Pai

I'm in a little bamboo hut, (not the one in the picture, but one just like it) by the river in Pai.
It is raised on short stilts, traditional style, has woven bamboo walls and floor and a roof made out of dried leaves. I think I'm going to need all my winter clothes in the night because it gets very cold here.

From my front door I can see a field of something green, dense vegetation and a steep, thickly wooded hill. We are at 600 metres altitude, about 100km from Chiang Mai and it took four and a half hours for the old bus to get us here, grinding up and down steep mountain roads all the way. The bus was full of people and goods. Two huge polystyrine boxes of something were stacked on top of the hump between the driver and me (in the front seat), threatening to tip over every time we went round a steep corner. I and a monk sitting behind managed between us to keep the tottering pile in one place.

The overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was delightful, though they do keep the air con turned up terribly high. I was glad of my sleeping bag and pullover. The train waiters are a band of rogues though. They come round in the evening trying to sell exhorbitantly expensive drinks and food and take orders for breakfast. Then after breakfast, when you come to pay, they try to overcharge you, arguing cunningly that this was extra, or that was extra, and only after a lot of haggling do you get away with something near the list price. Our waiter was small and thin with a high pitched giggle. Later I decided to check out the bar. He said "no". I went anyway and found all the waiters and waitresses eating the left over breakfasts and getting drunk on beer and Thai whisky, playing loud music, singing along and swaying to the music.
"You can't stay here," he said . "You have to order something." so I ordered a bottle of water and sat looking out of the window, while my erstwhile waiter, obviously the life and soul of the party, proceeded to change into a red t-shirt and start cooking what looked like green papaya salad.