Back in Pai

Och

I'm back in Pai - primarily to spend some more time with my good friend Willow, and to reclaim a bag of items I left here with him. I had planned 3 days here prior to heading south for Christmas but then the Pai bug caught me ...and I caught it (a cold that is). I ended up staying here until the 26th December. Pai is an easy town to get stuck in and a nice one to get stuck in at that. The town apparently has 'lay lines' converging here, which accounts for its very tangible energy. It is a noticeably relaxed place, with many people coming here for a few days and staying for a few weeks/ months/ even years! Willow arrived here shortly after 9/11 (that was the last straw, as he said) for a few days and never left. He is a joy to be with and I truly feel like I have fulfilled some higher purpose in my life simply by getting to spend time with him. I feel the same way while studying for the certificate in Permaculture Design earlier this year - every moment was precious, a happiness unto itself, with the knowledge that my brain was awakening in areas I never knew existed. Sitting with and speaking to Willow is like that for me - his 78 years of experience, thought and reflection are an absolute learning curve for me and fill me with enthusiasm and happiness.

I'm staying at Mae Hen bungalows - they are made of wood which is important at this time of year, when the nights get quite cold (too cold to be in a flimsy - but pretty - bamboo hut), such that I have contracted a sticky cold (i.e. it's sticking and won't leave me). The 'hot' shower is actually no more than luke warm so I haven't figured out yet how to take a shower without further depressing my immune system....however, I did hit the hot springs the other day which were delightful.

Contrary to Lonely Planet (which by the way, I advise everyone to ditch - I've had a number of really shitty experiences as a result of their 'advice'), the Tha Pai camping hot springs were awful; they no longer do the mud wraps and facials which I was looking forward to, nor do they have a hot pool. It is, in fact, less than lukewarm and judging from the amount of human skin and other unidentifiable debris floating in it, I can only guess that the last time they cleaned out the pool was 1992. Within 60 seconds of getting into this - what can only be accurately described as - human soup, I exited, asked for my money back (which I got) and headed off to the origin of the hot springs, in the national park up the road. I paid 4 times as much to go in there (still only $6) and it was worth it - I sat in one of many shored-up hot pools which ran like a daisy chain along the stream of hot water, surrounded by clean air, tall trees, blue skies and sunshine. It was delightful. And hot.

I'm still working on getting over this cold and hopefully that will be my Christmas present.