The end....back to work!

Our last day in Pai.........we rolled out of bed around 6am and took our bags to the AYA travel center in Pai. This is the company that provided motorbikes and our bus trip from Chiang Mai to Pai. If we haven’t said this yet…….this company was terrrrible!!! Late, rude and apathetic was not my Thai experience at all……but this company was by far the biggest pain in the butt. Which was exaggerated later in the day…..but that’s for later. We dropped off our luggage to be taken in a van back to Chiang Mai while we drove the 130 km, winding through the mountains on our motorbikes. It was a gorgeous ride! Fresh air, trees, great views and just a little fog. 

It was VERY chilly up in the mountains so early in the morning!

 

The views were amazing!

We arrived in Chiang Mai around 11:30…..and this is when things got interesting. AYA travel services took our bags from Pai to Chiang Mai, like they agreed to when we dropped them off earlier that morning. But, when we went to return our bikes and get our bags……….we were informed that our bags came to Chiang Mai, but they were not taken out of the van…..so they were now headed BACK TO PAI!! This is a 3 hr trip by van……which wouldn’t allow us to catch our 3:30 flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok without losing most of our luggage. So, we waited impatiently at the airport while AYA tried to get our luggage back to us in time to catch our flight. There was never an apology or anything of that nature from this company. They were rude and incompetence was shown on all levels. Anywho……Anne and I are trying to get AirAsia to allow us to board late since it was already  2:55 and last check-in was suppose to be 2:50.  As we were heading back outside to check on the situation…..we see this crazy blonde girl running frantically with bags all over her flung in every direction. What a relief!!! We get our luggage without having to change flights! Needless to say we arrive in Bangkok a little weary from the day. But it’s Bangkok and it’s our last night on vacation!!

We check into our hotel, get showered up and decide we need to fill our hungry bellies. Unfortunately we get sucked in by a local taxi driver and he is going to take us to a “good and cheap” restaurant.  The place he dropped us off at appeared to be neither of those things.  So, we started walking back towards our hotel to look for some street food, which has never steered us wrong!  We enjoyed our last filling of Pad Thai and enjoyed hours of conversation and laugh to help celebrate Anne's birthday!.  We didn’t want the night to end because that meant when we woke up, Lance and I would be leaving to go back to Vietnam!

And just like that, the dream was over. We arrived back in Hanoi and the second we walked out of the airport our hearts were deflated.  It was cold and rainy, unlike the perfect weather in Thailand….we were greeted with annoying taxi drivers, and a honking mess of cars.  It was great to be back! Not!  We spent the afternoon sleeping our misery away.  The next day…..back to work.

Back in the swing of things….

Our first day back at school was a long one and that night we had to go to teach our 3 hour night English class.  The first couple weeks back we felt our anger and disgust towards Hanoi has multiplied.  We felt more annoyed and agitated towards every honk, every flash, and every motorbike, car and taxi. It took all the will power we could muster to not scream!  The only thing that kept us going is the fact that we only had a month until our next excursion!  We were very excited that Miss Emily Hofer and Lance’s brother Ben had bought tickets to Vietnam to join us over the TET holiday break in February! 

Pai, Thailand

The next day we took a bus to Pai, which is about 3 hours west of Chiang Mai, close to the Myanmar/Burma border.  For the first time in my life, I got smart about traveling in a van through the curvy mountains, instead of feeling terribly car sick and wanting to vomit! I found a new friend…Dramamine!  Unfortunately, the Chinese girl in the van with us had not been introduced to this miracle worker! I tried to feed her many of my pills, but she could not keep them down.

After arriving in Pai we realized that things are crazy this time of year. We had great visions of renting motorbikes everyday to explore this beautiful countryside…BUT, everyone else and their dog had the same idea! So, no motorbikes for us the first day! We realized that our hotel was about 2km out of town and the only transportation we could find were our own 2 legs! After Lance and Anne had given up, I decided I would sweet talk a local man, driving by on his motorbike/cart contraption, to give us a ride. At first, he kept driving on…..but we saw him keep looking back at us as he drove away and finally he turned around to save us! We were very grateful!  The ride took a humorous turn when the last kilometer was totally uphill and his little motorbike couldn’t handle 3 “big” Americans! So, Lance hopped off and the driver jogged beside his bike and was working the gas! We burned a few calories from laughing during the whole event!

A new kind of incense holder???

The next morning we woke up and headed down into Pai to check out the motorbike situation again. After waiting for almost 30 minutes again at the bus station, only to find out they have only 1 bike for use, we headed out to see a waterfall. This is a waterfall that is off the beaten path due to motorbikes only being able to get within 7 kilometers. We marched on as we passed beautiful fields with water buffalos grazing on the outskirts of Pai. Eventually the small road ends and there is a river we cross to officially start “the trek.” We were told we would cross the river a few times, but that turned into a few dozen before the day was over. Good thing it was only a foot deep or so, but it made for wet feet for the day! After crossing some dense terrain we got on a path and followed the river as it winded up the mountain. It seemed the farther we went the harder and more steep the terrain was getting. 

We had thoughts of turning around, but then we ran into a Thai couple who was heading back down. They told us a man fell and broke his leg near the waterfall and that they were going to town to get help. We couldn’t turn back at this point as we knew there was an injured man ahead of us. So, we hiked for another 30 minutes until we came upon a man sitting on a large rock with a stick in his hands and both feet on the ground. He was grimacing and pointed us on towards the waterfall. I almost found this comical as his left foot was swollen through his shoe and you could see blood all over because his broken leg had punctured the skin. We really didn’t know what to do at this point……but we got him to lie down and elevate the leg. We then gave him some pain reliever, water, crackers and peanuts. Just laying there he was shivering from the shock and seemed to be in a great deal of pain. Time went on and we soon found ourselves having to make a decision. It was agreed that the last thing any of us 3 would want would be stuck out in the middle of nowhere with a broken leg alone at dark. But, we also knew that the three of us would have a difficult time getting down the mountain if it was dark. So, we decided to build a fire and then hoof it down as quickly as we could. It was a real nice fire, but I can only imagine bamboo burns quickly. 

When we got back down to Pai we went directly to the police station. They had been told about the man……but THEY HADN’T SENT ANYONE OUT YET! We explained the situation and were not impressed with the lack of urgency of the Thai policemen.  We then went to eat hoping something would get done and would check on the situation when we were done. We did not have high hopes that the cops were actually going to go trekking into the forest at dusk to rescue this man. While eating we saw an ambulance and hoped it was heading out to the man as it was getting cold. We found out the next morning that the man was rescued and then taken to Chiang Mai which is a much bigger city nearby. Needless to say, the speed in which the local authorities sent out help made us think about being careful for the next few days!

After our exhausting day hiking, we decided to wake up early so we could get to the motorbike shop when they open. We did and it was well worth it as we got three motorbikes for the rest of our stay and to drive back to Chiang Mai! The first order of business was heading out on a 55 km ride to a bat cave! The ride was spectacular, but very cold as we were passing through the top of the mountain. But, it also provided us with a fantastic view and nice mid-point stop. We finished winding down the mountain and turned off on some local roads before arriving at our destination. Our tour guide, a cute old lady with a propane lamp, walked us down to the cave and onto our long bamboo raft. There were 3 different cave areas that had some great formations, and then at the end of the cave was a great view. It made me think of big sky country in Montana! 

How about a little sheep placenta body lotion to help whiten your skin!!!

We then grabbed some fantastic Som Tum (a spicy papaya salad), some below average Pad Thai and headed back to Pai. Upon our return, Lacey had to massage out the kinks, Anne needed some alone time with her iPad and I was ready for some sleep!

I think this might have been my favorite day of the whole trip! We started out with another fantastic breakfast at the Witching Well. We then started driving out of town on the road we would be taking tomorrow morning when we headed back to Chiang Mai. First, we turned off and took a scenic winding road to a sort of hidden waterfall. We then headed back to the main road to hit Pai Canyon. Pai Canyon is quite amazing as there are parts of the ridge that our only a couple feet wide and the fall off would be a 50 meter drop on both sides! Needless to say I headed out trekking in the other direction while Lacey and Anne tried to be tough guys………I soon looked back to see Lacey on all fours wondering what she got into.

 This was also the stop in which Anne decided she no longer wanted a motorbike so she left her keys in the ignition for the taking while we were hiking. Surprisingly, and lucky for her no one wanted that chic hot pink attitude on wheels! Off we went to the Pai Hot Springs. This was quite the deal! The whole formation of the springs, and how it was separated into bathing/soaking areas of different temperatures, was quite something.  It felt great to relax our still sore muscles! 

Knowing our motorbike rides in the country were soon coming to an end we decided to just keep on keeping on. Some fantastic scenery and more gravel roads occupied us until dark when we decided it was time to grab some amazing pizza for supper.

Off to Chiang Mai!

We did not give Anne much time to relax before heading to our next destination! We had an early flight booked up to northern Thailand to Chiang Mai. We decided to save 15 hours of our precious time together and take a flight versus a bus!  We were greeted with a smile at our hotel and were excited about the adventures ahead of us!  Over a delicious Thai lunch we tried to plan our next couple days in CM.  We had grabbed a handful of the hundreds of brochures they had for all the many activities you could participate in.  That afternoon we drove motorbikes up a mountain to the beautiful Doi Suthep temple. 

The next day we took off on our first booked adventure: The flight of the gibbon canopy trip! This entailed us putting on a bunch of gear and attaching these clip things on us to these big, long cables and zip line from tree to tree in the canopy of a glorious mountain forest! Most of us were brave…some of us (we won’t mention any names!), were a little bit scared and nervous about trusting this cable high above the ground!  Screams and all it was a glorious, exhilarating time! We had about 30 zip lines total. The longest one was 800meters long.  After that I was not scared or screaming anymore and it was quite the time! The view was amazing around you and you felt like you were flying! This also entailed doing a couple of abseils…in which you have to trust this 90 pound Thai man with all your weight! All too soon though it was over!

 After a great lunch we got a chance to trek to a waterfall. 

It is a very common site in SE Asia to see small babies being  held while on a motorbike!

  On the hour ride back to the city, we decided that enough was enough and we needed to omit the word “awesome” from our vocabulary! We felt that we were more intelligent beings and could find better words to describe things that were “awesome!” We decided that we would keep track and the first person to say it five times had to do something for the others. I was well in the lead (with Anne and Lance both at 5, me at 0!).  Then, I started talking more….and quickly fell into last place!

The next day we decided to relax and sit by the pool, read and do this great book of brain puzzles (thanks to Keith and Sharon for lending it to Anne!).  We found our way to the best street food and kept going back! The following day we were on another outing….this time, we weren’t flying in the sky, but instead trekking up a mountain. We were given the option to do an easier trek or a harder one. Being we are all very “tough” we decided we could handle the tough one! What we didn’t know, was that this trek was over 2 hours long and uphill the WHOLE TIME!  Unfortunately, my lack of exercise or any physical activity for a few months did not help me! I brought up the rear the whole time.  Fortunately, we were with some really in shape people…...so they made me look worse! They would stop for breaks…..but by the time I got to the “break” spot, they were ready to take off again. Lance, like the good husband he is, was constantly trying to be encouraging! I think I can truthfully say I have never done anything so physically hard in my whole life! I truly thought that I was not going to make it to the top because my legs were going to give out!  But, the stubbornness in me won out, thankfully! I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.  We made it to the top of the mountain and the views were glorious! After snapping a quick picture showing the work we did with the sweat we were all sporting, I collapsed on the ground!

I was still doing okay here (this was early on!)

 

A very lovely squatter toilet where we stopped for lunch!

   The pain was not going to end anytime soon though, because we were only half done with our package we purchased! After a quick lunch, we had to get on mountain bikes and bike 26km downhill on roads that we never paved or resembled anything close to smooth and flat. I almost gave up and wanted to ride in the truck with the guys that were following us!  That was the longest 26km of my life! That was not “biking” that was going downhill and holding your breaks constantly, trying to dodge the hundreds of pot holes in front of you.  I was absolutely miserable!

 But yet again, my stubbornness won out and I finally made it to the bottom where we sat in beautiful little grass huts on the lake and were fed a delicious meal!  I was happy to be alive and so glad that day was over!   I was very worried that I wouldn’t be able to walk the next day, so I thought I would try to ease the pain by getting a massage that night.  I was very pleased with the results the next morning!

We all agreed that taking it easy that day was the best idea we have ever had! It was New Year’s Eve and we wanted to be able to make it to midnight!  We relaxed by the pool again, took a nap and decided we were ready to get some food! I was very excited for this night because the whole year I spent in Thailand 2 years ago, I never got to experience the sky being filled with lanterns for a festivity.   We bought a few of our own and lit them off into the sky. When it was close to midnight, Anne decided we needed to ring in the New Year like everyone else, and send off lanterns! There were literally thousands and thousands of lanterns that lit up the sky.  It was one of the most amazing things I have experienced! Unfortunately my non fancy/expensive camera could not catch this magic!