A slice of Pai

We picked a bit of an unfortunate time to visit northern Thailand; it's the end of the dry season and all the small farmers are burning off their fields of stubble (somewhat understandable) as well as any leaves that are lying around, and since this is jungle country there are lots of leaves lying around. The mahogany leaves are huge, up to half a metre long, and when they litter the forest paths it's hard to walk, so that's why they burn them off, but it sure makes a mess of the air. We've been known to lay a napkin on top of our beer glass to keep the black snow (corn stalk ash) from landing in our drinks. Nothing stops us from drinking lots of beer, however, except if Bob has a nap in the early afternoon heat. We just got back to Pai from a four-day sidetrip to Sappong, an even smaller town about 40 km away on a hilly road full of major switchbacks. Our bus was so old the driver was weaving from side to side on the steepest uphill bits of the road, sort of switchbacks on switchbacks, just so the bus could keep climbing. Our home in Sappong (the Sappong River Inn) was one of our favourite places yet (superb room with a deck over a ravine; great food) and we had a fantastic day trek, hiking for three hours up into the hills to a Karen hill-tribe village. (That's Karen the ethnic group, not Karen the blogger.) During the hike we spotted a lot of orchids growing in the crotches of trees. That was a bit of a surprise because an earlier visit to a Chiang Mai orchid farm led us to believe that orchids were rainy season plants, but some of them thrive in this dry heat. In the village, we met a few of the Karen people and bought a few pieces of weaving from some of the women. Our wander through the village was fun, going through their yards and seeing some of the women actually doing the weaving, chaffing the rice, doing the laundry or embroidering their fanciest clothe. We took a different route out of the hills by following a stream back down to Sappong, crossing through the ankle-deep water dozens of times in our squishy hiking boots. At one point we met some village men with small nets working in the stream. They showed us a shopping bag filled with their catch - a few crawfish, lots of giant tadpoles and a handful of wee silver fish, actually all about the same size. Apparently, they eat them all. We've been in Thailand (and especially the north) for so long now that we're getting quite used to the mixed ethnic makeup of the country and little really grabs our eye. At breakfast today, we were eating at a sidewalk table and motorcycles went by with the strangest things - a guy selling a dozen ladders; a trio of Muslim women veiled all in black except for the eyes; colourfully clothed Lahu families of mom, dad and two small kids; whole restaurants built onto complicated tubular sidecars. It eventually dawned on us to take a few pictures, but it was the not noticing that was the most striking part. On our way out of Thailand we plan to visit one more major site, Sukkothai, an ancient capital full of spectacular architecture. That should be enough to get us shooting a flurry of photos. After Thailand is Bali. Oh that sounds good. We hope Bali will be less hot, wtih more refreshing air. And of course we really look forward to meeting up with Bob's parents. It's been a long, long time since we saw a face from home.