Oh lovely Pai....

We arrived in Pai after a winding journey up through the mountains from Chiang Mai. It took about 3.5 hours but we did meet a nice group of Americans which helped pass the journey. When we got there we headed straight to our guesthouse “A Breeze of Pai” which was okay but very backpacker-ish with grey cement walls, but what can you expect for 6 euros a night??!! Our first impressions of Pai were…well, we weren’t overly impressed with it as it was total hippyville and we weren’t too sure if we were going to fit in.  We went for a stroll about and got to see the whole of the place in around an hour. We came across what looked like a cool trekking place that guaranteed a non-tourist view of Hill Tribal villages and walks through the jungle…there was a trek leaving the next morning at 9am so we took the plunge and decided to sign up! It turns out to be the best move we have made so far on this trip!   There were 6 of us in the group going – Us two, 2 Aussies Russ and James, a French Canadian girl Veronique and a German guy called Steffan. Con was our main guide and spoke good English and we had two other guides who didn't have a word of English - they were so cool and were having a great laugh when one of us slipped or fell over (which Louise came the champion of doing but we both have the cuts to prove it!). We visited 3 tribal villages, the first had 3 families, the second had 27 families (where we had lunch) and the third had 23 families and is where we stayed the night - it was 1800 meters up - very high and the trek was very tough. Con was literally hacking the jungle in front of us to make way for us to walk. A lot of the trek was very steep up and downhill but all of the scenery was amazing. Passed lots of waterfalls. Con speaks Lahu (the first and second villages were Lahu - the Lahu tribe is of tibetan origin) and he spoke Lisu - the third village was Lisu (of Chinese origin). Chinese New year was on the 29th Jan and Lahu and Lisu New Year happen at the same time. They celebrate in the villages for a few days. So when we got to the third village and left our stuff in our hut (I kid you not, dirt floor, dogs, chickens etc wandering in and out - just sooooo coool!) Con cooked us up a big dinner of traditional Thai food - all the while we were being fed 'Lao Kao' - it's traditional Thai Rice Whiskey which they brew themselves and is lethal! They seem to have an endless supply of it!. When you are offered it it's impolite to refuse so we were all knocking it back! Also drinking tea (yummy Thai tea - and without sugar!) and beer too. So after dinner everyone was eager for us to go down the village and join in the New Years celebrations - lots of singing and traditional tribal dancing. The dancing is a way in which the guys and girls flirt too so if a guy likes a girl he joins in the circle beside her (you all hold hands and dance around in concentric circles doing steps that we didn't get, so we made up our own!) James, one of the Aussie blokes didn't realise about the flirting thing and gave two 10 year old girls a bit of a fright when he tried to join in between them, so funny! We set him straight after. it was just such good fun and we danced and danced and drank Lao Khoa all night - we must have had about 15 whiskeys, some big some small. Was totally plastered! Because we are sooooo white they all love us so we were in demand for the dancing - always being dragged back out if we sat for a second and was called 'daja' (beautiful) so many times we lost count - good for the old self esteem! It was Niamh’s best night of her life – or so she repeatedly told us all!   We only wanted to do the one night thing so we trekked back the next day - the others went on and were going to another few villages and then camping again for a second night. So we set off from the village with our guide Douche - not a word of English on him and the only word we knew (which we said constantly) was “Aboduya” – “Thank You” He really was the sweetest guy ever - we had a great laugh with him all day. So just us two and Douche all day - I think he loved holding our hands when he had to help us across the rocks in the stream (you have to cross the stream back and over and back and over to follow some of the rough tracks that they walk). Lunch time in the Jungle was amazing - we stopped beside the stream where Douche set up a fire. He got a thick bamboo stalk and filled it with water and propped this over the fire. Then he made us two things to eat out of from bamboo stalks also along with a set of chopsticks each - the water boiled and he made us noodles in our bamboo 'bowls' - it's honestly one of the coolest things we have ever seen. We paddled in the stream when he was doing all this - heaven. So we trekked from about 10:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon when we got to a road where we were being picked up by a truck at 5 - or so we thought! At 5 two of the guys who are friends of Cons and live in Pai but who also came along to the celebrations in the village last night turned up on their motorbikes - just on the way back from the village having hung around there all day - so we both had a motorbike ride back to Pai - no helmets or anything! Douche was on Niamhs bike too so it was Leat driving then Niamh and Douche  - about a 30 min bike ride back to Pai sandwiched between two Thai men, zipping through the Thai countryside while the sun was setting behind the mountains, it was just brilliant and so beautiful! In normal circumstances Niamh would have issues being on a motorbike with two men but because that’s the way they do things over here you just go with the flow - she didn't feel unsafe at all and just so so so enjoyed it - Leat the driver knew Niamh was a bit nervous at first and just kept saying 'Don't worry ....Be happy' in his Thai accent – so funny and she didn't worry and was happy! Niamh got back first so waited for Lou and her guy.....and waited....and waited - was beginning to get worried. But they showed up about half an hour later - Lou said her guy just pulled into this shack shop/bar on the side of the road and met one of his friends who then took the bike they were on. So Lou and her guy had a beer and chatted away good-o - the guy came back with the bike and joined them for a beer, then they finished up and headed back - she said it was great and your man wants us to go visit him tomorrow! As she learnt – “they do things slow in Thailand!!”   So, things in Pai were going well….and just got better! After spending a night in the jungle using rainwater to wash in and a squat toilet with limited loo roll we decided to treat ourselves to a lovely hotel with a hot shower and a pool back in Pai. For the first time on this trip we spent the day lazing by the pool, sunbathing and generally chilaxing with our books. The others got back from the trek later that day day and we all met in our favourite hangout – Ting Tongs – a lovely little outdoor bar with lots of low tables, cushions and candles. So, we met reminisced about the trek and got drunk! We also went to our first Shisha bar – basically a bar where you sit round together smoking flavoured tobacco from a water pipe – we went for coconut and pineapple and it was lovely! Finished the night off in ‘BeBops’ – the one and only music venue in town – good fun!   Sadly, we headed off from Pai yesterday – guess it had to end at some point! After an 11 hour local bus journey (something you have to experience at least once – only thing missing was the chickens!) we arrived in Chiang Rai late yesterday afternoon. This is only a stopover on the way to the border into Laos – thankfully won’t be here long as there really isn’t much to the place and the people are not as nice as those we’ve just left behind! We’re travelling with Veronique, the girl we did the trek with, until we reach Laos tomorrow – we’ll then head off for another few days in the jungle doing the gibbon experience and she will head to Northern Laos – sure we’ll meet up again though as she is doing a lot of the same route as us.   That’s all for now – hope you’re all enjoying the cold weather at home – it’s 34 degrees here – tee hee!   Love Niamh & Lou xxxxx