Thursday: Final Pai adventures before Chiang Mai

Slept in til 9:30 this morning after a pretty late night (bed at 2:30). Savored the sounds of the jungle one last morning and lazed in bed a bit, skipping coffee and tea at the bar. Slowly I got ready and packed my bags yet again. My heart and mind know I'm nearing the end, my emotions are everywhere. It's as though my body knows and is fighting any activity that has to do with leaving, moving very slow.

 Much better day view of the bar

I hopped on the scooter for one last ride, headed to breaky at Treehouse Resort. 

View from the treehouse at the cafe. My lil scooter is on the right! Still hope to have one of my own someday! 

I'm gonna miss this

After breaky my friend suggested going to feed the elephants at a nearby trekking camp. I support this in NO way, but immediately felt the need to go love on them as they need it.

This picture speaks volumes. I immediately started bawling when feeding this beauty her bananas. You can feel her sorrow and see the depression in her eyes. She is missing the sparkle of the eles at ENP, never opening them wide. 

She is chained to a nearby pole, not able to move more than 2'-3' at a time on a cement platform. She has never known freedom. And the HOOK-you can see it stabbed in the pole behind her. She has a multitude of scars and tears in her ears from it. She gives rides all day, mostly on pavement. Her spirit is broken. This is not the life she deserves. 

I witnessed a family atop an elephant from across the road with joy on their faces. The gorgeous girl they were riding had countless scars, a large 4"-5" gaping hole in her trunk and he tail had been cut short. Many of the eles are missing the hair from their tails and eyelashes as it is considered sacred. Their hair does not grow back! I'm assuming this one's tail was lopped perhaps for the hair. 

My shoulders shook from the crying. Many people there before and after rides saw my reaction, if only they knew. No one knows the devastation these babes suffer for human enjoyment. I was able to educate a friend who was also unaware of their treatment. Grateful for one more knowing. Pass it on.

Please, don't ever participate in elephant rides or entertainment wherever they may be. I felt guilt for a bit of even participating in feeding and supporting this activity, but changed that into love and compassion spoken to the three beautiful girls at this camp. 

This girl witnessed the most of sob fest as we stood in the back corner together. She chomped away with her sullen eyes while I spoke words of love to her through my endless tears.

We hopped back on our scooters and I continued to shed a few tears through the jungle. An art gallery caught our attention so we parked and admired the amazing work. 

View along the ride

We headed to the temple I had been in search of the other night for sunset on my jungle walk. Lost I translation, I had been passing it multiple times a day without knowing. Whoops!

Steps leading up. 

Looking back

Details

View of Pai opposite from the vuewpoint two days ago

I will miss these temple moments.

Viewing platform 

Back down...

Across from the temple road is Earthtone, the gluten free vegetarian cafe. We stopped in for an afternoon treat. She had gluten free chocolate cookies today! Happy fat kid right here! I enjoyed it with a chai banana shake.

We headed back to get my bag where I was distracted by dipping my feet in the pool for a bit while chatting with Stephanie & Liam.  

I gave myself a timeframe to leave by 4, putting me in Chiang Mai by 7. It was now nearing 3 and I had yet to make my way to town to by a bus ticket. My body is fighting leaving as I know this time will be for a while.

Finally I decided I should get going and loaded up on my scooter with my backpack.

See you later, Pai!

I made it to the bus station by 3:15 and was told the only seat left was at 3:30. Eek! Thankfully the bus was running a bit behind, giving me a little more time for snacks and last minute visiting. 

Just some salmon flavored potato chips. 

The only seat available happened to be a window seat, thank goodness! I did my best to sleep but found it difficult this afternoon. Perhaps the Thai man on my right sleeping nearly on my shoulder had something to do with it. Add in the bus driver must have been trying to make up for his previous delay, causing everyone to be thrown with every curve.

Police check point. They only check the locals ID. I was the only tourist on the bus apparently. 

Cows in the road!

At least they're walking with traffic.

I took my last tuk tuk to Riverside House and dropped my things in my room. Sleeping sounds delightful right about now, but I have shopping to do!

I headed to the beloved night market to buy some things for my new home and loved ones. 

And of course indulge in one last plate of pad thai to finish off my shopping. 

For less than $1.30! 

For dessert I had my last coconut shake. Hack it open, pour out the juice, then scoop out the meat with an ice cream scoop and blend with ice. 

Attempting to look awake.

Walk back over the Ping River. Many local kids hang out on the bridge at night, sitting and blocking the sidewalk. It's quite fun to watch.

Time to crash! Exhaustion & emotions have me ready to sleep! 

Tuesday: animal whisperer in blissful Pai

Before I left I had many people ask me why I wasn't going into veterinary medicine. This was a dream of mine as a child, but as I grew older I realized I couldn't handle the sadness that I would suffer with sick and dying animals. Today was proof of my love for them and my apparent magnetism.

I woke up after a fabulous night's sleep on the best bed in Thailand. So many reasons to come back to Pai besides my obvious love, but the beds were on the list! I headed straight to the bar and had coffee while chatting with Den about what to see and do in Pai. I respect his opinion as he isn't into the tourist growth of the area and shares more off the beaten path areas. I took some tea back to enjoy on my deck before I readied for the day. 

 

This is Den's dog, Boo Boo whom is gigantic and beyond lazy.

He lays in the bar all day, every day.

Before making it to breaky an ice cream bar was had. Why not? Magnum bars are everywhere here. Not feeling guilty, I headed to breaky of homemade yogurt and kambucha with fruit. Another reason to return! 

After breaky I hopped on the back of a friend's scooter and we headed to explore. Original intent was the Chinese village. I'm not too sure about why there is a Chinese village, but it's known for tea. 

 

En route a wrong turn was taken and I hopped off the scooter to go see this a little closer...

This babe of an ox was tethered by a long rope to a pole. I was weary of how he or she would react, little did I know this would be the absolute highlight of my day!

So stinkin cute! I could not stop giggling like a little girl. There was such joy shared in the moment of ox kisses! 

Must've had some breaky on my hands! Looking back at these pictures, I'm smiling. The animals are so happy here as well! There is a peace about them, they are not concerned about people. Neither seeking attention nor afraid of humans.
 

We were sidetracked by a temple and stopped to wander around. 

These trees...

In front of the temple grounds. There were some massive and gorgeous koi fish in here as well as two turtles sunning themselves on that rock.

Gratitude. I have missed the temple visits.

We hopped back on and headed towards the viewpoint.

View of Pai, yet the main part of town is not nearly this big-this is the general area.

Happy camper

The sun began shining while high upon the viewpoint-waterfall bound!

 

 

We happened to be in the neighborhood of the same waterfall we visited last week despite there being several in the area. On the way there was a young boy, probably about 7 or 8 walking along the road with a serious, tough look on his face. I smiled and waved and he got the biggest grin and waved back. The Thai people are amazingly friendly. So in love with this country.

Assessing the slide

SO fun!

And water up the nose!

Laying out on the rocks, the sky was gorgeous! Solar eclipse yesterday and a full moon that is only seen through the glow of nightly clouds.

After the waterfall we stopped for some lunch, pad thai! I haven't been eating it as much, so it was a treat today! Although I over indulged and wanted a nap pretty bad. 

Road back to town

We returned to town where I rented a bicycle. I have been so lazy on this trip since leaving the elephants. My walking has lessened tremendously since meeting people with scooters. Lazy bones needed some exercise! 

My new ride! Gettin me ready for my biking around Sac!

I made a few stops for snacks and a new book.  Funny I don't feel like reading my novels I brought, yet I bought a book on Buddhism and struggled to read it today. My brain is refusing to work.

Rice paddy that was just being planted while I was here last week, so much beauty in such simplicity. I'm sure I have a deeper appreciation since planting grass myself last week! Backbreaking.

Just leaving the main part of town for "home" at Aqua.

My afternoon spot. New book, homemade kambucha and the pool! That table was hand carved by Den. He has carved every pole here as well as the entire bar area, so much detail. He said it took him a year to carve te bar alone. I will take a picture tomorrow-it's so incredible! 

It is a good life in Pai! Purchased from Good Life Cafe and yes, it's in a Smirnoff Ice bottle!

Once the sun made its way behind he palm trees I headed to shower then out for a walk. No more laziness!

No matter how much I comb my hair it instantly becomes a mess.

I turned the corner to these three jubilantly running my way. Their joy was contagious. The dogs are hilarious. It's as though they stay home all day while their humans are working, then when the human comes home, the dogs head out to meet their fellow neighbor friend dogs and cruise the streets. There are little dog gangs everywhere at night. 

Creek side trail

The Pai slow life is addictive.

There are roadside shrines everywhere, all so well maintained. Drivers often honk at them, but not every one-I'm not sure why?

The bridge tenders 

Legitimate dog gang, it's serious business around here! 

This guy (the dog) was part of the gang. As his human started to drive away his posse started barking and running with the scooter. Hilarious!

As I was waking a sweet Thai lady on a scooter slowed and said, "Hello! I go to town, you want to come?" These people are beyond kind, all people should follow the Thai way of life, they are always ready & willing and could care less what others think of them. 

I walked back to the hotel and hopped on my bike and headed into town. First stop....

Massage! The girl who massaged me must have been maybe 16. It definitely wasn't the best I've had, but for $5 I can't complain! Children were playing and watching tv while phones were ringing and people chattered outside. Not a western massage by any means, but it still felt amazing! 

I headed back on my bike with some mango sticky rice to enjoy on my deck. This little guy as well as two others joined me. These are the first cats I have seen at Aqua and of course they're on my deck! 

Happy hippie crazy cat lady!

Time to read my book and continue my relaxing last few days in the jungle with the animals! The lightening has been going all night and the thunder finally started, drops are starting to fall! Sleeping with the windows open in these rain storms is dreamy. 

Pai=bliss