Day 15 - Sunday, February 27 - Pai

As I type this, millions of households in the world are watching the Oscars, Pilar is hob-nobbing, and the only thing Oscar in Pai is the little baby pig who lives at the neighboring guesthouse.

WOW, someone needs to teach the Thai roosters that their job is to wait til the sun rises before they start their bantor. I have never heard so many animals making their noises so early. I was afraid to look at my watch. I listened carefully. I heard roosters, howling dogs, meowing cats, all in unison as if there was some conductor cuing them. As soon as it was quiet, another rooster would do it's thing and the rest would follow.

I dozed on and off hoping a few hours would pass - what seemed like an hour later but I knew it was only minutes, I started hearing voices. Thai voices asking me if I needed a tuk tuk, others asking me if I wanted to buy a watch or sunglasses. I thought I was hallucinating.

At one point, I closed my eyes and thought I heard yet something else.....it wasn't an animal at all, and it certainly wasn't Thai - it was my mom in her best Boca accent telling me to take care of my scratchy throat and be careful on the motorcycle. Up until now I've only been hearing the accents of the Thai, German, Dutch, Israeli, Australian, English and basically every other spanning the globe, but I have yet to encounter a BOCA accent!

Should I tell her that I declined the helmet? I figured I would wait until I got back safe and sound to tell her that part. What about this cold I feel coming on that will soon drop into my chest and threaten me with Asthmatic Bronchitis all the way around the globe. Once again, this will wait.

I closed my eyes and so many thoughts were racing through my head.....was it the malaria pills playing tricks on me......was it something I ate last night that was making me hallucinate.....I finally figured it was just me, high on life, and all these thoughts were fun to ponder for a second each......

When in Thailand, get a Tatoo?

I wish all these people reading this blog could see me face up, staring at the ceiling in my Thailand cell hoping this one hovering mosquito doesn't find a place to rest on my leg and take a bite - but after all, what are the chanches he is a malaria carrying one

Was I going to kill myself on the motorcycle today?

Should I wake up and write some post cards as I haven't sent even ONE yet.

Ok, I woke up! It was now 5:45A. I got up, took a walk, and watched this tiny sleepy town wake up. It was now 7:00A and I stopped for some breakfast. I opted for an american breakfast today and had a tomato and onion omlette with some toast. It was nice for a change - no noodles or rice for breakfast.

I walked over to the "Blue House" to see if they had a room. The only room they had was with 2 beds and I wanted 1. I didn't need to spend an extra 100 baht for a bed I wasn't going to use and besides, who wants to sleep on a twin bed. She told me to come back at noon and she would have something for me.

I went back to Charlie's House, showered, packed my things, didn't look back twice after I paid the bill and dropped them off in the storage closet at the Blue House and walked over to pick up my motorcycle. He taught me how to ride it. It's sort of a semi-automaitc motorcycle - I'm sure I'll be fine. I rode around a bit, and checked back with the "Blue House". My room was ready. I threw my bags in, paid for the night and got on the bike and headed towards the waterfall. This place is amazing. The scenery, although now sometimes a bit brown rather the lush green it is during rainy season, was spectacular.

I wish I hired a viedeographer to follow me around and capture every second on film.

If I could have stopped every 20 feet to photograph it, I would have. Fields upon fields, battered huts upon streams and rivers, animals galour, and villagers standing on the roadside waiting for a tourist on a motorbike to pass through and throw them a cigarette. They all know the universal motion to ask for a cigarette - after all, it's not a hard one.

I arrived at the waterfalls after about 20 minutes and found what else, a waterfall. Certainly not Niagara, but it was water flowing down rocks, kids playing, at it was certainly enough to be categorized as a waterfall. While there, I met Caroline, 22, from Australia and Nicky, 25, from South Africa now living in London. We talked and we all left the waterfall for another ride through the country, this time to the hot springs. Only about 3 minutes into the ride, I realized that I was driving on the wrong side of the road, but only with the help of 2 kids who were driving straight towards me.

P.S. Have I mentioned that they drive on the LEFT side of the street in Thailand?

I managed to slow down just enough, while I was hitting the gas and pulling the break at the same time, causing a massive skid, sending me sliding across the road and smashing into the ground - luckily, I wasn't goint fast enough to die!

The kids were so kind. They were more worried about me - the dumb farang who was driving on the wrong side of the road than anything else. I got up, brushed off the dirt, made sure there was no blood and got back on. Caroline and Nicky laughed and I felt like a moron. Back on the bike, I noticed the broken side mirror but hadn't realized the swelling in my ankle until much later.

We were now on our way to the hot spings - about 12km away. Once again, passing tiny littel villages, tiny huts, roadside drink stands, and some small forest fires burning - tis the season. We arrived at the hot springs, parked our bikes, and walked the rest of the way. At one point, we had to cross the small babbling brook and I slipped on the rock and fell in......THE WATER WAS HOT! Welcome to the hot springs. It felt good as I waded in the hot water for a minute or so. We walked further up the hill and found the end of the hot springs.....some might call it the source. I had no idea what the source was so thinking that it was the same water as what I had waded through earlier, I stepped in and, little did I know, was stepping into 80 degree CELCIUS water.....I have no idea what that is in fahrenheit but it's somewhere around boiling and fucking boiling. I had stepped into BOILING WATER and nearly singed my feet! Once again, the girls laughed and we made our way down to the base, back to our bikes after stopping for a water break. I didnt' realize but the gimmick here is that they sell raw eggs that you can hard boil in the water. If I had known that before stepping in the source, I probably wouldn't have.

We ventured on to the Pai Canyon. While not as big as the Grand Canyon, it was a pretty cool hike to what looked like a mini-grand-canyon - VERY MINI - about 1/10000th the size. This is where we met Eddie, a German, and Roy, and Israeli. They were both traveling alone until they met in Koh Phang Ngan and have been traveling together since. We were now a 5-some: An American, a German, an Israeli, a South African, and an Australian. We had a lot of fun together exploring the canyon and went separate ways. We headed back to town, and they to the hot springs.

Once back in town, the food market was underway and we stopped for a Rotee. I had banana, chocolate, and raisins from a cart that claimed to have the best Rotee in Thailand! It was pretty damn good!

We then took a drive so they could show me the place they were staying, "The Sun Hut". This place was COOL! I realized I messed up again but I wasn' moving for one or 2 nights. This place was 2 minutes by bike outside of town, over a bridge and in the "jungle". Many small bungalows and very secluded and very cool. I advice anyone who comes to Pai to stay at "The Sun Hut" or anywhere just slightly away from the center of the city.

We said goodbye and made plans to go to BeBop for dinner.

I drove my bike away and ran into Herrell and Amy, a couple I had met at Libra before I left. Chatted with them a bit and went back to the "Blue House" to shower and get ready. When I arrived at Blue, the resident "gang" was hanging out. I'm pretty sure the gang consists of 2 Australian guys, a British guy, and an Bristish woman who seem to have been staying at Blue for quite some time and don't seem to move far from the garden or the porches of their rooms very often. It seems to me that they came to Pai for a little relaxation, and never left and have formed this litle family. They gave me a large CHANG BEER and we talked for a bit.

Have I mentioned that beer in Thailand is 6.4% alcohol. Two large Chang's and I'm feeling it. I laready had one for the evening.

I showered and hopped on my bike, in the dark, to find BeBop. This bike thing is great. Riding the bike, with a large Chang in me, had me tempted to stop in the local tattoo parlour and get some local art. For some reason, I decided not to.

Met the girls at BeBop only to find that they don't serve dinner and the music scene doesn't get going until 10, the earliest. We drove a bit up the road and ended up at this 69 baht buffet. It was really good. They advertised themselves as a Fondue place but it wasn't really fondue. It was a buffet of cold salads along with a vast amounts of raw meat and fish that you cook on these cool grills they bring to the table. Dinner was great. The girls didn't want to go to BeBop any longer so we paid the bill and parted ways. I doubt I will run into them again - they are heading in the opposite direction.

I went to BeBop for about 20 minutes and made my way back to the Blue House. All my landmarks were dark, it was COLD, I was nicely buzzed on 3.5 large Chang Beers, and I was LOST. How could I be lost in a town that has 4 or 5 roads? How could I not even see the 7-11 sign. Where the hell was I? After coming across a bridge, I realized where I was and fixed my mistake and made my way back. A 3-4 minute ride on the bike took about 15 but I made it home safely.

Today was a spectacular day - not that they all aren't!

This chest cold is really starting to fester and I feel sorry for the room next to mine that's going to hear me coughing it up all night.