Yesterday was the most perfect day since I started travelling. I was picked up at the guest house and taken to the place where minivans leave from Chiang Mai to Pai. The minivan was real luxury with comfy seats, leg space and a driver, whose target was to arrive in Pai as soon as possible. I had the same target. We made the route in sensational 2,5 hours and arrived at 11 am. I met Lauren, a Canadian girl on the ride and also two English whose names I have forgotten. In Pai, Lauren accompanied me to the guest house where I had already stayed when I first came to Pai. The woman at the reception smiled. She recognised me and said: “You are back! Have you been trekking?” I was a bit confused and told her that yes, I have been trekking but that I have also been to Laos and Cambodia in the meantime and that 6 weeks have passed since last time. Then she was surprised. I asked if number 4 is vacant and it was! I am back to my old bamboo hut! Then she said that the price is now 200 Baht instead of 300 because it’s low season. I was really close to tears; Pai is so nice to me!
The town is really quiet now, nothing compared to six weeks ago. The streets are half empty and not packed with people. I don’t know what happened and why all of a sudden, many tourists have disappeared. In Bangkok for instance, the guest house was almost fully booked and I didn’t have the impression that it is low season. Same applies for Chiang Mai which is only 150 km away from here.
Anyway, I went to the Yellow Sun bar yesterday (my favourite place), then had dinner with Lauren and finally went back to the bar. Yes, life is quite simple here! The night was cool as expected, guaranteeing a relaxing night.
My permit for Thailand expires March 26 (because you only get 15 days entering at land borders), so I will at least stay here until that day. Depending on my mood, I will probably extend the visa. This would mean having to pay a visa-run service to Myanmar, which is quite expensive. I will see. I guess that the days here will be quite similar. I will inform you in case there is some variation, such as an excursion but don’t expect too many blog entries during the next week.
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