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On Sunday 28th June, a month after arriving, I finally left Pai. A good friend was coming to Thailand for a holiday and we had planned to meet in Bangkok before making our way South West, to the islands. Rather than come galavanting with us, Jean stayed on in Pai for an extra week, which meant I was alone with my thoughts and feelings as I set off on the long and winding road back to Chiang Mai, and then the capital. And lo! Those those thoughts gave birth to a poem - an Ode to Pai...
A valley of sunshine after a morning of rain,
The cat sneaks outside - hope I see him again.
He was there when we came to our house on the hill
And as I leave town, no doubt he's there still.
Along with the lizards, the dogs and the birds -
And their peculiar calls that sound, sometimes, like words.
'For real?!' exclaims one, as though reading my mind;
There's something quite magic in all that you find.
In all that you see, touch, hear, taste and smell -
This place is enchanting, I'm under its spell.
Clouds catch on mountains, smoke fills the air,
Encircling bungalows scattered here, clustered there.
Some trees hang heavy with myriad fruits,
While others climb high from their long, curly roots.
Beneath, mushrooms burst from the earth like umbrellas,
Before being picked by entrepreneurial fellas,
Who sell them in bars with storybook names,
To curious travellers who like fun and games.
Elsewhere, others earn by selling their art -
Things they've created with skill and with heart.
Jewellery, paintings, clothes and leather -
From separate stalls, but still somehow together.
For that is the spirit in this picturesque town -
It's all One Love, sun up or sundown.
Hippy, Rasta, Muslim, Thai
For all, life is sweet in beautiful Pai.
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