I want to live in a Bungalow!

Current location: Pai, Thailand

Ahhhh Pai, the town of bungalows on the river and reading books in your hammock. Talk about chilled out! People have a reputation for getting a little “stuck” in Pai – a 2 or 3 day stay turns into 5 or 10 or for some people even months. The feel is a little like an island but without the beach (although they have a very cool local pool here!). To me it feels a lot like Koh Chang for any of you that have been there. Someone told me the guidebook called Chiang Mai the jewel of the north however I would have to say if that is true then they got it wrong! 

Despite this assertion, Chiang Mai was still a great place to visit and I did have a lot of fun there. I arrived at 5:30am last Wednesday morning with no idea about where I was going to stay. This hadn’t concerned me too much until I met a French guy, Olivier, on the train and he casually mentioned that he’d called 9 guest houses out of the guide book to no avail. Ah well, we shall team up together and sort it out we decided! Anyone who has ever traveled in Asia will know that at just about any port of entry there are touts waiting to drag you away to “the best guest house ever”. I normally ignore these dudes but today they were my best friends and indeed the committed ones were there bright an early to lure us to a cheap guest house in the centre of town. The guest house was once again only 100B per night and pretty basic however I did get a private bathroom thrown in this time which was very nice! The lady that runs the guest house, Julie, is an absolute scream – she really makes the place. Due to the downstairs area being so social I met a tonne of people at this place and I was glad I stayed there. If you don’t mind basic digs, it’s called Lanna House. Check it out!

I did a two day trekking trip during my stay and that was great fun except for the fire we had in our room in the middle of the night! The short version is that one of the ladies, against my better judgment, hung a mosquito coil in our room which dropped embers on the end of her bed which caught on fire. I had expressed my concern about it but she was quite insistent telling me no no they are different than the ones I know in Australia and for once in my life I just kept my mouth shut. Learnt my lesson that day! Luckily I woke up to the smoke and rapidly spreading embers in the middle of the night and yelled to wake everyone else and grabbed my torch and water which were thankfully right next to me. In the end it became clear it was worse than expected and our water wasn’t going to be enough so we sent for the owners of the house who I imagine are extremely displeased with our group still and rightly so. Fortunately we caught it just before it started burning the bamboo floor as I imagine those bamboo houses don’t take very long to burn down once the flames start. All in all an experience to say the least but probably too much adventure for most people!

Aside from that little debacle the trek was awesome, it was a great group and the guide was an absolute scream. He taught us lots of tricks, jokes and acronyms such as these little gems: MARLBORO = men always respect ladies but only the rich ones; PEPSI = please enter penis slowly inside (I kid you not); ADIDAS = after dinner I did a shit (charming I know – he didn’t seem to like the childhood one I knew of ‘all day I dream about sex’). Ah yes, the Thais can be absolutely hilarious!

I left Chiang Mai for Pai on Monday morning, again by local bus. While I liked Chiang Mai I was well and truly ready to move on. It’s nice to be able to do that at leisure too I must say. I’m loving this traveling gig! Just about everyone you meet in the north is either doing the same route as you or a reverse version of it and if they have already been to Pai then they tell you that you must go. The journey from Chiang Mai is a little precarious as you basically travel up one side of the mountain and then down the other side (or so it seems) and the road seems to consist of only bends and tight corners. It is a beautiful trip though – some of the scenery is just gorgeous. A couple of French guys I met intended on hiring a motorbike to do the trip and I can see why, it would certainly be worth the view.

When I arrived I did the short trek with my pack down to the river as an Irish guy in an internet cafe recommended that I stay at Pai River Lodge. He had never been but told me his friend suggested it so I thought, why not? I had no idea that the place consisted entirely of bungalows and I think I almost squealed with delight when I saw my room complete with a mosquito net hanging over the bed and a hammock out on the verandah! I immediately dumped my bag and had the camera out taking pics. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited this whole trip! I had arranged to meet up with Sarah, an English girl I met in Bangkok as we were to be here at the same time so I set off to explore the town and check my email to get her details. I needn’t have bothered! After I did all that I was strolling along checking the place out and what should I hear but an English voice calling out “Rachael”. So random, I love it! Later as we were walking along trying to find a bar after dinner we were stopped randomly by a guy on the street to tell us about a party he was having, then further up the street some other guy stops us to tell us about the same party complete with a bonfire and a bar – what more could you want? For those of you thinking ‘bonfire?’, well it gets quite chilly up here at night. The days are super hot but the night has a chill. It’s great weather to be honest. I’m loving it.

So, where to from here then? Well the intention is to go to Chiang Rai and from there off to Laos but that’s only if I ever leave Pai…