somewhere in North tip of Thailand, 30 km to the Burmese border, a quiet rice farming village of Pai sits surrounded by the misty mountains,
where the hill tribe people have lived quietly with their rice farming and beautiful textiles,
Then the persistent foreign (and domestic) tourists discovered it, they paved paradise, put up bars and guest houses. (photo by Taiwanese photo journalist Mr. Yang, www.appledaily.com.tw)
each year more and more rice fields by Pai river disappear and new rows of bamboo bungalows are built. (photo by Mr. Yang)
reconnected with Tui, a talkative meditation practitioner from my Vipasanna days in Chiang Mai, together with the fellow Sun Hut guests Antja and Richard we take a trip to a waterfall.
Yey! Antja goes airborne.
Here on another day in Pai we are relaxing in a hot spring with Thomas, Colin and 5 Korean travelers.
International Uno night! each time you have to draw a card you take a sip of mixed alcohol... yuck!
Drinks and BBQ on one of the 'no drinking days' in Thailand (for the election) Ms. Big (2nd from Left) has this house just 5 minute moto ride from central Pai with no neighbors to bother.
The entire view of mountains is to ourselves!
"Giant baby" Nummon isn't feeling it!
Natasha gets confused by Aung's old school medium format camera, which has a viewing glass with left to right flipped image.
I meet coolest people in Pai because of Lek
Bell watches the sunset as humans continue to party.
going for an early morning photo session with Lek
Lek and a dog pose in a quintessential postcard shot
right next to the agricultural life, signs can be seen everywhere for a fast development to meet the growing demand of tourism. How much longer will Pai stay like Pai?
Standing here with Lek is Mr. Charlie, a former advertisement agent from Bangkok who has come to Pai seeking for spiritual wealth. together with his wife Lek (not the Lek above) he now is an amazing chef at Charlie & Lek's Restaurant, the best health food restaurant in Pai, no wonder, they grow their own vegetables in their organic farm just 1 km out from the center of town.
Multi-cropping, where you plant variety of plants in the same patch of soil, is healthy for the soil and the plants look so much happier with chili, broccolis, morning glory and lemon grass all together. It's also economically efficient for the size of market like a restaurant or two in Pai, because if you are single-cropping only garlics, you may have enough garlics to sell but to be self sustainable, you'll end up buying other vegetables from nearby large city such as Chiang Mai, paying for the transportation and burning more fule.
"Siam Queen" Thai basil, a key ingredient of Thai kitchen. I wish the photograph could reproduce the smell!
Toshiro picks fresh herbs for evening's dinner party.
Charlie proudly presents "The freshest salad in the world". it's only minutes since picked.
Kom Loys rise up into the stary sky to release sorrow and grievance of life. at Northern Thailand cultural festival.
Rule 4: refuse to take plastic bags when shopping. Here in the mini mart for the locals, an entire isle is filled with plastic/styrofoam bags and containers. almost all the local citizens here are vendors for the tourists. And whatever you purchase they will put in a tiny plastic bag, you walk out of market after one evening shopping with ten, twelve plastic bags! "No." we say, "No plastic bag necessary please." I now carry my own cloth shopping bags (large and small) my own lunch box and own spoon and chopsticks.
Networking is an important part of life in Pai. Everybody here is an artist, dancer, musician, yoga teacher, spiritual worker, etc... each individual life has to be connected to one another. It's easy to make friends, it takes time and skills to make good friends wisely. Above is Ms. "Farang" Bhud, a former real estate agent from Bangkok and now yoga teacher, after her morning meditation at Wat Mae Yen, she confirms plans for the day.
Ms. Bhud teaches her morning class by the swimming pool 'Fluid'.
Ms. Tammy from Northern California/Washington state is on a journey seeking for a proper output for her spiritual energy. Avid meditation practitioner and yoga teacher as well, has made a deal with Ms. Bhud exchanging lessons. Bartering too, is an essential part of life in Pai.
"one more breath cycle..." beautiful!
at Baan Pit-ta Lew art Gallery. Mr. Tieng is from Sisaket, many like him seeking for a place to pursue art discover Pai.
a legendary fiddle player Mr. Noi tunes his instrument for the show at Baan Pit-ta Lew. He used to be a member of Caravan, a frontier of Thai folk rock from the 70's.
Mr. Noi's gypsy band fires out in the night of Baan Pit-ta Lew.
as fire dancer illuminates the bamboo night
breathtaking sunset in Pai.
Bus isn’t running to Mae Sai until next Sunday, so I have to drive a motorbike myself. Going to Mae Sai and coming back is nearly 800 km of travel. And stupidly I decided to do it in one day. Leaving Pai at 6 AM, riding through morning mist in the canyon.
Andy, a traveler from Ohio, an English teacher in China, comes and drives with me for the first mountain road, at Mae Malay I turn North, he heads down South to Chiang Mai, Bangkok, then back to China.
Too bad that I have to drive so fast to make it back to Pai by dark. Zipping by the most beautiful scenery I ever seen in Northern Thailand.
After 2 very painful falls on curvy mountain road, my bike and stiff body approach the border. 5 km from Myanmar.
1 PM I arrive Mae Sai/Tachilek border. Over yonder is the country whose military regime has for 3 decades ruled the majority who don’t have the basic needs.
Bye-bye Thailand, I’ll be right back.
Impression I got from Tachilek is not far from what I expected. Large complex of poorly built market stretches out over the slum by the river, and people in rag try to sell anything from postcards, Viagra, half-day trip to nearby temple, counterfeit goods to prostitution. These kids asked me for money when I asked them to let me take a photo. Just like Cambodia, you can see spirituality is pushed aside by their desperate needs to catch up with materialistic wealth pouring out from Thailand and western countries.
As I rush my way back, flying 110 km/h on 125 cc Honda, a car in front of me hit a puppy. These children helped me digging a hole and burying the poor animal.
Near Mae Teang right by the highway is an elephant training farm. Here 28 elephants are chained and trained with a stick with sharp hook to poke them. This old elephant was tied to 5 meter chain, walking in the same spot in circle, where he ate from the same soil he goes to bathroom to. As I walked up close, this beautiful mammal was so scared that he let out small scream and stepped back, and while I petted his nose and calmed him, I could see the trails of tears on his cheeks.
