Peace out Pai

I am still playing catch up, blogging is hard work when your traveling I must say. Hats off to all the travel bloggers that do this for a living (there are many who fund their travels through blogging, who also helped my preparation immensily). The days following the wonderous trekk in the Thailand Jungle were mostly filled with relaxing and enjoying my last days in Pai. Although I had no real plans to leave, I knew I would be soon. The rain was coming more frequently and the bugs were getting heavier and heavier. The girls and I attended the Wednesday Morning market in Pai that was apparently for locals because we were the only tourists there, and english was not frequented like it is in the touristy areas. The market was large, and consisted of EVERYTHING. A lot of STUFF...just stuff. We were mostly interested in the food, and fruits. As all three of us were backpackers so purchasing more stuff to haul around was not ideal. We purchased mangosteens, some coconut snacks, waffles, fruit jellies, mangos, some hairy fruit I cant remember the name of (ill add pictures). I got two different noodle lunches by accident both were delicious though one was an afternoon snack. The girls taught me how to cut into fruit and having a pocket knife was convenient. We enjoyed wandering about attempting to ask what items were and getting no where quickly.

A glimpes of the market

The hair fruit I cant remember the name of

Mangosteen

Lots of fish, everywhere, you see it and you smell it.

Those are a few of the goodies I have tried thus far. I have found that they add sugar to every thing. They even serve sugar on the table with pepper, chilles, jalepenos and sauces. It is very odd. If you get a fruit smoothie (which are also everywhere here) you have to ask for no sugar. 

I spent Wednesday relaxing and lounging around in my Hammock as it rained a bit more than usual. I had blisters on my feet from the hike so shoes were a pain. I bought a book, chatted with some other travelers and mostly let myself just be. It felt great, the girls went off biking again. We met for dinner when they returned, I had purchased Durian earleir which is another fruit they introduced me to. And we ate if for desert. Most hotels/ restraunts wont allow you to have Durian because the smell is very strong. Though I dont think it is a bad smell, it sure smells better than the frequent sewage smell. 

                                                         That would be Durian.
Wednesday night we had decided to hitchike home from Pai to Chiang Mai. It was cheaper, and a lot more fun than taking a bus. Really I was incredibly nervous and all I could think about was how much my parents were going to freak out if I told them. We did it anyways, besides three girls together, two of which have knives on them, we would be fine. As well, many, many people hitchhike from Pai to Chiang Mai, a girlfriend we talked with the day before had successfully done it alone. Of all the places I have been, which may not be a lot, this was probably the safest place to hitchike. Thursday came, we checked out, met for lunch and put our bags on and started walking towards the one road that goes in and out leading Pai to Chiang Mai. We made a sign, stuck out our thumbs and hoped for the best! An older local lady came over and was trying to wave down cars for us! Haha! It was great. we had a blast, but nobody was stopping... Last resort was the last bus out of Pai at 5. We made bets on how long it would take us, and eventually we struck gold! A thai couple picked us up, the woman was pregnant, and they did not speak any english. We jumped in and headed down the 700 curve road. It was exciting, and then the drive set in and we tried to get comfy in the back of the tiny car. No luck. But best of all we arrived in Chiang Mai safe and sound. I had just survived my first hitchhike!!! Pretty happy about that.

Chiang Mai or bust.

Thursday night we got our rooms and met at one of the night markets for food. I ate some crazy soup with octopus in it...

And said Goodnight to Chiang Mai. 

Love,

Alicia