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We left Chiang Mai and hit the long and windy road 4 hours west to a place called Pai. The road you have to go along is up in the mountains and has 762 bends, saying that we felt a little travel sick half way up is a huge understatement!! Anyway our mini bus made it up safely (after one man threw up on the side of the road, the driver then hurried him along telling him to get back in the bus, poor man). We found a place to stay called "Darling Bungalows" up on the hillside with lovely views of Pai, had a quick shower and then set off into the town to have a wander and get something to eat. Our first impressions of Pai were really good, it seemed very chilled out, lots of street stalls, little cafes, bars and restaurants. After a wander we treated ourselves to a meal in a restaurant instead of opting for the night market, our usual destination. We had a lovely meal of different curries and then had a look around the shops. Lots of nice jewellery and souvenir bits on offer and we decided to both buy a new anklet. We then had a drink in one of the bars, whilst doing our favourite hobby of people watching! There were quite a lot of hippyish/travelling type people around so they kept us entertained for a while. Then it was back to our mattress on the floor (we were only paying around £3 for the room) only to find ants all over Amy's duvet. We soon worked out that the ants were falling from the ceiling onto her pillow and then crawling around. Luckily my mattress was very big and nice and clean so we just shared mine. Amy still refused to lie on the duvet or use the pillow so used her sarong as a cocoon, I on the other hand was a lot more willing to use the sheets.
After a fairly good nights sleep we had a early start as we were spending the day exploring the areas around Pai on a SCOOTER! We bought our scooter for the day and as she was white and pink, we decided to call her "Candy". Now, as neither of us have ever rode a scooter before I think we were both a little apprehensive to begin with. We were wearing helmets at all times on Candy though to be on the safe side. We realised we had some difficulty in turning Candy and several times the same incident occurred, I would be trying to read the map and say " okay Amy next left" and then we would be getting closer and closer trying to turn but then just going straight because we couldn't make the corner. I'm sure you can all imagine there were quite a few giggles this day. Not long after trying to establish how to ride the scooter we were off to our first destination of Mor Paeng Waterfalls! Both of us had a go at driving and we arrived safely. The waterfall was beautiful and we relaxed on the side for about an hour. Then it was back on Candy for a longer drive of about 2 hours, along some mountainy roads to Lod Caves. At most times it felt like we were the only one on the road and it was great to see some of the amazing views as we drove along these roads. I think we were both better driving up and down the hair pin roads than we were in the little streets of Pai. After exploring the caves for a while we headed to some more waterfalls for the last stop of the day. On the way Candy had a little accident, or should I say I had a bit of a problem trying to get her up a hill. Anyway we managed to give her a few scratches and bumps whilst neither of us were actually on the Scooter so neither of us were hurt, just candy! We got to the parking area of the waterfalls finally, only to be told that it was a couple of hours walk to the actual fall and we were too late. Oh well it had been a great day exploring and both of us were now pro scooter drivers!
We spent the evening wandering around Pai, getting some food and looking at all the little stalls. After a little charge of the damage we had done to Candy she was out of our hands, never to be driven again! Tomorrow was back down along the 762 bends to Chiang Mai, ready for our night bus to Bangkok that night!
Pai has been a beautiful couple of days and we've really enjoyed ourselves, I think a scooter or elephant would please us now as our usual way of transport!
Lots of love Meg, Amy and Candy xxxxxx
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