myrainasia

First off, it has come to my attention that many of my avid readers are disregarding my photos entirely.  If you don’t start looking at my photos now, I am going to make you look at them when I get home, and since I am taking about 1000 per month, this is not something you want to risk.  Here’s a tip for quick and painless viewing: if you click on the lead for “sets” and then click on a set (e.g. Thailand 9) the entire set comes up as thumbnails on 1 screen.  Takes 30 seconds.  Of course, should you wish to actually see what’s in the photos, click on “details” and you get 10 or 12 on a page.  I recommend this method and, as an added bonus, I have tried to start adding some descriptions.

Next matter of business: people who have not gotten back to me on e-mail.  The list of shame, in no particular order- Mitzie, Eileen, Rick, Mike, Ed, Marissa, Lyle, Peijuan, Chris, Ray, Mathias.  Probably oodles more that I can’t remember at the moment.  Solo travelers need e-mail!

Turning to travel stuff.  First off I must describe my trip from Chiang Mai to Pai.  This was a scheduled minivan with A/C.  Van seats 11.  It was me and the driver, Prasad, who told me to sit in the front seat.  I subsequently discovered that he did that because it is the seat least likely to incur motion sickness and related unpleasantries.  Of course, it is also the seat most likely to incur conversation with the driver which was difficult, because the driver did not speak a whole lot of English.  (More than my Thai though.)

The first conversation went as follows:

Prasad: Do you have a boyfriend? 

Me: My boyfriend is in NY

The second conversation:

Prasad: Americans- (here he mimicked shooting heroin into his arm, sniffing coke and smoking a joint)

Me: No no no! Bad! No do me! (OK, my English slipped a bit, but I think I got the point across.)

It seems that many Americans hit the northern part of Thailand to partake (or experience) of the opium trade. Prasad simply picked the wrong tourist.  While these 2 exchanges left me less than thrilled with being the only passenger for the next 3 hours, the balance of the trip went better.  The road to Pai goes through the mountains with hundreds of hairpin S-curves (V-curves would be more appropriate) as you slowly ascend one mountain and more rapidly (to my chagrin) descend the next.  But the scenery was incredible and I kept trying to take pictures through the window of the minivan.  Every time a really nice view came along I said “Wow” (which I thought was more understandable than “Oh my goodness what a lovely view”) and about midway through the trip Prasad started giving me advance notice of upcoming views by saying “Wow” and pointing ahead.  So we ended up okay.

Pai is this cutesy little town of about 3 streets.  The best description of Pai came from these 2 Israeli guys I met at our rest stop on the road to Pai who were just leaving.  They said it’s like a beach resort without the beach.  On target.  All tourists (or perhaps I should say non-Thais because maybe some people live there) and tourist amenities.  Nothing to do there (I knew that in advance) and no day tours, only treks, because no one was signed up for them (I didn’t expect that).  Besides, most of the day tours took you to the area around Mae Hong Son and I was planning to go there anyhow.

So I sat by the pool and that night did the bar to bar route with all of the over tourists.  The “late night” bar was a no shoes bar (taking off your shoes when you go inside is quite common here) with a million tourists (mostly, but not all, 20s and 30s).  During the evening this French girl stole my lighter (when asked if she had my lighter – which was in her hand- she said “Oh, is this yours?  I have the same one” and I didn’t feel like fighting over a Bic flic) and when I left to go to sleep, my shoes were gone (they cost $1.50 in the market in Chiang Mai) but I really liked them, and I really didn’t like the walk back to my hotel in bare feet (although that too was pretty common in Pai). 

So instead of staying the 2 nights I had planned in Pai, I got up the next morning, packed and hightailed it out of there.  All of the websites talk about Pai-radise; definitely not for me!

The options for going to Mae Hong Son included an unairconditioned bus or an A/C minivan.  Opted for the A/C.  This time the van was just about full but I was the only westerner.  A/C may have been available but everybody had the windows open so no A/C for this trip.  As I liquified in my seat I gazed in amazement at all of my fellow travelers in their jacket.  It seems to me that the Thais put their jackets on every time the temperature drops below 95 degrees.

Aside from melting, this was another beautiful ride- a continuation of the most scenic rollercoaster I have ever been on.  Nobody said a word the entire trip, which was probably good because it allowed me to listen to the minivan moaning its way up and down the hills, and I continued to try and take pictures (as I hung onto the seat in front of me for balance) while the driver was navigating the twists and turns.

At the bus station in MHS (easier to write) I was immediately approached by a woman offering treks and a guest house.  The guest house was where I wanted to be (by the lake) so off we went.  I saw the view from the balcony on the way to look at my room and was so bowled over I paid immediately.

I am going to break here because I have a flight this afternoon and need to get some coffee and breakfast.  Stay tuned for Part II.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 10:20 pm and is filed under 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.