normal service resumed - pai

Now in Hong Kong after my foray into China.  As google and the people's republic don't see eye to eye, gmail has been difficult for the last two weeks; and blogger and flickr completely verboten.  So I haven't been able to post, but I have kept writing, and will upload everything over the next few days. 

sunset at pai

 16 October

After a pleasant morning in Mae Hong Son, we are off to Pai.  Another thousand bends and hills and hairpin bends, this time through limestone karst country.  Pai is much more low key and laid back than I expected –  I had heard it was a backpacker type place, and assumed beer bars and full moon parties, but it’s more sedate.  In fact there are very few westerners in evidence.  We find the Pau Island resort much more easily than last night’s resting place – quite an upscale place with extensive mature gardens. I somehow have booked the honeymoon suite – everything white, with flounced nets around the huge bed and mirrors everywhere.  Luckily there’s a day bed too so we cope.  The villa is set in a little bamboo-fenced compound – very cut off from the outside world. 

More temples to see. There is a wonderfully calm wat with a small wooden pavilion in a lake, fed by pure rainwater from the temple’s roofs.  And on the far side of town up on the hill, there’s the one that’s famous for its sunset views – inevitably a bit overrun by what tourists there are in town, mostly Korean I think – but still a magnificent sight with the whole town spread out below, and the receding mountains to the west.  A scattering of clouds allows for a huge sunset display with rays shooting out like nobody’s business, all behind the great mountain range along the Burmese border.   

And so back to Chiang Mai.  The bends ease, the hills flatten out and we are out over the open plain again.  The advertising signs and the ribbon development starts to appear as we pass through dusty little villages then towns then suddenly we are on the outskirts of the big city again. 

It's been a really enjoyable drive - about 400km altogether, and requiring lots of concentration, but the roads aren't busy, and though washed out or damaged in some sections, mostly easily passable.  I will be back!