Love and Pai

My journey is split into two different sections: traveling alone in the north and traveling with a friend in the south. The north was recommended first because October marks the end of the hot rainy season, and it would be a bit cooler during this time than the sunny beaches. My second section will be when Sarah from Jackson comes tomorrow. We're doing beaches because that will be more party time, and because Sarah was able to get rooms for us at the Aman resort property in Phuket, a beach resort town in the south.

One of the most lauded cities to visit as a young pseudo-hippy backpacker is Pai. Pai is just that, a hippy town that expects tourists like me to wake up in my bungalow, tour the cool tourist shops, and drink a lot of beer.

I love Pai. Perhaps it is because I have been spending time alone in big cities so much, yet for this excursion I was accompanied by Jean-Baptiste, Yannick, Celine, and Damien, the Frenchies. Our bungalos were little bamboo shacks on stilts with attached bathrooms with no roof. Yes, I took an outdoor shower and I couldn't have been happier. Nothing like taking a chilly shower in the blazing afternoon sun to make you forget your worries.

Pai is surrounded by rivers and hills, and is perfect for doing some waterfall exploration. How to get around? Motorbike! There were four of us that day (Yannick didn't get in until 7 am, so he was sleeping off his hangover), and as Damien had already opened wounds on his body the last time he rode a motorbike, he wasn't keen on sharing. Celine and JB already had one, so I was to be a driver. Terrified as could be. I've been on a motorcycle twice. Once in Jackson one early morning with Crazy Tom durin Garage Sale hunts, the other in 6th grade when I ended up in the hospital from severe burns, incurred from the muffler.

Once I got the hang of it though, I was in love. We vroomed our way up the mountains, winding through small villages, rice paddy fields, and the many other motorbike enthusiasts. I still ache for the feeling again, and am sad that I am once again back in a big city, where any motor vehicle is a bad choice for a foreigner used to driving on the opposite side of the road. We had the bikes for 30 hours, and they brought us safely from each waterfall and vista, back to our favorite German bar for more Chang beer. Don't worry Mom, all of us wore helmets the whole time!

I mostly had a lot of downtime, which was lovely and what a vacation is for. I haven't really been drinking at all on this trip, an occasional beer or two, so I tend to wake up early in the heavy heat before anyone else really rises up to greet the day. The keeper of the bungalow would bring fresh coffee to my front porch served with sweetened condensed milk, and I'd read my book for an hour or so. Then we started the day on the motorbikes.

Many of the thais have tattoos... they are very common here, and many monks get them as part of a ritual, so it is no surprise that the hippy town of Pai is teeming with tatoo parlours. We stopped in to check out one, and Celine was sold. They designed a gecko for her hip, and when she came back the next day to check it out, the electricity was out and they didn't have enough light. So we were asked to come back the next day.

Celine smoked even more cigarettes at once just to get over the anxiety of awaiting her new tattoo. We watched as the guy sharpened the end of a bamboo stick, then wrapped inked thread around a needle. Everything looked very safe and professional, and Celine even got to keep her needle in the end, not only as a souvenir, but to prove that the needles don't get reused. What is neat about the bamboo tatoo is that it may be more painful to begin with, but the healing process only takes 3-5 days. Not a bad deal if you ask me. I'm tempted...

Our last night was fun, and it was bittersweet to know that our time together and in Pai was ending. We played lots of pool, talked a lot about French grammar and expression, and spent most of our time laughing. The morning they left to go back to Bangkok, I headed further up north to explore some more terrain. I almost hopped on a motorbike to get up there, but in the interest of my safety and the safety of others, my love affair with the motorbike will just have to be on hold until I get down to a beach town.