Some of the Grass is Greener

I want to take this public opportunity to say a few negative things about travelling. Don't get me wrong, this is hands-down the MOST amazing thing I have ever done in my life (so far!) and I am blissfully happy, but being away from "home" for months at a time does have its self-imposed downfalls. Travelling takes a toll on your body. When I first began my journeys I would see girls who had been travelling for a while with some extra weight on their bones, bug bites all over their legs, motorbikes scars (both new and old), broken finger nails, etc., and think to myself "that is never going to be me!" Well four months into this journey I am sorry to say I haven't escaped the backpacker body woes - my legs are covered in mosquito bites, I recently was involved in two motorbike "accidents" (don't worry Mom I am fine) which left some serious scratches on my leg, have thrown healthy eating and exercising to the wind, and definitely try to avoid dealing with the caked dirt in my fingernails. I miss my body, my gym, and my manicurist. The wickable/fast drying clothes I brought from America are ripping and fading, and the new clothes I am buying along the way don't last long either. If you spend more than 5 days with me you will be sure to see the same clothing on rotation, because my 50l backpack doesn't carry much. I miss my overflowing closet. I even miss the Danbury Mall. It has been about 100 degrees here in Asia everyday which means guarenteed frizzy hair and break-outs like a 12 year old. I miss the New England spring, my haircare products and my own bathroom where I can spend as long as I want primping myself. I have met at least a hundred amazing people along the way, who after only a few short days have to say goodbye to. I miss knowing that when I meet someone I may actually see them again. I miss having consistent friends and family in my everyday life. For those of you who are toiling away at your computer, working for the weekend and your two-week holiday, please don't hate me for this one; as I lie in a hammock, bed, or on the beach, reading and soaking up the sun, I even miss work. I find myself sick of rest and relaxation wondering how things are going at my previous place of employment. I suppose some of the grass is greener, even when your prairie is fertilized with dreams.


Although I am missing home, I am still loving travelling. I am pretty sure I want to be doing this for at least another year (or as long as I can make my money last) - career, marriage and babies can wait!! I never had a 401K anyway, 'gasp!' After my American Doctor friends left me in Chiang Mai, I went out for a walk around dinner time and sat down to eat with a random New Zealand guy named Steve. It turns out he was going to a Thai boxing match that night so I tagged along with him and two other people from his guest house. By the end of the night I had seen a midget fight a 12-year old boy, watched naked ladyboys dance to YMCA, and got to make fun of Gordon Ramsey, a famous chef, who was filming something at the table behind me. He was sitting there all by himself and I said "Are you making a show about being alone?", and he said "yup, its about having no friends. Then I told him we would make a cute couple, he agreed. The following day Stevie and I toured around Chiang Mai, saw some temples, went and heard a buddhist monk speak about buddism (yawn), and added some more people to the "wolf pack". The next day five of us rented motorbikes and toured around the mountains outside of Chiang Mai landscaped with lush green jungles, friendly locals and bamboo villages (I am finally coming around to the joys of riding a motorbike!!). The following day, the now 6 of us, decided to head to Pai, a small hippy town in northern Thailand.


Pai is the type of town I could stay in forever. The town is only about 3 blocks x 3 blocks wide, with a small river bordering our guest house "The Breeze of Pai"; there are only two 7/11's (which is amazing for Thailand), the streets are littered with quirky clothing shops, hand-made jewlrey stands, thai restaurants and unique bars. During the day the falangs (white people) head to Fluid, a pool across town where they serve drinks and food; at night the streets close for a night market and people head to the Bamboo bar or Ting Tang for partying into the early hours. The town is small enough so after having been there for just a day I already felt at home, waving to people I met the day before. We never intended to spend 6 days there, but we did. Most days consisted of sleeping until 11 or 12, uncessarily driving our motorbikes in caravan-style to get brunch at one of the local restaurants, heading out of town to one of the waterfalls (and even once to the canyon for sunset), long hours swimming and sleeping at Fluid, lying in the hammocks at our hostel by the river, reading, sleeping, and just plain relaxing. We had our motorbikes for the full 6 days so we also spent a lot of time travelling out of town to see the amazing Thai landscape and local villages. The only downfall to Pai was the power outages. In the middle of dinner, the whole town would go black, (or worse when you are in bed, and your only fan would die.) They happened at least once a day, sometimes for minutes and sometimes for hours!


Four members of what I have come to call The Wolfpack headed from Pai to Chiang Rai - Toby, Josh, Magnus and myself, while the others went their seperate ways. Chiang Rai is a similar city to Chiang Mai (all this rhyming is getting confusing, I know trust me), but smaller.

We got a great guesthouse, splurged on air conditioning and cable TV (since we didn't have it in Pai) and spent the first afternoon sleeping and watching American movies like The Fifth Element, James Bond, and even Schindlers List. Did I mention I miss TV? I got an oil Thai Massage and we went out to dinner to celebrate my 22nd birthday (and I got the biggest sundae EVER)!

The next day we rented motorbikes and headed out of town to a waterfall, Josh put diesel fuel into the bikes (which gave the locals, who drained the bikes for free, a good laugh), and met up with some American friends we met in Pai at the local night food bazaar where we enthusiasticlaly played Catch Phrase into the evening hours.


Yesterday we said goodye to Magnus then Josh, Toby and I headed to Loas on a 6 hour public bus ride (with only rotating fans - so hot). After a night in the border town of Huay Xai, Loas, Toby and I headed north to where we are now Luang Nam Tha (Josh got on the 2-day slow boat to Luang Prabang.) We already added two English people we met on the minibus to the wolfpack and will probbaly do more trekking or motorbiking tomorrow. As for now, its more rest and relaxation. Ahhh, travelling. ;-)