Bedankt..voor degenen die wisten dat Holland en Nederland...hetzelfde land zijn!!!
Translation: "Brian is cool."
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To the north of Chiang Mai in the mountains is a little town called Pai. What intrigued me was that it came with a warning: you might never want to leave. For years its been absorbing expatriots from all over who want a quiet, cheap place to take it easy for a few weeks, months, and for some it has become their home. A familiar story is that people come up to see Pai for a few days, and don't leave for a few years. To get there you have to take a bus with twists and turns up a mountain with nasty cliffs and often no guard rail. When the bus approaches a blind turn the driver honks the horn a few times to give anyone on the other side a warning about an impending collision.
When I stepped off the bus my socks weren't blown off or anything, but I was happy with the fresh cool air and everything seeemed to be a walkable distance.
I set off walking with my pack and took a good look around for the right guest house. Most places were just a series of open air huts built out on a field.
This place was called the Misty View and the people seemed very cool. Although they were full, I was invited back that night where they were having an open-mic night under a little bamboo stage. Several very talented people took turns singing classic rock songs, as well as original stuff that was very good.
Up the road was this place, The Good View, which lived up to the name. Surrounding Pai are these mountains covered in mist that create the feeling that you are in a sort of hideout from the civilization down below.
On my first full day I went searching on a trail for the Mae Yen waterfall. Along the way I took some pictures that demonstrate the soothing scenery. Check'em'out.
This next picture is the farthest that I got toward the actual Mae Yen waterfall. I'd been walking in and out of the creek for over three hours and it was already 3pm, so I had to retreat or risk being stranded in the dark. Nice walk anyhow. 
______________________________The next day I rented a bike and cruised looking for a few sights scattered around Pai. This is the view from Pai Canyon.
Next I rode to some natural hot springs. This is a picture of one of the source points where the water is hottest. A concession sells bags of eggs for people to boil in the water, which you can see in the closer pool. At another area where the water is slightly cooler people get in the water and relax. It was weird at first but soon it felt as relaxing as a jacuzzi (full of mud).
____________________________________Being in northern Thailand, far away from television, malls, etc. I nearly forgot about Chistmas. I was fortunate to talk with a great Welsh guy who looked to be in his sixties who was now permanently living in Pai while living off his pension from the UK. He had married a younger Thai woman and had a baby girl and what looked like a pretty nice life in retirement. He was leading a group fundraiser singing Christmas carols for the local hospital. I ordinarily would rather shoot myself than sing Christmas carols, but in Pai it seemed like a good idea. We wound up raising 13,000 bhat which is a good sum in Thailand.
After doing our part for charity, we went to this party out in a field that was pretty cool.
On Christmas Day the caroling group met up at the Blue Lagoon bar and had a classic turkey and fixins Christmas feast. Unfortunately it poured rain all day, but the English guys entertained us with Karaoke. The one on the right is the guy who organized the caroling.
Although it didn't feel like Christmas at home, we did succeed in bringing Christmas to the mountains of Thailand.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. I'm now headed back to Chiang Mai and then on to Laos.
-Thanks for Reading-
3 comments:
Hey cuz....
Have an amazing 2006!! Keep sending your awesome journal going...you rock. I think you need to head to Minnesota when you get back so we can share stories.
Charlotte
Snapple Fact #140
Holland is the only country with a national dog.
Hi Brian,
Your auntie Barbara sent the link to your travelblog to all her friends. Barbara was my first girlfriend because my family lived behind the Anderson's in Spring Run, Martinsville, NJ. I was 4 years old when I met Barbara.
Anyway, I love your travelblog!!! A long time ago I spent a couple of years travelling in Europe, ending up on a tiny island in the Mediterranean (Formentera Spain). I never thought about roaming around SE Asia because the US was busy having a horrible war in Vietnam. It would not have been quite as sublime as your journey appears to be.
Your photos are really fine and tell a good story. I like that you take walks into the forest and look for waterfalls and take long, slow boat trips.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.
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