Yoga, Thai massage and water fights
Trip Start
Jan 02, 2008
1
55
75
Trip End
Jun 17, 2008
Pai,
Thailand
Friday, April 11, 2008
I just spent 3 nights in Pai and had such a great time. The journey there was another one of those windy roads into the mountains on a rather cramped, smelly bus, but it only took 4 hours. Marion and I left our backpacks in Chiang Mai, so it was really nice to be free of the burden and just live of the essentials. We stayed in a bamboo hut on the riverside for only 100 Baht (about $1.50) for the both of us. Our hut was very basic, but we both loved it. Inside we just had one very old, hard mattress on the floor and a mosquito net full of holes. Our only luxury was a fan and electricity, although there was a powercut one night and the whole town was in darkness, so we had to survive with candle light in our flammable wooden hut.
Pai has a very similar vibe to Vang Vieng in Laos. It's very touristy and I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this at the beginning of my travels, but I'm getting used to the chilled out backpacker life. I met so many great people and spent every evening drinking with them and listening to live music. Marion and I hired bikes everyday, but we never left the town so we didn't exactly go far, but cycling made getting from bar to bar alot quicker. My days in Pai went fast and followed this kind of pattern...yoga in the morning, then chilling in cafes, sketching, reading and drinking far too many fruit shakes, then a Thai massage, then cycling around town a little and trying to avoid getting soaked by the kids throwing buckets of water over every person or vehicle that passed. Thai New Year (Songkran) is approaching and they celebrate it by throwing water over each other, so it's basically just one big water fight. Lots of fun and it's so hot here that a bucket of water thrown in your face as you cycle past is very refreshing.
So my time in Pai was very relaxing, although I now ache from head to toe. I'm actually in complete agony! Maybe 3 days straight of yoga wasn't the best thing, considering it's been a while since I did any exercise. I don't think the Thai massage helped either. I felt great afterward, but being poked, stretched and twisted in every direction, on top of the yoga, pushed it abit too far. I'm so glad I haven't got to carry my backpack back to Chiang Mai.
