A mountain uto-PAI

From Chiang Mai it was off to a small town called Pai....according to Lonely Planet it is a hippie's paradise in the mountains. The town itself is quite small and can be walked through in a matter of minutes. I think Lonely Planet was right about the feel of the town....but thanks Lonely Planet for making this place a tourist mecca. It was a relaxing town but I felt like most of the culture of the area was sucked out of it due to all of the tourism that has flocked its way, I'm guessing largely due to the support given to it by Lonely Planet.

Nonetheless, the town was a blast. The best way for me to describe it would be like a beach town without a beach. There were expats EVERYWHERE, and I had to laugh when they made fun of the backpackers that came through, is it really necessary to laugh at people who came to visit this area that you now live in and drink everyday? Anyway....things to do in Pai. Visit depressing elephant camps (they are chained up), visit caves, and visit waterfalls. All of which are done by riding motor bikes around. I made sure to do them all. The first night there I met up with a few other solo backpackers and a couple of sisters from the Oregon. The 5 of us formed our own little group and went out that night chasing the local bands around as they got us free rice whiskey all night....I think the only way to ever drink that stuff would be if it was free.

After a long night out, we headed out early in the morning on motorbikes to Cave Lod, 65km away. We weren't exactly good motor bike drivers, I think my biking experienced helped me a bit, but the roads were ridiculous. Steep and windy, switchbacks all over the place, and dirt in a few sections. No worries though we made it to Cave Lod unscathed where we were greeted with an unbelievable cave. The cave itself is 38m high and littered with stalactites and stalagmites as well as the various other formations associated with them. The rocks seemed to look like birthday cakes in some places, wax drippings in others, and crystal canyons in others. The formation were some of the most impressive that I'd ever seen.

The ride back to town was a bit easier and we stopped at a waterfall on the way in to relax. The hills up here are very very different from the Himalayas but gorgeous in their own right. I no longer have to strain my neck to see the summits of them but its nice to see trees on them.

Upon arriving in town we had some dinner and I met up with a couple from the UK who had been to the area 7 times and got some great advice from them about when to go where, and being divers themselves, they recommended that I head south....immediately if I want to dive on the west coast of Thailand (the monsoon is coming in and kills visibility). That made up my mind, I was gone, and fortunately was leaving with my newly acquired 'family' over here. Lauren and Dana, the sisters from Oregon, were heading to the same place I was going....by plane of course, so my slow buses down there wouldn't arrive for a few days after them.