After a long four-hour journey the bus finally arrived in sleepy Pai, Northern Thailand. Surrounded by forestry and mountains Pai is a popular trekking destination. Warm during the day and chilly at night it seems to have a near perfect climate, at least in winter. I took me a while to settle on a guesthouse but it was worth the wait. Perched on the edge of the river, I got a room with a balcony and hammock overlooking the bridge, where I was to spend much of the next week or so. It reminded me of being at the beach, especially with the local after hours spot, the Bamboo Bar just down the road, but instead of palm trees and ocean you had mountains and forestry to look at. I rented a bike for a couple of days so as to see all the sights, the waterfall, the hot springs, the other waterfall and the ever-present temple on the hill.

Drinking herbal whiskey “gives you power” and at ten baht a shot even more power to you. The Mellow Yellow pub quiz didn’t go quite as planned and my team failed to win the bottle of High Commissioner. Where we finish is unimportant.

With the sad news of my uncles death I stayed in this pleasant little town for a while hanging out with some of the many ex-pats. A beautiful place with some great people, certainly one of my favorites so far.