Peace of Pai

Well the town of Pai is the Thailand I knew we would find...eventually :)
It is located deep within the mountains of Northern Thailand sheltered from big city centers, pollution, and crowds. The lonely planet was correct w/ its description of Pai...being a hippy refuge with dreds galore and VW buses around every corner selling cappuccino and local coffee goods. The coffee is quite good (well I had to taste Briana's cappuccino of course :)
So far we've enjoyed our fair share of tasty Thai cuisine (averaging $3-5 a meal) depending on if we treat ourselves to a cold beer or iced fruit drink. Our accomodations are cheap too...Mr. Jan's Guest House for 300 Bhat a night($8.50) for both of us...not bad, eh?

Today we rode bikes about 10 km (I am prepping myself for life in Canada on the metric system) to a hot springs, which was quiet, rustic, and relaxing. We also rode past an elephant camp, where Briana was wanted more than the bamboo! One young elephant in particular wrapped his trunk around Briana and brought her closer...I of course thought the elephant had good taste.

Yesterday (okay hold on to your computer seat Dad) we rode on the back of taxi motorbikes about 7 km to a waterfall...a fellow Canadian joined us and said my knuckles were as white as ivory, as I gripped the handlebar on the back of the motorbike very tightly to ease my fear! I have to admit the ride was a lot of fun...although I couldn't get the following thought out of my head: "if only my parents knew I was doing this." Sorry mom and dad, and I cannot say it won't happen again, but rest assured we'll be safe :) Ha ha.

I should mention one of the atrocities of living in rural areas with little to no money. On our way to Pai we rode on the back of a pickup truck (sorry again Dad) for 2 hours driven by a Scottish man w/ a Thai lady friend. We stopped off the road and visited the Thai woman's sister in a mountain village. We only stayed here for 20 min. or so and watched some children playing jump rope. At our next lunch break on the way to Pai, we were informed that the Thai woman's sister and brother had died of AIDS recently. In her broken English and with help from the Scottish gentleman, we learned that in these mountain villages it is not uncommon for families to sell their children (teenagers or younger/older) to people from Bangkok and Chiang Mai for matters related to prostitution. The cost of selling a child averages 20,000 Bhat (or $600 US), and the families are supposed to receive monthly stipend checks, which rarely arrive. Of course, all goes in these prostitution circles, so many women contract the HIV virus overtime, and bring it back to the village and infect their partners there. This is what happened to the Thai woman's brother; he got HIV from his wife that came home after a period of prostitution. And this type of story happens often here. Very sad.

Tomorrow we leave for another 4 hour mountainous ride (Dramamine here we come!) to Mae Hong Son.

I'll be sending my albums via e-mail as I post them...it takes a lot of time to upload individual pictures (and only 4 are allowed per post)...