Pai-Land...

N 19 deg 18.526
E 98 deg 27.712

The flight to Chaing Mai from Bangkok is about one hour long. But the process of getting on the plane makes you wonder if it’d be easier and faster to just drive there. Thai Airlines threw a wrench in our plans when they changed the airport we were departing from. There is an old domestic airport and the new International airport. Originally we were to depart from the new airport. Kris gets and email informing him it’s changed to the old airport. We show up at the old airport and when we try to check in, they inform us that they changed it back to the new airport but failed to notify us of that. We had to make a mad dash to the new airport in a taxi.

We actually made it somehow, but it was a very close call. Once we got on the plane and settled in it was time to leave. I love short flights. Upon arrival we get to a van we had waiting for us. At that point we found out that it would be another 3 hours by van to the village of Pai, where we would be staying. I don’t think we were ready for that.

The upshot was that once we left the city there was some nice scenery to look at.

This shot was taken between two trees at 40 MPH at just the right second.

This is the highest elevation we got. About 4,660ft. It was nice to finally feel cool air.

I also learned quickly that you don’t want to drive very fast on these roads. One thing about northern Thailand is that here when you hit road kill, it might be you that dies from it.

"What are you looking at?"

I also saw this sign everywhere. I can’t read Thai, but I’m fairly sure it means one of two things. Either, “When trees fall, they start fires and cause the deer to run into you,” or, “This is where Bambi was filmed.”

"When trees fall, they start fires and cause the deer to run into you." OR "This is where Bambi was filmed."

We arrived at our resort more tired than we anticipated. All we wanted to do was soak in the natural hot spring pools they have dotted around the premises. After checking in, that’s exactly what we did. And massages followed. For less than $10 UDS you get an hour massage. There was no wait either. In fact, we were the only ones at the entire resort. It’s nice to be able to afford luxury.
The grounds are well kept and beautiful.







We strolled around the small village we were in and noticed that almost every person had an elephant in their front yard hoping some tourist would pay for a ride. These elephants didn’t look like they were up to it. Some looked like they’d need to be carried themselves. One had a stumpy leg. When changing his positions he looked like he was crossing his legs and leaning on a pole. What a bad time to be without my camera. Luckily, my brother Kris had his camera and snapped one off. I don't have a copy of it yet, sorry. But I'll post it when I can.

After a relaxing day at our own private hot springs resort we called it a night knowing that we could wake up whenever we felt like it as we had no urgency to be anywhere the next morning. The only thing missing on this trip was my wife. Other than that omission, this is the way to vacate.