them back. I tried my hand at driving and I must say I did alright. Never in my life did I think I would be driving a motorbike! Once we reached a big hill I handed the reins back over the Paul :) We got lots of great photos of the countryside. I'm going to spend the rest of the day reading and at some point Dara and I are going to go get Thai massages. We'll probably spend at least one more day here - it's a hard place to leave - and then head back down to Chiang Mai and start our journey to the Laos border. That's it for now. We might not update for a few days. Take care of yourselves. Peace.