THE ROAD TO PAI

After 18 hours of flying time, another 9 hours of terminal layovers, and crossing a half dozen or more time zones I finally arrived in the beautiful energetic city of Chiang Mai Thailand. I was somewhat disheveled but delighted to be back in the land of mango, banana and papaya trees and where the colorful Bird of Paradise and Lotus flowers grow like weeds. That was 9 days ago and it's taken me up until now to find my rhythm and get back to being somewhat normal again.
All the time travel (Jet Lag) can really take a lot out of a person. I'm actually running a full day ahead of the west coast of Canada now! Seems kinda strange and a little hard to get my head around knowing when I leave here to fly back home I'll be in the air almost a full day arriving in Vancouver some three hours after leaving on the same day.
The first 5 days here was spent resting up and literally finding my stride. I reconnect with old friends, made a few new ones and become familiar with the always changing morphing streets of the city once again. Even though I'm not a big city guy I do like Chiang Mai but in my eyes a city is a city and energetically they never really seem to sleep. With that in mind I continued my journey further north back to the valley and much smaller quitier village of Pai which I can honestly say over the years has become like a second home to me.


The distance between Chiang Mai and Pai is only about 80 miles but is considered one of the most dangerous stretches in all of Thailand, especially when traveling by mini bus!
Imagine riding on the back of a large moving anaconda or an endless roller coaster ride with it's hair raising twists and hairpin turns all 762 of them, (did someone actually counted these?) thats kinda what it's like.
The road to Pai can be an intense experience and not one for the faint of heart or for those who experience motion sickness. It can be a nasty bit of business at the best of times but made even worse when your driver just happens to be a cranky speed freak maniac who is hell bent (bound) on always trying to beat his last fastest time getting over the hump. Sometimes it almost seems like a game where these guys (drivers)  receive points or atta boys for causing passengers so much distress they'll either get physically sick or literally be crying out in a reeking panic "we want to arrive alive".
In our case after three hours of this crazy aggressive behavior and witnessing a number of insanely close calls mostly with other van drivers and oncoming traffic we thankfully made it into Pai. All of us somewhat vertigo but happy to exit the van in one piece. Anyone wanting to travel to Pai with an iffy constitution my suggestion would be to take the slower local bus which is bigger, safer and less money or if you have the extra baht fly here in 20 minutes. Either way will certainly much easier on the nervous system.

Despite my choice of travel over the hump it's good to be back in the quiet picturesque Pai valley once again. During these late days of October I'm finding it's alive with bird song and the rich vibrant colors of tropical growth especially the thick lush shades of rice paddy green that can only come from the life giving rainy season. My timing to be here really couldn't been better!
And to expound even further on the support of nature and my good timing or serendipity. The day before leaving Chiang Mai I was thinking to get in touch with friends Putt and Tim to see if there was a vacancy in any of their cottages in the Pai countryside when my phone rang. It was Tim saying they'd heard via other friends that I was back in the country and were curious if I'd like to rent my old house back. Hows that for landing on my feet. Staying in town is usually a simple affair as there is always a room in one of the many guesthouses but it's not always easy finding a choice house to stay in during high season so the call was a complete surprise and a blessing for sure. I'll be moving into my new/old nest at the end of the month.


The following collection of pictures are from around here in the valley during the rainy season.
I've included a few of my nest (home) as well even though there a few years old and the plant life around the house is a lot more jungle like these days.

ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF CHANGES TO MODERNIZE THAILAND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT ARE STILL DONE BY HAND, PLANTING AND HARVESTING THE RICE CROP BY THE FARMERS IS ONE OF THESE.

I'VE ALWAYS ENJOYED STOPPING AND TAKING IN JUST HOW CONNECTED WITH

EACH OTHER AND TO THE LAND THE PEOPLE ARE HERE

HILL TRIBE WOMEN

MOVING THROUGH A SEA OF GREEN AND CHECK OUT THOSE HATS

TAKING SHELTER FROM THE TORRENTIAL RAINFALL WITH A FOUR LEGGED STREET PAL

THE LARGE AND 

VIBRANT SPIRIT OF THE LAND

MY BACKYARD FLOWERS AND BANANAS

MY FIRST HOME SITTING ALONG SIDE THE PAI RIVER A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO IS ON THE LEFT AND THE ONE I'LL BE MOVING INTO IN A COUPLE DAYS (MY NEST) ON THE RIGHT SURROUNDED MANGO, BANANA, AND PASSION FRUIT TREES.

ONCE IN AND SETTLED I'LL BE POSTING A MORE SHORT STORYS AND PICTURES ABOUT THE FLAVOR OF VILLAGE LIFE WITH IT'S COLORFUL MARKETS,  AND WHAT IT'S LIKE FOR ME LIVING HERE IN THE VALLEY OF PAI
 ITS GOOD TO BE BACK IN THE LAND OF SMILES