Thailands North and the end of a short era

25 July Got up at 8am this morning to meet up with my baby sister, Caoimhe. I understood that she was staying in a nearby guesthouse but after finding my way there she hadnt even checked in but was due shortly. I started socialising on her behalf with the other tour guests and her ladyship arrived 90 mins later. After about an hour we parted ways and I went to check out the town and the tourist office. I went to the night markets and they were very good, if one wanted to decorate a house or a thai restaurant they could buy everything here. I decided to go to a town in the mountains called Pai tomorrow.

26 July Got booked on my minibus this morning for the 1.30pm bus to Pai. I decided with a few spare hours in CM that I'd have a free dental check up. I was pretty much aware what dental work I needed from a visit i paid to a Galway dentist last year. The job was going to cost E9000 in Ireland and after an inspection and consultation here I was quoted E2000. The job involved 5 crowns with a gold structure (least toxic) 4 fillings that involved removing the existing metal fillings and white ones put in their place , 2 porcelain onlays and other bits and pieces like x-rays and cleaning. The clinic was far more swish than back home and they had all kinds of dicky didos to minimise the trauma.
Got on the bus to Pai. It was a Hiace minibus which was fast compared to the old smokers that ply the route usually. It was E3.60 for the 3 hour run compared to 80 cent on the old yolk that took 5 hours. Feck it, whats money for. The scenery was amazing driving through the mountains and i believe there are 742 bends in the road between Pai and CM. Its was a great little hippy town and Ive organised a motorbike to go further into the mountains tomorrow.

27 July I rented that bike today and took off into the wilderness. the weather was a little dodgy but it cleared up and was glorius in the later morning. As I trundeled through the tree lined roads, and relatively traffic free, i found that I was singing away to myself. I saw young boys on the side of the road laughing at me so I felt my rendition of the Eagles 'Take it easy' was to be toned down a tad or two. I arrived at my destination Mae Hung Sung 120km away and had a look around. I was prepared to stay the night but the atmosphere in Pai was way better and I though I'd head back there for the night. The weather started to turn again and 120 km each way on a small honda 50 type scooter is a long long way on mountain roads. The rain started pouring down, monsoon style, and i felt that i was having dejavu. After 3.5 hours of hairpin mountain roads i got back to Pai. Pai has some great quirks and one of them was the total acceptance of a practice whereby one can go into a shop, buy beer out of the fridge and drink it on their picnic tables outside. Loads of people gather there drinking cheap shop beer and the pubs are left wondering where the punters are. At 60 cent for Singa or Tiger beer (good stuff) its easy to know why. The tables outside the shops are concrete with tiled surfaces. The tiling incorporates a mosaic of a chess board so playing draughts with bottle tops is a serious sport. The Tigers v the Singas. Going back to CM tomorrow and going to get a few fillings done.

28 July Didnt do much today other than take the 3 hour bus ride back to CM and I went to the dentist and made an appointment to get 2 fillings done tomorrow and 2 the following day. I also booked my flight to Kuala Lumpur.

29 July 9am went in the doors of the dentist and had 2 amalgam fillings removed and 2 white plastic composite fillings pit in their place. It took 2 hours and it wasnt entirely an enjoyable experience although no fault of the dentist. E60 later the 1st batch were done and same again tomorrow. I bought 2 Lonely planet guidebooks in the secondhand shop today, one for Mayalsia/Singapore and the other for Australia. Cant say i have the same enthusiasm for Malaysia as I do Australia, but we'll see.

30 July Had 2 more fillings today. I finished my first ever fictional book today and must say I enjoyed it. My mother has been on at me for years to start reading them but until now I resited in favour of factual stuff. I met up with 2 girls that I had met in Laos tonight. They convinced me to do a cookery course the following day which I agreed to. Should be interesting.

31st July Met up with Vicky and Maria for breakfast before we were whisked away to the cookery school via the local market to pick up supplies. I must admit i rather enjoyed it and took to the chopping and sizzeling quiet well. I made Pad Thai, a traditional noodle dish and Spring rolls. Also made Massaman curry and black rice pudding. There were 6 choices of dish out of 18 options so I picked my favorites although I hadn't a clue what black rice pudding was. The great thing was that you got the opportunity to taste all the others dishes too. That evening I traded in my Jeffrey Archer 'As the crow flies' book for E1 in the bookshop for a John Grisham novel 'The Broker' that i paid E3 for less the trade in. Havent started it yet but looks good. Tonight was my last night in Thailand so a good crowd from the cookery course, the boat cruise and a crowd from a trek the 2 girls were on came along and a few other straggglers. Backpackers will use any excuse to go out on the piss. Had a great night and felt sad to be leaving Thailand and a good few freinds that wont be going my direction for the rest of their travels. Thailand had good memories with Stephen and francis from home were out here, new freinds, great food and a very positive atmosphere in general. as a whole it was my favorite country so far, but its early days yet.

01st August Was collected by Tuk Tuk thismorning and went to CM airport to get my flight to KL. After the usual rig ma role , I boarded AK 897 bound for Malyasia.