Stories Vol 15: Chasing Waterfalls

 

 

 

When I decided to go to Pai while in Koh Phi Phi, I thought I would be spending more than a couple days in the city. I had been told that the city was relaxed and very hippy. You essentially go there to visit waterfalls (there are heaps of them), relax in the hot springs, trek in the rain forest and do a lot of recreational drugs while sitting in hammocks. Had this been a different trip and at a different stage in my life, who knows maybe I would have partaken in the last of the listed activities. This trip however is about clearing my head and hitting refresh, a detox from all of the nights out over the past 6 years and cleanse of all life's stresses. A drug trip was not on the agenda.

 

Before heading out of Chiang Mai, Vanessa and Fleur, mentioned that they were going to a quarry in the Chiang Mai to cliff jump two days after the me leaving for Pai. Interested in joining them, I told them if they pushed it out another day I would only spend one night in Pai and two days. Tom joined in on my plan as well.

Given we only had two days in Pair, after we finished up the first night in Pai, we corralled and figured out a game plan for the following day. We decided we would leave the hostel around 8, get breakfast in town and then take the motorbikes around Pai to the different waterfalls, Tom and I also tossed around the idea of driving bikes back from Pai to Chiang Mai. We had heard that you could do this but doing it was dependent on how Tom was feeling and the weather. It is after all rainy season here in SE Asia. Having had a blast on the bike through out that first day, I wishfully prayed for good weather and Tom to get better.

When we woke up the next day we were a little slow at getting out the door. Tom having spent most of the previous day on the toilet was quite chipper. It was clear that his stomach bug was passing. Sherry was anxious to get going and Becky was still contemplating whether she would head back with Sherry, Tom and me later that day. You could tell that Becky wanted to stay a bit longer in Pai but fresh out of college and doing her first solo extended travel trip, she buckled to the group and opted to come with Tom and I to the cliff jumping. Sherry was leaving early to catch a flight to Cambodia.

 

Taking our bikes from their parked positions, we headed out for the day. Having liked the café Becky and I stopped at the previous day we went back and got breakfast. Each of us made a different selection for the food. Choosing an egg option, a veg option, a starch option and a juice option. As we sat there eating our meal we pulled out a map and contemplated routes. Tom and I, decided in an impulsive fashion to bike back to Chiang Mai and so we needed to be back at the bike rental place in Pai by 3pm. This meant we had a very very tight schedule if we were to hit more than one waterfall and the hot springs.

 

The girls pushed for a route that would minimize the distance between our first waterfall and the hot spring. The next part of the route would have us traveling back up towards the area where the hostel was, after all we needed to pick up our bags (my heifer of a pack). With a route in place, we booked it out of town. To keep Sherry, who had just been in a bad moped crash on the Thai Islands, and Becky, who was still new to the bike, comfortable we went at a slightly slower speed then you would normally take on these types of roads.

 

In all honesty, I was torn between going a fast pace and going slow to enjoy the scenic views. All of the waterfalls are tucked back in the forests and are only accessible by these narrow poorly paved roads. They kind of remind me of the paved pathways you see around lakes and in parks that are meant for cyclists, runners and walkers. For safety purposes as a new driver, it is best to take these roads with care and a watchful eye for sand and dirt on sharp turns.

 

Feeling adventurous and wanting to explore, I decided to go ahead of our caravan. I'd speed up and bolt until I could no longer see my friends in my side mirrors. At that point, I would stop and just enjoy the view of the Thai Country side. Being the photo whore I am on this trip, it did not take long for me to break out my camera.

 

One of the things I love about taking photos while traveling, is that I have a keen opportunity to capture memories that other people are making with me. There is something about capturing them in a candid moment. It isn't posed and so it perfectly illustrates the experience. The idea that this is what I can gift my travel friends is amazing to me. I hope that in 30 years they can look back at those photos of them in the moment and feel hurled back into the moment with vivid accuracy.

 

So for the rest of the day, I booked it ahead of the pack. At each bend, I would stop, whip out my camera and capture the group riding through the Thai forests while admiring the scenery. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty proud of the pics I snapped. :)

 

 

 

The first waterfall was fantastic. You walk into the woods and up a little path. As you near the top of the first set of stone placed stairs, you see a bubbling brook. You trace the stream up to a rock face where the water just delicately glides down the side. Above it is a wooden foot bridge leading you deeper into the forest's path and hopefully an actual waterfall. The sight none the less is breath taking. It's something you would imaging out of Huck Finn.

 

 

 

I stop to take a couple of photos and then we continue on the path and across the bridge. As we hike up a slight hill on the other side, we see the image of a waterfall tucked back in a rock face surrounding three sides of a rounded square. The pool in front of the waterfall is about 30 feet below us down a sloped path.

 

 

Being the five year old I am, I bolt down it. My comrades take a few moments at the top and then quickly follow suit. As I wade through the rock ridden bottom of the pool, closer to the waterfall itself, all I can think about is the fish that exists in the Amazon that swims up your urethra, latches on and then grows. It's an irrational fear but the thought does cross my mind. 

 

For the next 15 to 20 minutes we take photos and capture the scenery. Some are silly, some are serious, the purpose is to capture the emotion of the moment. I chose to pose mid rock climb and while doing a cannon ball into the pool. I am just incredibly happy in that moment. I feel alive. I feel like the kid we all used to be before the adults and peers around us coached out our imaginative thinking and impulse to wander.

As we finish up at the first waterfall, we realize it is 12 already and that we need to book it if we are going to see anything more than the hot spring especially given the bike speed we are going. With a quick goodbye to our waterfall, we head out for the hot springs.

 

What I love about road signs in Thailand, is that the distances quoted until a location are not accurate, and especially on the side roads that lead to these hidden wonders. The time you a lot for getting to locations as a result is grossly underestimated. Because of this we were only able to briefly hit up the hot springs near the waterfall.

 

The hot springs were cool but really nothing too exciting. At that point in the day, we were all fairly wrapped up in our own thoughts and the springs served as a time for each of us to reflect. We made jokes about the lack of sanitation in the pools meant for visitors to rest in and at one point I put my foot in my mouth.

 

 

As we sat at one of the springs with our feet in the water, a couple, looking to be of Brazilian ethnicity, disrobed down to their bathing suits. The woman in a small bikini and the guy to a very small and revealing Speedo. Sherry caught me staring and laughs.

 

"What? I know it's bad, I just can't stop looking! They're really hot." I say to Sherry, not even trying to speak softly so the couple cannot hear. At this Tom's head pops up. Almost like you'd see a prairie dog do out in the wild. Rather than sit quietly, I decide to voice my thoughts. I should never do this.

 

"You know, there are just some couples that you wouldn't mind watching. You know what I mean? I'm not a voyeur or anything, but those are two really fucking hot people. How do they both have bums you could bounce a quarter off?"

 

About 30 seconds after I say this the couple begins to talk for the first time.

 

"FUCK!" I think to myself. "The girl is not Brazilian but American. The guy has an accent but speaks perfect English none the less.

 

Realizing my mistake and only slightly embarrassed by my forward commentary, I turn to my group and motion for us to continue on exploring the other springs. We lose sight of the couple and quickly explain myself. The group laughs.

 

At about 1:30, we decide to leave the springs. Tom and I have very little time left to explore and decide to break off from the girls who are taking the 5pm minivan back to Chiang Mai. We want to see another waterfall but it is at the far side of Pai. If we continue with the girls we will not be able to go fast enough in order to make it. With that the group splits. Tom and I visit the waterfall and get lost in the process. We make it back to the rental office just in time to trade the bikes in for more powerful ones and take off for Chiang Mai.

 

As I sit there in the office, my last thought is on the process in which we "educate" children. During that day I rediscovered the thrill of exploring the outdoors and it awoke a piece of my imagination that I force into dormancy each time I return to everyday life. Children naturally have this ability and yet we coach out those that hold onto it past a certain age. Why isn't it acceptable to play, to imagine and to dream as an adult? Why is it so important that we live in a "real" world?