A slice out of Pai

some of the Israeli Group

I was looking out the window at the scenery passing by, and I couldn't help but comparing it to the nature I found in Okinawa. Something was different. I could envision once again the tamed Okinawan wilderness, as if the trees themselves turned Japanese, next to the protruding Thai jungle, trying to take over whatever form of crude civilization resides there. Moreover, the Lush shades of green in Okinawa seemed a bit boring now, after gazing at the variety of colors the Thai forests has to offer, ranging from Green and yellow wild Banana trees, to a lone white blossoming cherry tree standing out among the red brown falling leaves. It was beautiful. Only the haze covering the whole of the land downsized the excitement, and all you could get was a hint of the beautifully sculpted mountain ranges on the horizon.

The place we stayed at

The ride took the better part of 3 hours, and we finally arrived the tiny town of "Pai", which was recommended almost by every Israeli who has been there. The town itself was comprised out of a few neatly arranged streets crisscrossing one another, and the view of the hazy mountains was apparent from every location. I guess one could describe this town as Shanti, since you soon enough find that there isn't really anything exciting to do in town itself, but along the many different bungalows, huts, apartments and hotels, there were many traveling agencies offering the curious travelers various means of dying, like being trampled to death by raging elephants, drowning in the river with crudely built rafts, or just being eaten alive by blood-thirsty mosquitoes while trekking in the mountains for a couple of days.

Pai in the morning

All of this sounded very alluring to me and my friends, but we decided on renting mo-pads at the silly rate of 5 bucks a day (including insurance), so for the next two days, we became the fearsome Israeli biker gang, terrorizing whatever streets there were in the poor town of Pai.

The Gang

That was during the day. During the evenings, when it became too dark and useless to ride, each one of us retired to his favorite corner in town. For some obscure reason, Pai had a most welcoming attitude that made every traveler passing by to find almost on the spot his favorite food stand or restaurant, his favorite Internet shop and his favorite street dog. Although the town itself was small, It seemed as though each one of us was satisfied.

My Favorite Dog :)

During the nights, the other Israelis would gather and smoke their favorite leaf, while I would prefer to stay outside like a good geek. When they were not inhaling, I would join them for a drink, and we would just pass the time till we would have pass out ourselves.

My Favorite Spot at one of the waterfalls

For me, Although the experience was fun, it was also quite clear that I would prefer to travel by myself, once again. The Israeli group I joined were a bit younger than me, and their interests were different than my own. Moreover, moving as a group was slow, and sometimes bothersome. I wouldn't have pass out an experience like that, but I can now value my own loneliness as a means of getting a clearer view of the world as I see it, as I see fit.

Me trying to look like I have muscles, like Hanan...

I had the luck even to meet couchsurfers over there. Those two I met already in Bangkok in one of the hang-outs, and In Pai we sat down one evening and just chit-chatted about this and that, about couch-surfing, about the only couch-surfer in Pai (their host) and so on.

On the fourth day, I parted ways with the Israeli group, since I've decided that I must go back to Bangkok in order to retrieve my Passport. I doubt that I'll see them again, but I wish them the best of luck.

Overlooking the horizon on the edge of a cliff

Right now, I'm sort of standing at a cross-roads; I still have 10 days or so till my Thai visa expires, so I have 3 options - Either going back north and hanging out there, going to Islands in the south to get some tan, or to go already to Laos and Vietnam and travel there for a while.

One thing is for certain - I'm gonna get a body massage somewhere.