Upon leaving Ko Pha-Nhan and saying good-bye to friends I visited the famous Buddhist retreat Wat Suanmok in Chiya, many travelers come to meditate. It wasn't my cup of tea though, especially so early into my trip. So I left Thomas there and headed north to Phetburi to see some old Khmer sites. I ran into a bunch of child monks along the way. All looking both adorable and photogenic!

Back to Bangkok...

Ah... Bangkok, things hasn't changed since I last visited, the heat is still as oppressive, the traffic still as bad, the fumes just as polluting, the people just as hassling, Khao San Rd and the Banglamphu area are still full of farangs! Some of these farangs 'dis Bangkok for it's authenticity, they reckon it is too Westernized therefore not genuine enough for their liking. I say - Fuuuuuck off!!! Stop eating your fuckin' pizza and pancakes, stop hanging out with fellow travelers and get off the Banlamphu area! Coz it aren't so hard to see the real Bangkok and meet the locals, since many genuinely do want to get to know you! I met such person - Tong while asking for directions, and we ended up hanging out. He showed me his University and bought me to celebrate his friend's birthday.

Paradise = Pai?

Many travelers seem to think so. I arrive in Pai still slightly immobilize, but chose to visit so I could rest up and recover. Pai is a pretty cool place allright, with acres and acres of green rice paddy field, a river that crosses the town and kids tubing pass (tire tubes + river + kids = fun). I hung out with a mad Frenchman with a video camera whom films EVERYTHING! Don't deny it Phillip! You know you do! He even had my second (or is that 'ours') motorbike crash on film. Yeeeeeehar! I was driving and he was behind me making faces into his camera when I lost control coming round a steep up-hill corner, so we slam into the hedges along the side of the road. Thank goodness there was no injuries there, just a lot of laughter! Pai is so chill out, one night we watch other backpackers lit the night skies alight with hundreds of fireworks ('we could never do this back home!'). Most night though, we sat up in our tree house under the stars chatting to the rushing sound of the river below.

I return to Chiang Mai, did a few more touristy thing (like taking a tuk tuk up Doi Suthep before flying down that hill on my bike!!!!) before getting my passport back with my Lao Visa. It was time to leave Thailand, my month is up. I caught a bus over to Chiang Khong, the border town up North. And spent the night there at the local Playstation parlour with the guesthouse owner's kid hacking away at the current Thai's favorite video game - ISS Soccer!

The next morning, I caught a boat across the Mekong River into Laos. Bye bye Thailand, thanks for the memories, good and bad, accidents or no accidents I will be back!!!

"Sàwàt-dii" to...

Hello to my full moon buddy Thomas Thinghuus (Denmark), man-whore Jimmy and Wille (Sweden), Yosuke (Japan), Tong Boonruang (Bangkok), Kay Chailert Pipattanggahool and family (Ayuthaya), the wanna-be film director Phillip from Paris (whom we shared another bike crash with!).