15th and 16th of October, 2023.
Hitchhiking in Thailand: Camping in Pai
The memorial bridge is not far from here, so I am hoping to get there on my way to find a camping place. Walking down the road is really nice, surrounded by the beauty of green trees. I see some shades of orange in the sky and that’s enough to make me happy and confident that I made the right choice by leaving the canyon earlier.
There is a small “camping area” after the bridge, but for some reason I don’t really feel like camping there. I keep walking until I arrive to a camping place, located near the river. I ask the owner if I can pitch my tent there for the night. She explains to me that the toilets are not finished, to which I respond it is not a problem. I am decided to stay when she tells me I would have to pay 100 Baht. I thank her for her time but decided to keep on looking for another place.
By the road there is a grocery shop and when I come closer, the lady owner shows me I can pitch my tent in front of it. Laugh. While I am sitting in the bench resting, I see a sign for a monastery not too far. When I ask the lady owner about it, hoping that perhaps there I can get a place to clean myself, she calls a friend who can speak English. Talking to her, she discourages me to go there, saying that it will probably be closed by now, plus it is only for men. I don’t know how to explain to her that I have stayed in many monasteries before, which were also only for men, and in most of them I arrived after the closing time.
Unsatisfied with being unable to help me, the lady owner call someone else. The call isn’t very good so I cannot understand them much at first. It is a couple with whom I am talking to now. When the signal finally gets better, a man in a very good English tells me basically the same things about the monastery as the previous lady on call. But then he offers to come and pick me up to camp at his home, where I can take a shower too. I thank him for the gesture but also tell him he doesn’t need to come all the way here, to what he responds that he lives very close by.
In about two minutes, Jake arrives. For my surprise he is also a foreigner. He is from one of our neighbour countries in South America, Venezuela. His home is only a few metres after the camping place where I was, and in front of a small temple.
How wonderful of someone simply saying – “Don’t worry! Come on in and camp at my house, in my garden.” Even though Jake acts pretty normal towards his behaviour, saying that is simply the right thing to do, I think it is pretty awesome!
First Jake show me a few options of where I can pitch my tent. He has a beautiful outside area, a lovely and gorgeous garden, and it goes all the way to the river. I choose to stay as nearer as possible to the water and pitch my tent under a small wooden gazebo.
When I come to the house, another surprise: the place is magical! It is cute and well decorated, as a beach / holiday home, but which actually feels like home. It is incredible! I then meet Jake’s wife, Kwan, and their two boys, Rocket and Journey. Beautiful names, I know. Kwan is such a sweet woman, and we chat for a while. She is just lovely!
I take a quick shower and wash some clothes, then I say goodnight and go back to my tent.
It pours rain at night, and I am so happy that I chose to be under the gazebo.
Everybody wakes up very early and soon enough I am ready to go. But when I come to the house, I am offered some delicious coffee, so Jake and I sit outside, sipping our coffee and chatting for a while. Rocket and Journey, 5 and 3 years old, are also around, full of energy. They are super cute, and I think it is awesome that Rocket looks a lot with Jake while Journey has more features from Kwan.
Kwan prepares some delicious porridge, which we have with apples and coconut milk. When the boys are getting ready to do to kindergarten, I say my goodbyes to everyone and take my way to Chiang Mai.
10 Years Around the World 