So we had to cut the strings sometime…so we’re doing it, we’re finally moving on from Pai today. In the past couple of days since you last heard from us, we left Pai, stayed one night in Soppong and then took a bus to a town even further north called Mae Hong Son. When we arrived in Mae Hong Son, something just didn’t feel quite right. It was as though the town had been worn out by package tours and monstrous buses; it was past it’s prime and the tour operators just hadn’t quite brought themselves to admit it yet. Anyway, we spent about two hours there and then jumped on a “bus” back to Pai. I’d never been so happy to return to a place in my life (this was mainly due to the fact that the ‘bus’ we were on was really a converted pick-up truck and so the seats were facing eachother, parallel with the road. This, combined with a cowboy for a driver and steep, windy roads, did wonders for my motion sickness). We spent the last couple of days here in Pai revisiting our favorite waterfalls and restaurants around the town. However, last night we were given another new and lasting memory and one more reason to always look back fondly on the time we spent in this homey little town. Before we sat down for dinner that night, we got a glimpse of a little procession that was winding its way through the streets. It was made up of mostly young children and teenagers carrying paper lanterns and beating drums and clashing cymbals. Midway through dinner, this same little procession had accumulated so many followers that it was now almost a whole street long. After dinner, we went for our obligatory post-dinner cruise and happened upon the town fair ground that had swelled with thousands of people; many of whom had travelled from Bangkok because of the country wide holiday this weekend. The festival was an annual celebration of the changing of the season; the rains have ended and the cooler dry period is coming. The paper lanterns carried by the locals had been placed behind the local wat and set a flame. We walked through the crowds to go watch the lanterns burn, and we came upon a group of people pounding things into the ground. JB, taking on all characteristics of the male species, turns to me and says “Oh, they are giving offerings in hopes of good fortune. Those things they are pounding into the ground have money in them”. Weeeelllll, not exactly. It seems we were the only who didn’t know that what we were actually stading amidst was the firing site for the local firework display. All of a sudden, a guy tugs on JB’s arm and tells him to move as the whole crowd begins to scatter and run for cover. As we flock with them, we hear a loud bang and are showered with golden sparks. This was the beginning of the show that lasted about half an hour while everyone set off their “offerings” one by one. It was a beautiful spectacle and we both came away with only minimal burns from the seemily neverending rain of sparks. While that was clearly JB’s favorite part of the night (reminiscent of his pyromaniac past), I found the local talent show to be the upmost entertaining spectacle of the night. Local teens crooned unabashedly on stage as drunken on-lookers rewarded them with cheers and paper necklaces (akin to leis) that they clumsily put around the performer’s necks mid song. It was a great night and a perfect way to say goodbye to Pai.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

As we wait for our ride to Chang Mai, JB snapped this one last photo of the town we have called home for the past 10 days. We look forward to the day we return.

 

One Response to “Saying goodbye to Pai”

1. Hi Kids
   This site is fantastic.
   What a way to keep in touch. I feel lke I am really with you. Conept of the Big D I know very well. Having entertained different foods at different times. Love your pictures. Megan thanks for writing dDarran. He will appreciate that.
   Love
   Dad

   posted by DAD O on October 22nd, 2006 at 11:16 pm

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