I'll take a Pai and Chiang Mai

After escaping from Ko Pha Ngan alongside the thousands of shell shocked and slightly disappointed looking Full Moon Party goers (we didn't go due to trots on my part, and Nic putting her back out, so poor old Helen missed out) we had back to back overnight trains to Bangkok and then Chiang Mai up tut north. Hats off to the Thai Train Service for a really comfortable trip.

Chiang Mai wasn't what we expected at all. I'm not sure why but we had in our heads that we were gonna be in some kind of walled medieval city, full of temples, like a Thai Canterbury or something, but its got a moat not walls (OK its got some remains of walls) and it pretty bustling and modern. It's even a bit tacky in parts to be honest. The markets and farang restaurants and hotels were reminiscent of Patong. We did have some laughs bartering there though. A first for us, I suppose because we didn't really need anything we bought. Bartering always seems to be such a nasty way of doing business; you walk away thinking that you should have paid less and they must be left thinking that they could've got more. I don't like it all, its all so dishonest.
Thankfully with a bit of exploration down the little narrow back streets and lanes we came to like the place. I was happy just indulge my love for scooters, keeping an eye out for the many vintage Vespas that were whizzing about.

There are a shed load of Buddhist Monasteries in Chiang Mai. One on every street it seems

Our chat with some novice monks was one of the more perplexing experiences of the trip. They were strangely superior in attitude and disparaging about western culture and religions. They asked if they could ask me about cultural differences between Europe and Asia, and it was hard not to refuse someone so polite and serene, plus I figured it'd be interesting. One was from Laos, the other from Burma. It was all pleasant enough, but they didn't get that most religions share common ground. It was also funny trying to explain to them that it'd be really hard to persuade a young man of his age to give up all he had for devotion to his religion for 5 years, in the hope of some formal education and some 'merit' for himself and his family or community. The most confusing part of the day came when I asked him what he wanted to do when he finished being schooled at the monastery next year (they do 5 yrs of study and then can go back to normal life or stay on in hope of becoming fully fledged monks. Most struggle to keep to the 5 basic novice monk rules yet alone the 227 rules or precepts that the proper monks have to follow) and he said he wanted to be "a boss", asked "of what?", he replied, "yes, of Wat at home in Burma". It was then that I realised that he meant "abbot" not "boss" and "Wat" as in Buddhist monastery not "what" as in "pardon". Whilst this was going on Nic went along to the actual organised 'monk chat' and suffered with them just staring and giggling as she was female and they don't really get to chat to women much.

The north of Thailand seemed to suit us alot more than the south, and without doubt I'd say that Pai is the best place we went to in Thailand. It was still very touristy (Thailand generally feels like a holiday resort because they have devoted themselves to the pursuit of the tourist buck so whole heartedly. It always feels a bit hollow, without any real substance) but in a much more classy or sensitive way. It was a done with a bit more flair, and certainly without displacing the existing culture quite so much.

We stayed in one of the best places we've stayed in to date. Only the apartment in Florianopolis can match it in my mind. It felt like we stepped into the pages of a lifestyle magazine. Goodbye backpacking, hello flashpacking.

The 'resort' we stayed in was called Pai Chai and had a pool, a ladyboy who served you breakfast and a minor bird that said a hello on your way in. One morning I tried to teach it to say 'yid army!' (I'm really missing going at White Hart Lane) but then realised that this wasn't too clever given the number of Israelis staying there. ooops. Glad there weren't any about.

There's very little to do in Pai, so there's not much to tell. I just wish we'd had more time available to stay there as it was a real pleasure being able to chill out there for a few days. The only thing we did of note was rent a moped and drive through the spectacular scenery along winding roads through green green green valleys of paddy fields, past tiny little villages with chickens scratching about the dirt and feral dogs and kids ( also feral) running around. There was also another waterfall trip.

Oh yeah, one night we did a crazy Thai self BBQ thing (see pic) called a a steamboat, we think, and managed not to poison ourselves grilling meat and seafood and cooking noodles and veg in the moat around it. mmmmmmmmmmm
The little hut below is a spirit house. Despite being a Buddhist country Animist beliefs still remain. When they build anything, or farm any land, they erect these little houses which they furnish with decorations and offer food and drink too daily, in the hope that the spirits that lived in the land before they were displaced will be kept happy and not become malevolent