Chris Allan

Ah… eventually the world scaled down to a pace and a place we can manage. The north of Thailand is home to a backpackers haven called Pai. A place of groovy all natural, all green bars fringed with wheatgrass walls, bamboo nightclubs, 60 year old american hippies and every visiting farang (foreigner) wobbling his way around town on a freshly rented scooter.

Apparently there are 762 bends through an exquisite green jungle to get there. We climbed up a mountain and passed down into the valley on the far side, all the while trying not to succumb to motion sickness and terror as the minibus weaved merrily around each bend, overtaking on blind rises with a cheerful honk on the horn.

Emily wrote a great description of the Trek we signed up for for on her blog: www.emilyallan.co.za

We really got down and dirty with some of the hill tribes that people visit the north to spend time with. Check out some of the pics below:

After three days with the locals, I don’t know how the rest of the world survived through the years without bamboo. Our bundu bashing, mapless navigating, grass smoking, whiskey drinking, giggling, kilometre eating, master jungle chefs and guides demonstrated that Bamboo could be used to build a home, cook a dinner, drink everything from whiskey to tea and the use they were most proud of was the expert bong it was used to create.

With the rain creating a mud wonderland on our last night in a rustic village, were were happy to be returning to the comfort of cold beer, showers and some poolside chilling back in Pai..

Next stop - Myanmar…

Images and Moments from Bangkok and Chang Mai:

(For a great blow by blow account of the trials and fun experienced on the trip so far, visit www.emilyallan.co.za and click on Em’s blog tab..)

Below are a few of the experiences and photos we have been lucky to have and to capture so far. It seems like months ago that we were involved in the frenetic packing back in Jozi that seemed to never end.

So far Thailand is awesome….

Psychedelic Pink Taxis, Tuktuks and Thai Traffic Jams:

Bangkok buzzes all day and all night long. Scooters weave between pink, yellow and black taxis, trucks and cars, bearing anything from whole families, to elegant business women on their way to or from work. It is alive with energy and possibility.

Backstreets and alleys are home to family run “everything-you-can-imagine” convenience stores. Children, dogs and cats play on the pavements until all hours of the night and the smell that you fall asleep to, and wake to, is a full, slightly spicy warm dampness that pervades every corner.

More on Bangkok in a few weeks time when we return from Myanmar….

Monks are not just for show:

Thailand has a complex and fascinating system of beliefs that makes for great photos. The monks are generally friendly guys …and girls who are sometimes as interested in a camera toting tourist as they are in them.

Highlights:
Meeting and communicating with a series of head nods and hand gestures with a peaceful she-monk(?) She calmly posed for a photo, and the whole experience was so serene that I was left grinning from ear to ear for an hour afterwards.
Being approached by and chatting to a friendly monk who was also touring the most sacred of wats in Northern Thailand.

What goes in hot will probably come out hot:

The food is incredible. And everybody eats the food that the vendors are gutting, skinning, peeling, folding, frying, skewering and “braaing” on the side of the road. We have tended not to eat that which can still look back at you in death (or even in life) as you eat it. You have probably read about it before, but a bowl full of deep fried beetles, locusts and other bugs takes more that a little bravery to attempt.

Highlights:
For sale on the pier: dancing, skipping piles of tiny translucent shrimps that where measured out into a takeaway carton, mixed with lemon and chilli sauce. We chickened out.

Traffic light themed Thai curries. Damn they are good.

Inspired by the delicious food everyday we took a cooking course on a farm near Chang Mai. I always wanted to learn how to make a spring roll…

Lowlights:

While a Thai Red curry might be great fun on the way in with a lassie to help, there is probably an equal ammount of sweating and deep breathing when it reaches the far end of the digestive system. And there is no lassie to help on that end.

While shopping for ingredients that would be used on the cooking course we were allowed to wander around the food market on the outskirts of the city. Carrying a camera and a host of lenses, I had the “banana skin moment” while walking next to a tank of humongous live catfish. Time stood still as the billabong slop lost its grip, the camera floated into the air, the thai fishmonger shrieked, the stupid photographer shrieked and flailed around looking for anything to hold onto. I was lucky this time as the catfish tank was made of some sturdy glass, capable of withstanding 50 kg of water and the weight of a clumsy farang (foreigner). I blushed, wiped off some fish grime and left the genuinely concerned Thais with good story to natter about.

Waterfalls and Bamboo Forests:

Walking through these forests is like visiting the asian version of a Timotei advert. Every waterfall improves on the next.

Thats it for now. So much to say, and even more to show…

Chris