Pai was full of interesting people, all with their own stories as to why they were there. One of the best friends I made was an austrain man called Harry. A self diagnosed alcoholic, every morning I would find him sitting there with his bottle of samsung and we would have a chat. He would be there until early evening. I think thats one of the reasons he became such a good friend-I always knew where he would be if I needed some advice! On our first meeting he had jokingly declared that at the age of 38 technically he was old enough to be my father and had thus earnt the nickname of "dad", by the time i left the name Harry had been forgotten by almost everyone. Appart from the slightly slurred nature of our conversations, I enjoyed our morning talks. He had a "good heart" as ammalia would say. And despite his less than sober state he gave good advice and kept an eye out for me...I think he quite enjoyed his role of surrogate father. It was on his advice that the morning after the crash I reluctantly got back onto a bike."If you're going to stay in Pai, you need a bike" he'd said, "or you'll end up like me- sitting drinking all day. And at any rate whats the saying? If you fall off a horse you get back on. If you don't do it today it'll just be harder when you do." So I did. He gave me his keys and shouted instructions as a pottered around the little carpark. It was during my lesson with him that we met a canadian man who had been riding motorbikes for 15 years. He took me out for the day, me riding with him on the back, if i got worried he could take control. It was a great way to learn, you could feel the way the bike should lean and how your arms needed to be rigid especially with a passenger. By the end of the day with his constant, although sometimes quite harsh instruction,(as he said "I forgive the bike won't if you get it wrong" a lesson I had learnt only to well the previous day) my fear had lessened. I felt safe at least.

We had ridden out to some impressive caves- at dusk the thousands of bats which live in the huge stageltite and stalmite filled caverns swarm out into the evening and the swallows swoop in to replace them. Unfortunatley the numbers are not as extreme at this time of year because the swallows have begun to migrate but its still a spectacular sight.

It was easy to get used to Pai life, the days were filled exploring the surrounding waterfalls and the nights at Ting Tong. One my 4th day there another of my friends, Heather, had her 26th, in celebration we had a cheese and wine party for her at a a bar over looking the valley of Pai. In the sunset it looked even more picturesque than usual, aided of course by the luxury of wine. Ans CHEESE!!!! I don't think there is anythin I take for granted at home morethan cheese, or possibly bread, both are rare commodities in Thailand. It had been a difficult feat, acquiring the cheese in Pai but they had done well, not only was there cheddar but brie and goats cheese aswell!

Having originally intended on only staying 1 niht in Pai my supply of clothes was beginning to smell and a return to Chiang Mai to collect my belongings was immanent. It just so happened that at the time i realised this neccessity Ammalia realised her visa had run out and she would have to cross the border in order to get a knew one (the border run is a well know inconvienience to the farlandg inhabitants of Pai) One of Sappos friend was an off road adventure guide and was driving back to Chiang Mai the following day. It was an intersting ride, the winding roads stomach churning at the best of times let alone when your driver thinks hes on a rallley course! But the free lift and accopmadation was appreciated. That night I visited Ryan in hospital, he was due to go back to england in a few days. We bought him some non hospital cooked food as a feable effort to cheer him up and carried him outside for hios first cigarette in 6 days. He seemed a little more cheerful when we left, but it was really no compensation for his trip ending so prematurely.

We spernt the evening at the jazz club and the next day Amalia went on her visa run whilst I decided to widen my horizons and become a thai master chef-in 6 hours I made green curry, phad thai, spring rolls, sticky rice, stir fry and tom yum! and even if i do say so myself it was as they say in thai " alloy macma!"

During the day I got a text from Kay- one of the guides from our trek asking if O wanted to meet up. After eating at a local restaurant he took me to a Karen (one of the largest hilltribes) rock concert promoting Karen independance as far as I could understand. Kay introduced to his family and friends and we spent the evening singing (or in my case making suitable noises) along to the music which ranged from the younger heavy metal bands to ballard type folk music sang by one of the elders. I was the only white person there, it was an amazing experience. I really felt like I had stepped into their culture, so much more than my tour of the hill tribes the week before.

In thailand the elections are taken very seriously and all consumpotion of alcohol is forbidden in the 24 hours that they take place. So it was a completely tea total event. Although its all about who you know or more to the point if you speak thai. On our walk home Kay popped into a shop and appeared with two inconspicuously newspaper wrapped cans. "What happens if they see us" I asked a little nervously - I didn't particularly want to mess with the Thai police for the sake of a beer-however good Chang was! "We get arrested" he said in a very blase manner and took a swig.

Arriving back in Pai the following morning I made to find myself a guest house but found myself being dragged back into Ting Tong. "Stay here" they said. For the next week or so the uncles - Egg and Pow (who spoke no english) spoilt me! They gave me a roof over my head in the staff quarters for free and cooked the most amazing food. I could not walk past them during the day without the cries of "cin cow, cin cow?" (literally "want rice"-hungary?") following me or being asked where I was going and told to keep safe. When I would return in the early evening they gestured to come sit with them to drink shots of samsung while they delighted in teaching me thai. Admitedly most of what I learnt didn't enable me to hold a conversation as it consisted mainly of things they could point at but any effort I made resulted in a look of pride on their faces so I tried my best. One evening I walked to the shop on an errand and Pow joined me so I wouldn't walk alone - he pointed at the sky "dungchan leh dow" (moon and stars) he siad slowly and clapped enthusiastically when i mustered the feeble attempt to make a sentence "dungchan leh dow suay! Chan chop!"

I appreciated their hospitality and did my best to show them by washing up after the meals and some evenings helpingthe younger staff in handing out fliers around town. I quite enjoyed doing that, meeting the new farland in town and sitting chatting with Boo and Jackie and the other street vendors ad they sold their hand made leather shoes or earrings and sipped from hip flasks. On the nights I handed out leaflets I would return back to the bar to TuTu the manager beaming and handing me free drinks.

Ibecame good friends with teh other 2 farland girls that lived their too - Ammalia and an south african girl called sarah- they named themselves my big sisters, and promised to take me under their wings...i'm not intirely sure they were a good influence but I had the most amazing time with them and the guys - Thae ( who did the fire dancing and talking english in the best cockney accent I have ever heard- we made the fliers togethor in the afternoon and drank in the evenings) Sappo (Ammalias man-the lovliest guy from a Karen tribe - speaks, Karen, Thai, English and Jpanese and has his own elephant!) Bam/Alexander (who I very rarely saw wearing anything more than boxer shorts until the moment the bar opened - even then occasionally he would not bother with clothes) Wrong (often to be seen flicking his long silky hair over his shoulder in a very feminine manner) Bow (the oldest of them, a little grumpy at times and wouldnt eat unless he cooked it but a nice man) Chewy (an old guy who lived near with long dreadlocks and a contageous laugh-never talked - just laughed)the uncles and of course TuTu who would ride across the bamboo bridge every afternoon with his hair fling out behind him an open white shirt on and his aviators-you needed ask who was in charge).Oh and not forgetting Lor (Sarahs puppy-who had a perchant for shoes) It seemed appropriate that Ting Tong is the thai word for crazy. The longer I stayed the more in love with the place I fell and it was one evening when I walked up the street in my 100% Ting Tong shirt on and my handfull of fliers I saw my reflection in one of the mirrors "Are you Ting Tong?" it asked me as usual. I smiled. I was and I was proud to be, for the first time since travelling I had a home. Two farlang walked past "what are you doing tonight? Come to Ting Tong-best bar in town!" I said honestly handing them fliers...

If it wasn't for Heather and the Canadians, who didn't live at Ting Tong but had also become good friends, I would have quite happily stayed there. But they left for Laos and I went with them knowing that this was the time to go. I knew if I thought about my decision it wouldn't happen and I had fallen behind my unscheduled schedule already having sacrificed Vietnam. So after one last night of partying in the rain (With Alexander once again deciding clothes were not neccessary and appearing mid way through the night with union jack boxers and a hosepipe...giving me a big kiss on the cheek and telling me I was his sister before disapearing off into the rain-it was things like this I loved about Pai-anything went) and with a sad farewell to my new family and promises not to forget them I got on a little white mini bus and headed for the border my memento Ting Tong top packed carefully into my bag... my face pressed against the window squinting into the night, I watched as the darkness swallow the small town. I would be back.