Monday 23rd - Pai Road trip day 1 (caves)

Monday 23rd - Pai Road trip day 1 (caves)

Today I got up and sorted myself out (had to check out as wont be here tonight) and motored up to the touristy type pool where I chilled (missing having a good book still) and then 1.30ish the guys turned up that I knew from Chamg Mai. Theyre little crowd have dissipitated somewhat but all are en route or already in Laos. The America bar girls also arrived - they remind me of a some double act as they are best friends of many years but act like twins - they laugh the same, they talk the same, they gesture the same, they dress the same. They also have an innocence about them even though half the guys in Pai probably fancy them! It would have been a laugh staying at the pool but me and Max left for our road trip as planned about 3pm, well 3.30 by the time we had put in fuel etc. I managed to put my bag in his hut for the night which was cool as he had been there a week they let him use it for free. We headed off on the bikes, with helmets this time! I had heard horror stories about people getting into accidents and the rest of the gang thought we were nuts but we were both of the same mind - be slow, be safe. There were quite a few dangerous curves in the road but we were fine. We got to the caves just after 5pm and saw caves 2 and 3 with our guide and a lantern. It was pretty cool seeing the columns and rocks forming animals shapes like monkeys and crocodiles (I'm sure there is some sophisticated name for this and if I could be bothered Id look it up but I cant!). We also went on a bamboo raft between caves which was quite mysterious in the darkness, as you could hear the millions of bats squeaking way above and making out the occassional flutter of flights, but the cave was so high and so dark we couldnt see them. The best part was at the end when something like 30,000 swifts returned to the cave for the night and the bats went out. It was amazing, we were there for about 30-45 mins and there was just a steady path of movement but we had to leave by the time it was all over. We had intended to drive all the way to Mae Hong Song today, but consdiering the roads we decided it was too risky (no such thing as road lamps here!) so we stayed the night near the caves, managing to find a room for 200 baht. It reminded me of a caravan actually - simple but nice decor - and is so far the cheapest accomodation I have found in Thailand. Its so not so nice having to go out in the freezing cold to use a tepid shower though! We ate across the road in a really nice bar / restaurant, except for some English women (the only other westerner I saw the whole time I was there) whose son owned the bar (married a Thai who was very beautiful.) She was a bit mad and talked a lot about random things! We had quite an early night knowing we've now got a longer drive tomorrow but it has been a really nice day and evening and was good to just chill rather than the stress of driving.

Money spent: Bike 50 baht, petrol 70 baht, caves 125 baht, bread 20 baht, water 7 baht. Food 135 baht. TOTAL: 407 BAHT / 8.14

Best bit: Caves and meal in bar.
Worst bit: Having to leave my gorgeous hut over the river after only one night sob sob.