I apologize for my absence from blog land. I ended up getting a gig with a travel writing company in NYC and have been writing most of my travel reviews for them... However, mom made me a wonderful collection of my blogs thus far and sent to to me for Christmas- along with a note to "please start blogging again" Love you, mom!
I arrived in Chiang Mai via a 2nd class seat on the night train with my partner in crime, Dorian (a 6'6 motorcycling champ, who's not so rough on the eyes- this made for a much more safe and relaxing journey for me... he was a great find..). After walking around the city a bit in search of the perfect bike for our adventure, we settled on a somewhat beat up (there is beauty in imperfections, as we discovered on day 3 of our journey...) 750 cc Honda something or other (see now that I have no knowledge about these big bikes). I apologized to Dorian in advance for my exceptionally terrible navigating skills. Ideally, the person riding bitch on the motorcycle would play the navigator role. Not me-- I'm pretty useless back there. However, I can speak enough Thai to help us if anything truly terrible happens (Unfortunately, I ended up using "mai dii," "not good," and even "mai chop si dang!" "I don't like the color red" more than I'd have liked to) And, despite the occasional sudden shift at photo ops, making it difficult for him to manuveur, or flying forward on downhill sections even though I squeezed my inner thighs so hard, they were bruised, I'd like to think my photo documentation of the journey is worth having me on the back of the bike. Anyway, we got the bike and attempted asking for directions out of town, which, I (of course) thought I understood, but clearly did not, as it took 45 minutes to get to the highway towards Pai.
The "lost time" was complemented by Dorian's search for a "jumper" (which apparently = pullover sweater). He had lent all his warm clothes to a friend traveling to Japan and only had short sleeve shirts and a pair of cargo pants. Mr. tough guy turned out to be quite a picky jumper connosieur and since none of the "jumpers" were up to par with his standards, he settled with my wind resistent thingy (super tight on his broad frame) and my fly Marc Jacobs shades. An exceptionally awesome contrast to the badass bike he was rocking.
We were so excited that we finally made it out of Chiang Mai that we forgot to stop by an ATM. I had somewhat of a haunch this was a bad idea, as we were passing one of the last modern looking establishments on the highway, but was trying too hard not to pee my pants, as Dorian showed me immediately that open roads= ridiculously fast driving. I don't know how many times I refrained from sounding like his mother... prob. about as many as I flew forward crushing his goods... maybe that was just as good as speaking up ;-) I finally mentioned the ATM dilemma and he admitted he had been thinking the same thing (this began to happen quite often throughout the trip).
We stopped at a little second hand clothes shop (where none of the 200 or so "things you could put over you to keep you warm" were up to par, either) and asked for the next ATM.
"Pai."
Great, only 128 Ks away. We have exactly 225 baht and our gas gauge (and speedometer, THANK GOD) is busted. I'm also parched, but we have nothing but butter and a can of tuna. Dorian opens tank to realize we're nearly empty. So, we fill up the tank with 200 baht worth of gas. I'm thinking the last 25 could be used on water and something to eat so I don't starve in the mountains, but Dorian looks in the tank with a peturbed look on his face and makes the exective decision (he is in charge of all matters involving the bike) to put 20 baht more in the tank, leaving us with 5 baht, which I run away with in search for water.
We hop back on the bike for the first of four steep and windy routes and head towards Pai... hoping to make it without running out of petrol. 2 hours later, canned tuna never tasted so good...
Pai
We made it to Pai! The bike (and my stomach) we sounding not so good, so we immediately parked it, grabbed a bite to eat and laid down for a bit. I introduced Dorian to the delicious banana coconut combo shake, and we played with a dirty puppy while sipping on a few. Then, we searched for a place to crash. "Crash" has a whole new meaning after riding a motorcycle through some of the steepest, windiest roads in completely unregulated Thailand. Basically, my heart needed to crash.
We walked out of the main town and across a little bridge, leading to a lovely little set of bungalows to rent for a mere 250 baht a night. We even scored hot water and a really comfy bed. God bless low season...
After resting until about 9, we decided to face the world again for a late dinner. I also remembered that I had promised the nice little family whose restaurant we left the bike, and our helmets with, that we would "be right back." My guilty conscience led us to reclaim our goods first, but not before having one of our many debates. Feel free to add your thoughts/ideas ....
When we dropped the helmets off, the man jokingly said "50 baht, 50 baht." I knew he was "kidding," but have noticed in Thailand that people seem very weary to keeping your belongings. For example, when climbing in Ton Sai, I was not allowed to keep my purse at Base Camp... even though there was absolutely nothing valuable in it. So, I thought it would be nice to give the family a little somethin' somethin' for their hospitality, especially since we had left the stuff there much longer than originally promised. To me, they were serving the same purpose as a locker would have served and we would have paid for that. I thought 50 baht was suitable. However, Dorian thought this was crazy and that they were "just doing something nice." In my opinion (well, not quite an option, but more towards a fact), Thais are extremely hospitably because tourism drives their economy. However, I think they're getting to a point where they're sometimes being taken advantage of. I mean... If some random tourist walked up to me and asked me to watch their pricey bike and helmets, I might be a little weary. Kind of like watching someone's luggage in the airport: of course, you always say yes when they ask if you can watch it while they make a quick trip to McDonald's, but then you hear the "do not watch over any belongings besides your own" announcement and have the "well, shit" thought for a second. Anyway- I was going to buy them a bar of Ritter chocolate, which used to be my go to "this comes from the West and therefor you wouldn't buy it yourself" thank you gift, but then I remembered how every time I've given it to someone, they say "this makes you fat." Yes, that's right ladies and gents, anything western = fat. I gave them 20 baht instead and got a head shake from Dorian when I returned.
By the time this was all taken care of, all the "fine dining" establishments in Pai were closing and street food was the only option. We picked at a few random things that we had never tried (a purple sticky rice paddy with condensed milk on top, some super spicy Chinese soup, and extraordinarily potent ginger tea) and then just decided to live it up at breakfast before we headed out.
After a surprisingly good night sleep, complimented with some tempting beats from the local bars (because of the demands of trip, we stayed sober 99% of the time), we woke up, had a breakfast for champions at Pai Country Kitchen and then rolled out west towards Mae Hong Song.
After leaving Pai with a full tank of gas, plenty of baht, and a full belly, we headed towards Mae Hong Son. Since the we weren't able to really stop at points of interest on the route from Chiang Mai to Pai due to our lack of funds and gasoline, we agreed to take the next leg of the trip slowly. There are loads of chances for offroading through rice fields and small villages along the route, but I would definitely not recommend trying these routes unless you have considerable experience (ie: I would never, ever have done this myself). However, they certainly are "roads less traveled," and provide a chance to see some pretty incredible scenery and villages. The first village we passed through was a pretty surreal experience. Of course, villagers stared like we had three heads, and then probably wondered how the hell we found the place. We're stupid- thats why! We ended up at a dead end where a bunch of children were screaming at us, but smiling. It's funny- the kiddos were adorable, so I simply smiled and waved, but for all I know, they could be screaming at me to go to hell. Think positive...
I kind of wish I had taken more photos through the villages, but I always feel a bit weird taking pictures of people if you're just "passing through," especially on a motorbike. It's like "ohhh look at those freaks- SNAP!" However, I do get my photo an uncomfortable amout of times whenever I go out, so maybe I shouldn't feel THAT guilty about it- I'm a tall, blonde freak!
The one place we wanted to make a point to stop at was Lod Cave, which we managed to miss because it's completely unmarked. Thais do an exceptional job of making it difficult for you to find points of interest that they would rather "guide" you to for a fee. Makes since, but it's quite frustrating. After backtracking about 30 ks, we found the cave. Definitely worth the trip- it was enormous and beautiful.
Another perk of backtracking was that we got to go back to the viewpoint to see an incredible sunset. Great, but this also meant we'd have to drive at night, which terrifies me (and when you're doing a trip for the scenery, it kind of defeats the purpose..) However, the end of the 109 ks from Pai to Mae Hong Son was flat and kind of nice to ride through after sunset.
Mae Hong Son is a charming, sleepy little town with a nice little lake in the center and some unique temples. When we arrived, I was h(angry) and about to bite Dorian's head off, who sensed my hanger and decided to push every button possible until I just about exploded. You can't hurt your driver, you can't hurt your driver, you can't hurt your driver (and honestly, I couldn't if I tried).
We headed out of MHS early the next morning. The roads had been challenging thus far, but our guide actually described the next part of our trip to Mae Chaem as "torturous." Yeehaw...
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