So, I set out looking for bungee cords in Chiang Mai. There is no Thai translation for bungee cord; so I tried the Thai word for rope and hand gestured that the rope is stretchy and made hooks out of my fingers. They were completely perplexed by my charades but we had a laugh about it. I eventually came upon a bike shop where there was someone who spoke some english, he made some suggestions but was not sure. The thing is, in Thailand there are no ‘hardware stores’. There are storage unit looking storefronts with the garage door drawn up, usually with living quarters in the back. They can be as small as a large storage unit or double the size. These stores usually sell one particular item, or like items; for instance if you are looking for a lock you go to the the lock store, and their are usually ten of these stores in a row selling the same locks. But if you do not know where this one row of lock stores your chance of randomly finding this alley with locks are slim. So the problem I am having is there is no Bungee store; or even word for bungee. Does it have to be a bungee? No. Could it be rope? Yes. Have I seen an alley of rope stores? Yes. Do I remember where? no. I am going to check out the last suggestion made before I go the rope route. It was suggested to me to go to the 20 Baht store; it is the Thai version of the dollar store. Jackpot! Bungees!! 60 cents a piece.
No matter how light you pack it is never light enough when backpacking; or trying to fit a pack on the back of a small motorcycle. Would this be called motor packing? Bikepacking? I am so spoiled with my bike; water holder, hard bags, and a book rack, everything is accessible; in this situation everything is carefully bungeed down not to be removed until final destination.
I try and pack my smaller pack with what I think I will need for the ride and attach it on top so it is easier to access. Warm clothes, rain jacket, snacks, map, suntan lotion, etc. On my way to Pai I passed a sign for hot springs, I did not prepare for this and my suit is jammed at the the bottom of my pack that was tightly secured by a novice bungee engineer, never to be engineered the same again. I can never remember how it was done the time before. So I skip the hot springs and make sure to keep the suit in a more accessible spot for next time. It takes some travel days to get things worked out.
The road to Pai has 762 hairpin turns and snakes through some of the most beautiful scenery. Valleys flooded with rice fields, tea farms clinging to hillsides, bamboo and banana trees reaching for the sky. The sun makes everything glow this luscious green. Where are the pictures of this beautiful scenery? There are very few. You do not pull over, there is usually no shoulder. You do not take your eyes off the road for more than a couple seconds; The turns are sharp and can sneak up on you. The beautiful part is there is very little traffic, and again, the Thais are so considerate and keep their distance; it is very comforting. It is the roosters, dogs, and water buffalo you have to look out for.
I came around a corner and noticed large piles of cow shit in my lane. This is a main road, with not a lot of ways to get off of it, where are they going? And where di they come from? Sure enough a couple corners later there are 6 water buffalo grazing and walking up the highway. I played frogger with them but was more concerned about running through a steaming pile of buffalo shit and spitting it up all over me and the bike than hitting a buffalo. I didn’t even phase them and I m pretty sure my mirror jabbed one of them.
This is a road people who ride bikes dream of. It is twisty, not crowded, great asphalt, perfect cooler temps, and great scenery. I could not be happier with Roxane, she is not Aretha but I am having a blast on her. She is handling great and I am getting quite comfortable with her. This said, at the end of this ride I am exhausted. I get into Pai early evening and get the first cheap place I can find. Once I unload the bag I will hunt around for a little more than basic place to stay for a couple days after tonight. There are a few things to see near and around Pai.
It got surprisingly cold last night, no heat and I wished I had bundled up. I left my bag packed to be able to move easier in the morning. I found a really great place in the rice fields outside of town, and plan on dropping my bag early and starting a full day of excursions. It is in the 50’s this morning and chilly so I am bundled up with long johns, gloves, and my down jacket for my ride through the mountains to some hot springs an hour away. This drive is just as twisty as the road to Pai but I am toasty warm and loving the scenery. The hot springs are 15 minutes up a side road set in the jungle. There are a few people here but otherwise it is quiet with colorful birds the size of cardinals hovering in one place like a humming bird feeding off of seed pods. They seem too big to be able to accomplish such a feet but they do. Banana trees circle the three pools and the morning light is shining through.
2 hours later, warmed up and well cured, I am off to tour my first cave. Nom Lod cave is one of the highlights of Northern Thailand. It is a mile long and has a river running through it. It has three large caverns and is home to thousands of swifts and bats. You can not tour the cave alone and must hire a guide; this is done in groups of three which you must organize yourself. It takes an hour and a half to see a part of the cave system. I teamed up with Elijah from Israel and Atisha from France. We laughed because we had been passing each other back and forth the whole way here. Later we rode back together.
The tour includes a guide with a gas lantern who walks you through the caverns. She speaks little English but the million year old stalactites and stalagmites speak for themselves. The caverns are 100 feet tall with columns and stalactites reaching the floor of the cave, water falls of white calcium that look like the gills of a mushroom. The stalagmites look like enormous sand castles you used to make as a kid, but a hundred feet tall.
After walking through two caverns we get on a bamboo raft and float through the third cavern filled with thousands of fish the size of your calf. They want to be fed fish food so they are all at the surface with open mouths. Along with the fish you can hear the squeaking of tens of thousands of bats above our heads. It was actually a very sweet sound and didn’t creep me out at all. I also think bats are pretty cool. One actually fell from the roof into the water and started swimming to shore with its wings. It looked like the butterfly stroke. He would launch both his wings up and out of the water pushing himself forward. I am not sure he knew where shore was but was hoping for the best. I think he may have done this before?
This cave was so mind blowing; I wish I had more time to spend in there but there are plenty of more caves to come. My phone had died before I got into the cave so I have no pics. For some reason my phone battery gets fully drained twice a day. I have an external battery that has been saving me. I took a couple pics from my camera but can’t figure out yet how to get them off the card. Having some technical difficulties. ( I figured it out, but only took a couple )
Elijah and I rode back to Pai together and it was a blast to have someone to ride with. We had dinner and talked about politics and religion. It was great!! We were both so inquisitive and open with respect. We said farewell as he is heading back to Isreal tomorrow. What a great day! I feel like my trip has officially started. And I need one more bungee cord and I know exactly where to get it. Different city same store.