we're in pai, and pai is great. it's great just saying pai. that's how much we like it.
its very laid back here, very slow, quite small. it was once probably a quaint mountain village that, for better or worse, was discovered by hippies, and is now a place to drink shots of wheatgrass and eat falafel. we rented mountain bikes yesterday and tooled around to see the sights which included, but weren't limited to: a mountaintop temple, a canyon, small villages, rice paddies, elephant camps, and israelis on mopeds. we ended the night at a bar called retox that was celebrating it's last night of business, drawing a rowdy but fun crowd.
we woke up slightly dinged up, but headed to a health food restaurant, and after some wheatgrass, a spirolina smoothy, herbal tea, and some fresh orange juice we felt reenergized. our next move was to rent a motorbike ($3 for 24 hours!) and head to the trailhead that leads to a waterfall. our map said it takes 3 to 5 hours to reach the waterfall, and being overconfident in our speed, we set out later than planned, hoping to make it in under three. the hike was beautiful, always under the canopy, following the river with at least 20 crossings, but after 3 hours of trekking, we still hadn't made the falls, and when the rain started up we decided to turn around and head back. thing is, after only 45 minutes of heavy rain, the river swelled up, and where once we had dainty crossings through a crystal stream, we now had a raging chocolate river. even worse, parts of the trail were now under water, and we had to start using an emergency river crossing system, where i lead the way, poking ahead with a bamboo cane to test the depths, while ashley followed, our arms locked. the water was never above thigh level, so at no point was there ever any danger of being swept away, but with the sun setting, and us losing time on every crossing, there was a fear that we wouldn't make it out of the jungle before dark. ashley totally kept her cool, however, and with some serious running through the jungle, we made it back to the scooter just as the sun was setting on top of the mountains, giving us an amazing sunset for the ride home.
we're now both showered up and ready for a quiet night of falafel, maybe a movie, and a well earned nights sleep.
unless, of course, i find a bar here that stays open late enough to catch either the packers or the brewers.