Pai, Thailand

I left you last time on the brink of more impending doom about to embark on a 100 mile moped trek. However, it all turned out ok and I now have a re-newed love for mopeds. We set off as a nice little convoy of me and Holmer with these cool Canadian guys we'd met the night previously.



'Éasy Riders, although not an easy ride'


Things went well until the first major turning when the lovely Lori driving in front of me hit a huge rock in the road just as we were coming to a stop and toppled and skidded along the road. As we were all in shorts and T's she got some nasty grazes. It was a good job we all had helmets on as, in her words, she 'totally smoked' her head. Lovely lingo that. So we sat on the side of the road an patched her up. She didnt complain though and took it really well so we were off again in no time.


The following road was immense. The sort of road they use to test drive cars on Top Gear. A huge mountain filled with tight chicanes. The thing is though, I loved it. It was great fun. Got my confidence up and I was soon leaning through all the corners, finding the racing line and hitting speeds of 80mph. Mopeds rock.


After 6 hours, and a few stops to rest our numb asses, we arrived in the happy hippy village of Pai. Managed to book into a sweet resort that had warm showers, cable TV and a fridge. And a good price. Sweet.





'A nice slice of pai'


Pai, is an extremely chilled out place where you wander around relaxingin cafes and watching films and have quiet drinks (well, a skinful really). Its the sort of place where if you stay too long (and I can see how easily that can happen) you'd end up with dreaded hair, a long beard and some generous tatoos. Luckily I resisted all, although the thought of getting a tatoo is still lodged in my brain. Lets see if I return to the UK without one is it?

Not a great deal to report in Pai as it was mostly spent "chillaxing" (a word the canadians gave me which is only used by geeks, ha) with everyone. Did have an interesting evening watching Little Britain with the Canadians, having to translate most of the sketches. Didnt realise how British it actually was. Bloody hilarious though and nice to touch base with some British TV for a change!


The journey home was uneventful and equally as pleasant as the journey there. Got a bit mental going back into the main city center of Chaing Mai as there appear to be zero road regulations and just a free for all weaving in and out of the traffic. Survived and flew back to Bangkok. Well, missed the flight and had to book one for the next day so we....thats right, got drunk and went the next day.


Back in Bangkok to meet with two girls that Holmesy had met in South America previously in his travels. We all got on great and decided to bugger off to Cambodia the next day. By bus. For 12 hours. On the worst roads in the world. Here we go again.....