Day 12

Pai

We woke up too early for my liking and Alfie didn't quite make it for his morning swim, but eventually we made it to breakfast and checked out. It was the day for the bus from Chiang Mai to Pai, infamous for its steep winding roads with 762 turns. When we booked our ticket it suggested we took motion sickness pills beforehand. We boarded at 9.30 into a small bus where our luggage was concerningly strapped to the roof. I quickly fell asleep on the way out of the city but not for long, as I wake up to my head being slammed into the side of the bus on the first hairpin turn. I guess the road had started. It was a beautiful road and would have been lovely to ride a scooter on, but that'll have to wait to tomorrow.

I'm not sure if it was the motion sickness pills or I was super tired but I kept passing out before being woken from another slam of a hairpin turn. We stopped halfway where I grabbed an ice cream before heading back on the road to Pai. We ended up arriving an hour ahead of schedule so I guess our driver was cruising along. We hopped out the bus in Pai before we could check-in to our hostel but thought it was worth a shot anyways. We arrive and meet our host, Momo, who all the reviews had raved about. He allows us to check in early and we sort ourselves before heading out into Pai's main street (which for once was directly outside our hostel) and went for some lunch.

After, we went on the hunt for renting a scooter. After realising that we were too late in the day to get any from the big companies that we were gonna get some from originally, we eventually found this small place with a very nice couple of people running it. They were fine renting to me as I said I had ridden before, which isn't technically a lie but isn't far off. My logic was an automatic would be easy enough - and I was right... only after taking slightly too long to turn the scooter on. Alfie however hadn't ridden before but one of the guys there (I think his name is Eddie) who was an 18 year old English teacher so, was generous enough to give Alfie a free lesson in an empty lot. What a dude.

After the amazing lesson, Alfie hopped on the back of my scooter and we drove to "Two Huts" to watch the sunset over the mountains. It was as beautiful as it was touristy (which yes I know still includes me and Alfie). We drove back and meandered around the night market, looking at dry bags, a bookstore, and Jetboil brand backpacks??? We then grabbed some food - I went for a mystery meal but the ladies running the stall pointed and said spicy so I fucked around and found out. It wasn't too much that I would have started sweating but I was definitely not far off. We went via a 7-11 to grab some snacks then sat on some chairs at our hostel and ate. This was when we started properly chatting to Momo. He is hilarious and a lovely, giving guy. We were then joined by a German guy who kept telling me his name but I kept forgetting, and 2 English peeps and we sat around chatting and talking whilst Momo grabbed us some blueberry fried rice with sesame seeds and milk. Its hard to explain but apparently the people in the mountain make it once a year during Chinese New Year and we were lucky enough to try some. He then promised to cook some more up for me and Alfie to pack away tomorrow, as well as giving us melon and some soju, absolutely free of charge. He said he loves seeing people enjoy new food. What a fun guy.

And with that, I had a shower and popped to bed.Read more