Sweetest slice of PAI

After Kevin learned to ride a manual motorbike we met Amber and fled Chiang Mai to go to Pai.

While Kevin got used to riding the bike I rode with a pro. Amber's bike was SOOOO much better than Kevin's bike and I was lucky Kevin needed some time to himself to get used to his motorbike.

2 hours into the ride up to Pai we stopped for a soda and enjoyed the views of the beginning of The Mae Hong Son loop. Continuing our journey and another 2 hours later we finally stumbled upon a guest house with bungalows snuggled in the lush gardens the owners had put together. There were benches hidden in green corners surrounded by fountains and just meters away from the river. We were able to get a good deal for our third musketeer and settled here for the night.

We decided to walk into town and to our surprise it was much more of a town than we had anticipated. Kevin and Amber waited as I snapped pictures of everything I could.
I was on artistic overload. The creativity and uniqueness of it all sent my brain overboard. I couldn't handle how much I loved the crazy colors, random combinations of picture or objects to decorate little shops who on top of all that had amazing homemade dolls, accessories and shirts. I fully appreciated everything about it.
We stumbled upon a shop with tables outside that were fully stocked with colored markers and ink pads with stamps! Once we bought our postcards there we realized this was all set up so we could write our postcards there and mail them off in the postal box RIGHT OUT FRONT. Sadly to admit, we stayed there after the lights turned off so I could put some final touches on my postcards and after thanking the manager for letting us stay so late we took off.

There were tons of art shops, delicious restaurants and a Jack Sparrow Impersonator who cleverly sold autographed pictures of Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow with other celebrities. It was tricky and almost fooled me until I reminded myself, this isn't Jack Sparrow. Very good impersonator.

The next day we took our motorbikes to the nearby temple that overlooked Pai and then up to the next town to see the waterfalls.

On our way to the waterfalls we took the motorbike up a hill. Not quite making it up the hill the bike started going backwards. I got off the bike, only to slide down, scraping my shin and slowing me down for a few days.

The heat was getting to us so after the waterfalls, a soda and many water bottles quenched in the shade we went back to the new bungalows we checked in to. Our room was more central and allowed us to check out the main part of Pai. Kevin wasn't feeling well so as he napped I went out with Amber for a smoothie. When we got back we ran into Kevin roaming the streets confused.

I hopped off the motorbike to walk with Kevin back to our room but he seemed feverish. I took him to the doctor to later find out (through converting Celsius to Fahrenheit)Kevin almost had a fever of 103!!!

Needless to say after calling our traveler's insurance, switching hotels, getting bus information, trying to sleep, waking up the next morning to be overcharged for putting our motorbike on a bus, getting soaked on the bus ride because of the water festival and getting back to Chiang Mai to a bigger, better hospital: We were both seen, we are now BOTH on antibiotics for Kevin's fever from a bacteria and my sinus infection.

Thank Goodness for Traveler's Insurance and Thailand's reliable medical care!