Pai, My Third Slice Around

I think he likes me

Here's what I've decided: Pai is good for my heart, bad for my blog. I have had no desire to sit down and type a single word this week. My agenda has been filled with lots of wonderful nothings and a strict schedule of forgetting what day it is, what time it is, and not planning for my departure of Pai whatsoever. It has already been a week here and I still haven't figured out what I am doing next. Dave will be here in two weeks and I will be meeting him in the airport in Bangkok, but I just haven't quite decided what will be filling my time until then.

My lovely Belgium friend Julie that I met on the night train at the beginning of my Thai adventure is here. If you remember, we had a fun night in the bar car on the overnight train to Bangkok and then traveled up to Chiang Mai together about 8 weeks ago. She is staying a couple of bungalows down from me and we have had a really nice time being separate but together in Pai. I say separate because we are both traveling alone and have both discovered how great it is to truly travel alone sometimes. It's really easy to constantly be sharing a room with a fellow traveler, weaving your plans into theirs, staying in the safety of someone else's company for a long time. Both of us have learned that sometimes you just need to get your own bungalow and spend some time doing your own thing to stay sane and happy.

My scooter with bonus cat included

Pai is quite smokey this time of year, it's the hot season and fields are being burned all over the valley. It's not the most picturesque time of year here, but it's still so beautiful. The smoke makes the sunsets firey orange. I have been renting a scooter all week, so I have been able to see much more of Pai this time around. This includes watching the sunset from the temple on the mountain if i feel so inclined, trips to the waterfalls in the area, rides rides through the countryside and hills here.

Smoke clouds in the valley

Juliekins

I always take comfort in knowing that we are all looking at the same moon and sun, even if it is from opposite sides of the world.

Good morning/night,
-H