Pai: A town above the rest, with smiley happy people

Three, possibly four, days ago I arrived in Chiang Mai. I spent a day cruising the very cool city looking at the Wats and generally being a tourist. The most impressive Wat I have been to was Wat Chediluang Varaviharn (I think). Built in the 15th century the stupa was enlarged by King Tilokarat to the size of 56 by 56 meters in width and 80 meters in height. In 1545 there was a very big earthquake and it collapsed as it is today. Still massive, but somewhat demolished. There is a Buddhist school at this Wat where you can go and talk to monks. So I had a chat with a man about being a monk and practicing Buddhism. How I understood it is that one can become a novice at 7 with around 200 rules. At 20, one (well, actually only men) can either stay a novice or become a monk with around 470 rules. Women are Buddhist nuns with 8 rules (go figure) and these include no lying, stealing, sex, um I forget the rest apart from no comfy bed. Gotta keep it simple. Being a monk is about getting through the day with only what you need. You take what you can, you meditate, you stay in the day and you don't accumulate things. That was some of the information I got. I'm sure there is more to being a monk than not sleeping in comfy beds, but I'll leave that to you to research.

Day two in Chiang Mai involved me going on a 'jungle flight'. This was up in the rainforest and was pretty amazing. We had 30 stations with ziPlines and abseiling and the like. The longest zipline was 300 meters long and had the most incredible view ever! Mountains, mountains and more mountains. The highest one was 180 meters and the highest abseil was 40 meters. The abseiling freaked me out. It consisted of sitting out over a drop and the guides dropping you. Heart beat was going for it!! Falling is something I do not like, this is what my nightmares involve. The guides were hilarious. They were all Thai men and the main guide kept singing a soundtrack to suit the occasion. 'I'm free, free fallen!' and 'evrything I do, I do it for you'. Kept me amused that's for sure.

Yesterday I jumped on a mini bus and headed north to Pai, a little mountain town. The drive here was possibly one of the worst drives ever. Here I need to digress to another car story. Seems to be a running theme on this blog. Back in the day I used to hitchike around NZ with my buddies. Most of the time it was sweet. There was the time that a puppy peed on my friend Sarah, that was kinda funny. Then there was the time that my friend Kate and I fell asleep in the back of a car because we were really hungover. That was not funny, that was stupid. Then there was the guy with the shifty eyes...mmmmmmyes. Then, and this brings me nearer to the point, there was Tonya.

It was about five years ago and Preston and I were hitching up north of NZ somewhere. We ended up in this car with a girl named Tonya. Preston was in the back seat wedged beside Tonya's life and under her TV. I was in the front seat and Tonya decided I was her new best friend. She started telling us her life story and doing everything she could, besides drive. Putting on her makeup, eating herbal highs (like legal speed), playing with the radio, looking in the back seat, the list goes on. Meanwhile telling us how much she hates bad drivers and especially those that tailgate. She tailgated every car she could and at one point pulled out to pass a truck on a blind corner with rain lashing the windshield and I was preparing myself to die. Seriously. When we finally got out of the car and we had fleed Tonya Tailgator I vowed never to give control of vehicle to someone as completely insane as Tonya. Which brings me to my point. The minibus ride was more of the same. Why do people insist on being shut drivers?! Beats me.

I arrived in Pai safe and sound and it is the cutest town ever. I ended up in lounge bar or ting tong reading my book and found some more lovely traveling companions. As well as meeting more smiley, friendly and oh so generous Thai locals. One man named Bank has the biggest smile ever. Always. And he has an Afro and dances to disco. Go Thailand.

Song of the holiday so far that I've heard at least once every few days 'don't worry be happy'. It's pretty much Thailand's soundtrack.