hopping on a bus...

(originally written December 3rd)

I'm hopping on a bus from Pai to Mae Hong Son in a little while today. Mae Hong Son is another little mountain town basically west and then a little south (3-4 hours on the bus), so getting pretty close to the Burmese border. It's known as the Switzerland of Thailand, supposed to be a lot of hills around there and nice scenery. Basically I'm headed back to Bangkok from here but with a little bit of a roundabout route, as I have about 10 days left. Pai has been great, really a mellow, easygoing place although it's way too touristy. But I can see why, as it's in a beautiful, pleasant valley, with lots to do in town (row after row of shops, restaurants, guest houses, little bars, massage shops, bookshops, etc.) and lots of activities to do in the area in general. But things are done in a pretty cool way, it's not tacky touristy and there's no big hotels or anything, it's all just wooden or bamboo huts or little concrete guest houses that blend together pretty well and fit into the small town vibe.

So basically I spent one day here bicycling all over the valley, including a big ride uphill to a waterfall, and then I spent yesterday hiking to another waterfall, which I didn't make it to because it was a little longer hike than I'd expected, my legs were already sore and besides you know already pretty much what a waterfall looks lik. Then the other two days I just hiked to one nearby temple with a good view of the valley, and spent the afternoon hanging out at a swimming pool at one of the resorts. Also I ran into one of the guys that I hung out with by the river for the Loy Krathong festival. Well I should run as the bus leaves in about a half hour. Looking forward to the bus ride, it was fairly scenic getting here, but I think this one will be even more so, maybe even Switzerland-like, we'll see.