I’ve Got a Changover
Pai, Thailand – October 8, 2017
I woke up this morning again feeling like absolute hell, so I began thinking it’s actually the alcohol here versus food poisoning. Complaining to some of my hostel buddies, someone mentioned that Thai bars are notorious for adding lighter fluid to their alcohol bottles to make them stretch longer. I can imagine that’ll really mess up your stomach. A girl that’s been teaching English in Thailand for a while added that she knew a Thai girl that had to stop drinking thai tequila because she started going blind because of it! Yikes. Note to self—stick to Chang beers. Although a boy from the hostel jokingly started singing, “I got a Changover, Whoa, I’ve been drinking too much for sure!” But I swear I don’t really get hangovers in the states, and here I’m wrapped around the toilet all day thinking I have food poisoning.
We had to move to a different hostel in Pai because we woke up to rebook at Common Grounds and it was totally full. We stayed at a place that had a lot of potential, but definitely fell short in comparison. They had beautifully built grass huts with chill hammock areas for travelers to hang in, beautiful bamboo gardens and paths, cute little kittens playing and snuggling with guests, big brown butterflies flapping around, a cute little eclectic restaurant with low lying tables and big cushions on the floor for seats. There was a stage for a live band every night, a classy cocktail bar, and a fair-priced restaurant that you could utilize, but it lacked the amazing people that found themselves checking into Common Grounds. CG was just wayyyy too chill with some of the coolest people I’ve met while traveling.
We ate Thai food at the newest hostel and it really didn’t sit well with my stomach. I got a massaman curry, which I’m usually obsessed with, but this one was just much too rich and creamy for the current state of my stomach. I really thought I’d never in 1000 years get sick of Thai food, but I’ve gotta say it’s been only 15 days and all I want is a good spaghetti and meat sauce, Safeway’s Stompin’ Steakhouse Chili, a Parilla $1 taco, or some of my mom’s famous chicken noodle soup. Tbh, everything here gives you diarrhea and I’m really starting to miss taking a solid poo. Around 4pm of feeling absolutely miserable about my Chang-over combined with bad food, I finally decided to puke myself and get it over with. A whole new world!!
We pulled ourselves together and rented some motorbikes to see the Pai countryside. I’ve seen many people limping around Pai on crutches with “Thai Tattoos,” otherwise known as road-rash burns from crashing scooters on gravel roads. I was a bit scared because I’ve really only ridden a scooter once before, and on the perfectly paved roads of Boise, ID. Contrast that with rickety half-paved, pot hole ridden winding gravel roads with no speed limits and hundreds of other unlicensed drivers that don’t follow the “normal” rules of the road. Also, the rental center only provided shitty too-big styrofoam helmets that parachute off your head when you’re going above 30km/hr. Definitely SCARY! I had to focus hard on the scenery and happy thoughts.
We scooter to the Pai canyon which was supposedly “Thailand’s Answer to the Grand Canyon,” which made me giggle when being faced with the real thing (because there really is no answer to the Grand Canyon). It was incredibly beautiful red and yellow sandy rock pathways cut through a few ridges inside this mountainous jungle. We fumbled along the rocks and made our way to the highest view point to watch the sunset. Water runoff had cut crevices into the rocks, making it hard to climb up and down some areas. The red sand was also incredibly slippery, so we had to really take our time climbing up and down these cliffs. We made it to a circular ravine, kicked our legs over the side and watched as the sun went down over the mountains and farmlands in the distance. It gets completely dark here almost immediately after sunset, so we hurried back to our bikes and started our peaceful night-pedal back home.
Always,
Alena Horowitz | Miss Potato
