The day started cold (as usual during this time in Pai, extreme cold in the morning & night). But progressively Mr Sunshine decided to throw us some light! The group had 7 pple, eh ya I’m the single person in this case. We have the picture perfect couple from SF (Sam & Nice), the students from Berkeley (Neil & Tracy) and the partners from London (Carly & Maranda)!
Day1 will see us paddling through 27km of water with some action along the way. 1st half of the day was calm, with only slight bumps along the way. The real deal started after lunch! Some real fun bumps along the way, when Sam from the other boat fell into the water!!
We stopped by a hot mud spring area, where we treated ourselves to free mud spa!! It was so fun & comfy to slap yourself with the hot mud! Oh man, I felt my skin perked & radiant! But loath the aftermath of washing it off in the freezing cold water…
Our night is spent in a campsite along the river, sleeping on hard hard bamboo huts. It was damn hard that it made turning difficult & sleeping a chore! We spent the night talking around the campfire & drying our wet wet clothes by the fire. Before 10pm, everyone turned in, tired from the whole day of rafting. And we did not bath that night, none of us. Too cold to want to get near water.. Anyway, everybody smelled the same, & we had sorta a wash off after our mud bath...
Our bamboo huts
My sleeping area
Beautiful purple sky!!
Early next morning we awoke to a gloomy sky. Not good!! 33km of water to raft through this day. The morning started with yet again some pretty boring waters… Why do action always take place in the later part of the day!!
Breakfast of bread, eggs & pineapple
To keep us warm, we took turns downing shots of sticky rice wine, courtesy of Captain Poo. Don’t worry, we did not get high.
Drying pants over fire...
Sticky rice wine!!!
Then the real action started after lunch! The great rapids!! The most exciting one!! Our boat passed through 1st, & we waited by the side, happily with our cameras, trying to capture the other boat rafting through. Then the entertainment unfolded! The boat came down, everyone paddling hard hard hard, & suddenly the boat got stuck & everyone onboard started to panic. Within minutes, pple got tossed into the water & floated downstream!! Drama drama!!! It took about 20mins to ‘rescue’ the boat & continued onwards… For their brave escape & great entertainment, everyone was awarded more shots of sticky rice wine!!
Here we come!!!
And we all fall in!!!
Me with the stuck boat at the back...
All good things must end eventually, as we near the end of the stream, dear Mr Captain Poo decided to play funny curves with us. It involves power paddling along the curves & suddenly stopping any movements, allowing the currents along the curves to move the boat & caused it to topple slightly & tossed us into the water – unexpectedly!!! Bloody hell!! But it was fun!! In the freezing water somemore! Haha, I wana play it again man! For those who might ask this qn - How do u relieve yourself when nature calls? Well, easy, repay back to nature!! Yes, u juz need to do it there n then, no toilet, just behind trees or bushes...
Cute little coffee van (i know someone's eyes will light up at the word 'coffee')
Pai gyoza!
Ice cream, put in cups of cabbage leave!!!
Spent some time wandering the night market again. It is pretty interesting cos u see alot of things, pple & food! N it's not so crowded & vendors don try to pester u into buying (which is common sight in other areas of Thailand). I must say there are ALOT of thai tourists obviously they LOVE to visit Pai (maybe to enjoy the cool weather). & nver failing, I was taken as a Thai ALL THE TIME!! Damn it, I must learn to speak Thai hahah
Exhausted, cold & tired, I turned in an early night (yet again) once we reached back to Pai. Resting myself for the next adventure to begin the very next day – Trekking!! Haha u must be thinking I’m crazy to do back-to-back adventures, but well I like to push myself to the extremes.. Get it over & done with!
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