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  Pai, Thailand
Sunday, November 4, 2007

So what a trip getting here to Pai....

We woke up bright and early on the 5th hoping to arrive in the early afternnon 160 odd KM North-West of Chaingmai. We knew the road would be through the mountains so we preparred to take breaks and we gave ourselves a few extra hours to arrive at our theoretical time of 4 hours. 

This was exciting for us because it was our first big trip with our new bike. We loaded the bike up that morning after Dan & Neung had looked it over the day before. We added a bit of a make-shift extension to the back so we could pile 2 plastic containers for all our stuff.... 

Just as we were leaving Chaingmai, the trouble began. We started to lose power on the highway out of town. Almost like running out of gas, where the engine would stop, then start up... then stop, then start up again. We thought that this would be big trouble, so we pulled into a mechanic shop we happened to pass by.

Now for the record, trying to explain what is wrong with your motor bike to a mechanic who speaks another language is not that easy! But never the less, we made it happen, and he looked through the bike for a possible culpirate of the problem. We paid him 100 Baht for his time and went on our way, after he took it out for a test drive.

Everything seemed alright until wereached the mountains. Upon ascending our first big climb, the engine died, as it felt like it would....(slower and slower until it stopped)
So we had no choice but to turn it around and coast about 3 km back to a coffee shop. Luckily, there was a mechanic right across the road!.... these mechanics seem to be everywhere, it's great! (Reason being, it seems that everyone has a bike here). He looked tightened up the loose air intake and we went on our way for a mere 20 baht. Up 3 km, and in the exact same spot and ..... "Dan! You gotta be kidding me?... Are you serious?"

So back down turned around and went right back to the same shop. (This stime now so concerned because we knew where we were going). A big smile was awaiting us on the mechanics faces, and we pulled up for round two.

This went on for a good portion of the afternoon. Up the hill, down the hill... up the hill , and back down again. Frustrating? meh, it was all in the adventure of travelling by bike. It was really interesting for me (Dan) to watch the mechanics throughout the day work on the bike... taking various parts out. It doesn't seem that confusing compared to a car or bus. So I'm hoping when we get back to Chiangmai, Neung and I can take apart our bike and reassemble it just for the knowledge of parts. Already, I've got a decent idea of whats going on under there, but I'm no mechanic, just a traveller interested in mechanics. (It would be helpfull to be able to fix small or repeated problems on the road, when we are in the middle of nowhere)

Anyways, long day short, we had the most extensive 160km possible. The road seemed to go on forever through the mountains, and with all our weight and problems with the engine, we were climbing the hills at 20-30km an hour. We were luck to reach "TOCOMEPAI" just shortly after nightfall.

Tocomepai is an organic farm just outside of Pai. We got intouch with the owner, Sandoht before we arrived and told him about our travels. Even though he rents out the most stunning and beautifully crafted guest houses and huts, he was willing to make an exchange with us: Shelter for Energy. (this is the premise of WWOOFING, but Sandoht is not registered with the wwoofing organization... he just has a big heart!)

His permiculture is everything we could have immagined when thinking about far off countries and organic farms. You pick all the fruit from the trees, bananna's, mango's, papaya, avocado... .and on... he has rice terraces, and all the structures are made with bamboo. Even the furniture, plates, and cups.

We'll be posting pictures soon, so check back when you see that this page has been updated!

We're off for now, but we will update you very soon!...Pai is incredible and we feel at home!...Much Love!  

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