Pai

What do you get when you drop California's Topanga Canyon into the northern Thailand mountains?

Pai... a chilled out hippy town full of yoga classes, global warming reggae rallies, and dreadlocks.

I took the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok up to Chiang Mai - about a 14 hour trip... but slept through most of it. I saw Chiang Mai for all of about thirty minutes before hopping on a minivan for the windy three hour trip to Pai. I made sure to drop a Dramamine beforehand to avoid any wooziness.

On the trip up, I met Augusto, an energetic Peruvian who was on a one week break from his normal job as a tour group leader in various countries. When we got up to the Pai bus station, we walked around together looking for the best deal. My German friend Chrisi had recommended Mr. Jan's guesthouse so I spent my first night there. They have a delightful herb garden in the center commons, but I found the room to be a bit gloomy, so I moved to a nicer one at Yatai's next door - much better.

The first night we ate out on the street in the evening food market along the main street... and quickly met our friends for the week, an international clique that had stumbled across each other along their respective ways.

• Roussos - An energetic Greek hippy who is full of positive words and energy and serves as the group's event planner.
• Laura - A very nice and quite mellow young lady from Finland
• Sebastian - A cook from Brighton, England always ready for a pint
• Gemma - A cheery young woman from Amsterdam
• Sonia - A German speaking Italian who spins fire. Showed me a thing or two with the Poi. I learned from her you can get free drinks from bars is you provide firey entertainment.
• Indigo - A photographer from Spain who picked up a nasty stomach ailment and was moving a bit slow
  

The next day I rented a bicycle and we all took a day trip a few miles up to a waterfall we heard about. It turned out to be mostly uphill and, although the weather here is much more mild than the South, quite sweaty. But very a very fun and pretty ride. Before we made it, some folks were pooping out, so we decided a couple of us would ride, and the rest would walk or hitchhike.

About two seconds later, a pickup truck stopped and let the four of us and two bikes into the back and drove us the rest of the way up. So glad we didn't have to ride the last steep hill.

Along the way, they stopped to drop some ice and drinks at their funky little bar out in the middle of the countryside. They would take any money from us, so we decided to visit them on the way back and buy some drinks after what turned out to be a refreshing cold water dip along with some locals.

We ate some Thai food and listened to Psy Trance music and practiced spinning some poi until the sun was just about to set. Then it was the most pleasant downhill sunset ride ever.

Later, we ate some nice veggie Indian food and stopped off for drinks at the Phu-Pai bar, where they had live music, both middle eastern and classic rock... Great place.

Unfortunately, today was my first rainy day of my trip. And the sky made up for it by dumping so loudly that I couldn't even take advantage of the opportunity to sleep in. Hopefully the rain won't harm the spanking new asphault streets they just laid in town the past couple of days. They were cement before and seemed fine - but I guess it counts as progress?

Starting to plan my Laos entry now. Everyone is making a bee line for the "slow boat" to Luang Prabong, Laos. But, I have heard mixed reviews of that, so I may head a little more south of there.

Oh, and as nice as those bar owners were, eating meat from a Psy Trance bar in the middle of nowhere proved to be a poor choice. Lesson learned.