Pai

I got the bus to Pai a couple of days ago. Pai is out in the countryside but firmly on the backpacker trail. Unlike when I was cycling, I'm now literally following the crowd. Pai is fun though.

Yesterday morning one of the guys was heading out to find scooter school so I tagged along. We couldn't find the school so we just went and hired scooters anyway. Turns out you really don't need a lesson. They are easier than riding a bicycle. We ran into the group of people from the hostel in Chiangmai also hiring scooters so we joined them and formed a bike gang. There were 8 of us on 7 bikes so we're not quite ready to rumble with other gangs.

We rode up through the spectacular country side to a hilltop waterfall. We got there at the right time as hardly anyone else was around. The highlight of the waterfall, apart from the view, was a natural rock slide down into a pool below. Great fun. As we were leaving dozens of people arrived so we were pretty lucky. I couldn't stop laughing at this girl who kept slipping over. Her friend came to help her and slipped over too. It was too funny.

Up in the car park Mike managed to knock his bike over. It was just like dominoes. We managed to stop it at 4 bikes. My bike wasn't one of them so I also thought that was pretty funny.

Next we went to the hot springs. It was a great ride but there were some very steep hills. For the bikes with 2 people it was almost too much. The hot springs were really cool. Hot,  I mean.  It was warm bath temperature and crystal clear water. We could easily have stayed in there all day. Getting out was the only time I've felt cold in Thailand but we had to go before it got dark.

Last night I realised one of the guys from my hostel and one of the guys from the bikie gang were friends so we all went out last night. Today I'm heading to Pai Canyon. The others are coming to pick me up but I might go early. There's a BBQ tonight at one of the other hostels I'm going to before watching the world cup final. I made a bet with a kiwi couple here. If they win I do a nudie run. I we win they do a nudie run. They're stressing right out.