North To Pai – Bring The Rain

Day 13 – Chiang Mai to Pai –  Monday March 14th 2011

Pai Night Time - View from our hut
Pai Night Time – View from our hut

I woke early and was a bit freaked out about my potential ghost sighting last night. Breakfast was Coco Pops, yoghurt, and fruit. This guesthouse is run by a German guy and does great breakfasts.

The minibus was late but then we travelled around Chiang Mai collecting some Chinese travel companions.

We had a rest stop after a couple of hours and then got to Pai at around 1pm. It’s a small pretty town on a river, with quaint bamboo bridges and a decent local art scene. Some of our best postcards came from Pai.

We crossed a bamboo bridge and after walking for half an hour in the wrong direction found Darling Viewpoint Bungalows perched on the hillside. The owners were away, so a French guy that was living there and a Thai cleaner lady  helped check us in. For some reason we got upgraded to the VIP chalet so we had our own en-suite bathroom and our own terrace area with hammocks and seating.

It was a beautiful setting with mountain views beyond the town below. There must have been a temple nearby as we often heard the hypnotic sound of monks chanting. We also heard a bit of karaoke at one point but couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

Frank spent about two hours trying to light a small fire on the land outside our chalet. He finally got it going when the rain started. I was looking forward to a decent storm from our view up here. It didn’t really happen and just drizzled for ages.

The cleaner, who spoke no English at all, was also a decent cook. She cooked up some real authentic Thai food for us. We had to just point at things on the menu, which is a pretty universal way to order things in an unknown language. I think one of us may have mimed out a chicken dance, to confirm the meat content. It seems that the chicken dance is also universal.

That night, as we were falling to sleep, there was a massive crash and bang on the terrace. I got up to see what it was but I couldn’t see anything. It sounded like an animal, so we just went back to sleep.

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