5 Star Hitchhiking

My time in Chiang Mai was done and I hit the road early thinking it would be a long road to Pai (and that's Pai with a B.  Phonetically the town is called Bai.  Nobody knows where 'Pai' is!).  It was a long walk out of Chiang Mai and it took a long time before I got a ride to Mae Malai.


I'd been to Mae Malai a few days earlier coming from Tha Thon.  It's a nice country town with one of the best day markets I've eaten at.  After a brief stop I was on my way again.  Soon an eccentric young guy picked me up.  Through some charades, grunts and 'get in the bloody back will you' gestures I was on my way to Pai.  In my contemplation of how the hell I got in this guys pick-up/bakkie I came to the conclusion what he was trying to tell me is he is going towards Pai but not all the way.  No problemo.


So, about 60km from Pai (he didn't take me to far, just to the point of no return) he drops me at a mountain side kiosk with a few soi (street) dogs ambling about.  I hear him cry "Chokdee to youuu" as he drives away in the direction of Pai.


It didn't take long, maybe 20 seconds, before the Merc came around the corner.  Normally I wouldn't even bother trying to hitch from a Mercedes-Benz.  But he stopped.  A lovely elderly Thai couple in Chiang Mai for a conference took the weekend off to enjoy the mountains.  They work in radio.

When I climbed into the back I could see on their faces they weren't sure why they stopped.  I wasn't sure either but we all had a lovely chat on the way to Pai.