Pai, Thailand

Ok, so after 2 days of trying to sight-see, getting soaked with freezing water was becoming tiresome. We booked a bus ticket to Pai, and splurged on a $3 taxi ride, so we wouldn't get soaked on the way to the bus station. It was a beautiful, but very curvy 3-hour bus ride to Pai. We thought since we arrived in Pai early evening we'd avoid the water...nope. I got a bucket dumped on myself and my backpack. I was a target. During the entire festival, no matter who I was with, I got the most water thrown at me.

bathroom sign at the rest stop..

vendors at the night market..

arriving in Pai..

Rim Pai Cottage

we spent our first night in a room with a GIANT spider. so for the next few nights we splurged on this lovely little cottage..$15/night. The staff was very friendly, and when our time was up there, the manager let us shower in her room before our bus ride to the Thai/Laos border.

our first day in Pai we rented bikes and decided to ride to a waterfall...no one told us the entire ride was uphill..oh, and the water festival was still going on, so we got soaked..!

beautiful country side..

we finally made it to the waterfall..

kids would literally block our path so that they could soak us with buckets of water, they'd also swipe us with some sort of white paint..

totally soaked.

not the best bikes to ride 6 miles uphill...

banana waffles!

you can rent these lovely huts by the river..we checked them out, but decided to go for a more bug free accommodation..

Asian packaging is the best.

Sangsom Thai whiskey, $3

we rented motorbikes and rode to the world war II memorial bridge..

Pai was the best place to rent motorbikes..there was a lot of open road, and very little traffic.

the korean in us had to stop and pose for pictures..

stairs to Wat Pra That Mae Yen temple

view of Pai

best pad thai i've ever eaten..

After this delicious meal, we boarded our van that would take us to the Thai/Laos border, where we would then get on a boat. This was the most terrifying ride of my life. Never before have I ever felt like I might not make it to my next destination. Not only were we driving through the curvy mountain roads at night, but there was a terrible storm, and we were actually stopped for a bit by the police due to weather. After the storm had faded a bit, we were back on the road, following the road crew that was clearing the road of trees. Trees big enough that multiple car loads of men had to get out to get them out of the road. After awhile, our driver decided that he was sick of following the road crew and passed them. Anyone he came across, he passed. He was going a steady 110/kmh, the van was literally screeching around turns, many of which were U-turns. When many of us asked him to slow down, he said, "We are late." And we said, that's fine, we'd like to live to eat our breakfast. Some people started to feel sick, and asked him to slow down again, his response,

"You sick. You sleep."