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After breakfast we met with Kratos in town and headed for the motorbike rental place. We filled on all the paper work, paid the deposits and insurance before we chose our helmets. Our rides were waiting for us outside, we took the white one and Kratos the red. I was quite nervous at this point as firstly, I was on the open road with traffic and other hazards. But more importantly, Laura would be on the back and I would be responsible for her safety. I remembered how to get moving and soon enough we were riding through the town. I headed towards the fuel station with the breeze blowing in my face. Laura was giving me some encouragement from behind but I was still pretty nervous. After filling up the tank we headed south to check out some wats. We went off the main road and drove through villages stopping at temples to check out what was on offer. By now I felt comfortable on the bike with Laura on the back. Having someone on the back actually gives you more balance and stability but you obviously use more fuel with the extra weight. Potholes were the big enemy and you had to keep vigilant on the road and not let your eyes wander on surroundings.
We hit the open road and were soon turning off on a hair raisin little dirt road in search of a waterfall on the map. Soon enough we were thankfully back on Tarmac and it took about 15 minutes meandering through the little villages to reach the waterfall. On arriving, a few locals were playing in a pool and a staircase led up to the waterfall itself. Being dry season the fall was fairly small but it had a nice little lagoon with was completely enclosed from sun by high cavernous walls. We enjoyed a dip in the cold water which provided much relief in the heat. After our cool down and Laura declaring its tine to go after spotting water spiders, we headed back to the bikes for our next destination. There were quite a few potholes that need avoiding but soon enough we were back on the highway.
I managed to get up to 60km/hour but I soon squeezed the breaks to bring that right down. We headed around the highway bypass towards the western side of town to seek out our second waterfall. Unfortunately the small road leading up to this was a minefield of potholes, some crippling! We drove dead slow and negotiated our way around them successfully. The second waterfall was a much larger, open area with a sloping, smooth rock face with water seeping down at various intervals. We climbed up the smooth surfaces having to take special care with our footing. Some young locals were collecting something unclear from the pools in the stone but we were more interested in the natural water slide down the rocks they discovered. Obviously, it was not long before we having a to! The slide was only about 10 feet with a decline of 25 degrees or so but the combination of smooth rock and rushing water meant you got some speed. We were joined by some European girls and stayed here for 30 minutes before it started getting too hot and our backs were sore from all the sliding.
Back on the bikes we decided to head to a Chinese village we passed on the way up here. Soon enough we located a noodle shop and enjoyed one of the best noodle soups we have had! There were so many noodle s I was actually struggling. We then continued towards Pai viewpoint which was up a very steep hill. On arriving we saw they charged you to view so thought they could stuff that... And headed back towards the hill where we had to negotiate a very steep hill, very nerve wrecking indeed.
Our journey would now take us south back down the highway and we were heading towards Pai Canyon. We didn't know much about this place so would be interesting to see. On arrival, you walk up some steps to the so called canyon and you are greeted by an expanse of winding walkways. These are the tops of the canyon walls and you can walk along them admiring the fantastic views. What put me off was some part of the walkways were no wider than two feet across, no railing and at least and 80 feet sheer drop on each side. Not being great with heights, I let Laura and Kratos have this one and I would look at their photos! Luckily, no one got blown off the side and we were heading back up to the town, albeit now a little sunburnt.
We stopped off at a little cafe with breathtaking views of the mountains on the way home. This was followed by us agreeing to give Laura a little bit of scooter training ourselves. We headed back to the training ground and went through the basics with her. To her credit, she picked it up really quickly and in ten minutes was riding solo and on the roads!! Even though I was reluctant to let her ride as we had gone through the day without incident I was pleased she conquered it. By this point dusk was approaching and we returned the bikes and headed for some food. During dinner by got offered another flyer promoting a party but we all agreed we were far too tired for that. Must be a sign of us getting older haha! We all felt really proud with a sense of satisfaction to have learnt and actually rode around on the scooters. It is quite daunting task so we all felt we had really accomplished something. Hopefully it would not be too long before we rode again!
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