Melissa: Something I thought I would never do...

Wow. Just back from one of the most enjoyable things I have done yet in Thailand. Against our better judgment, the knowledge that our parents would most definitely disapprove and our rationally structured educations…we rented motor bikes and used them. Elisa and I had never been on one before but managed to take them from the shop and return them a day later with not a bruise or scratch on our body. This is why I feel I can write about this- because we made it alive. The countryside around Pai is absolutely breathtaking and, once I got more comfortable on the bike, I was able to look around with the wind in my hair and the sun on my back. We failed at actually finding the canyon and the waterfall we were looking for but, honestly, it was really about the drive and the scenery. Sigh. So yes, now I have 10 lychees in my bag that I got from a local market while Elisa was getting a salty crab coconut milk dish for her lunch and we are about to make the 3 hour drive back down to ChiangMai (which I have spelling wrong this whole time!) where we will have three hours to explore the town some more and actually see some Wats (temples) before we make our final descent down to Bangkok on our “VIP bus”. 11 hours and we will arrive in Bangkok at 6 in the morning with two big bags and high hopes for the two days ahead. Pai surely offered us what we were looking for. We got some good rest (we went to bed at 11 last night after a late night Thai massage we were exhausted). I managed to take a two hour yoga class with “mam” a very upbeat and vital 60-year-old who posted old beauty contest pictures all over her wooden house. 10 girls and I ended the session with a light lunch of fruit and Indian rice cakes and some discussion about the people of Pai. I was thankful to get some exercise and stretch out my sore and aching thighs (that trek in Chiang Mai really did me in). Best dinner in Thailand so far last night (who knew I loved banana flower salad?) and the promise of more edible delights to come. We say goodbye to our fellow travelers from Norway but know that with the wonderous connections of facebook, we will be able to see each other again if we should so happen to migrate towards each others side of the world.