The Odyssey of Gertrude and Bertha: Part Seven – Ladies VS. 762 Curves (and back again)
Distance so far: 3125 km
Bike repairs: With a newly repaired inner piece of the pedals, Bertha is working like a dream. Except the slightly exploded pedal. The solution, foot massage on every pedal stroke.
Gertrude’s back wheel slipped into misalignment. Solution: actual real bike maintenance! We were so excited we photographed it!
After a few self pampering treat yo’ self kind of days in Chiang Mai, the bikes were reunited and an even more daring plan was conceived. To celebrate the reunion, we would cycle to Pai, a mere 130 km away and packed in with 762 hair raising switchback turns through the mountains of Northern Thailand. Somehow the shock and disbelief in the eyes of those we told of this plan never managed to dissuade us and our naive optimism. Perhaps it should have.
Nevertheless, off we set bright and early the next morning, bodies angry at the abrupt end to their newfound lives of leisure, bikes laden with sleeping bag and blanket for the increasingly cold nights and mornings, and brains buzzing with what could definitely only be a beautiful, breathtaking ride to Pai. We found the turnoff, and headed on the only road to Pai alongside the other tourists as they enjoyed the motors in their modes of transport. Our confidence was bolstered by the ease of the first 10 km or so. And then we hit the switchbacks. And kept hitting them. Over and over as they curved so drastically you were essentially coming face to face with your own back tire, we climbed slowly up, up, up, hoping that each bend would bring us to the always greatly appreciated downhill. As day 1 drew to a close, we found ourselves a wat in which to sleep, and we realized that this may have been a foolhardy endeavour, but we were in it now, so we would continue in the morning. A few minor bike repairs (we’re really becoming cyclists now, what with doing our own repairs and whatnot), and a cold but deserved night sleep later, we awoke in the clouds, put on all the clothes we had, and set off again to tackle some more mountain. Mornings are an interesting time of being icy cold on any slight downhill, but instantly being covered in sweat as soon as you have to climb even a little. But by 11 am we were de-layering, taking the socks off from our socks and sandals combination, and looking up the never ending series of uphill switchbacks awaiting us. A lot of breaks, some well timed pomelo eating, and a slow but steady attitude saw us through some beautiful scenery, encouraging passers by, and a whole lot of swearing at the curves ahead. The day ended with a campsite on a helipad overlooking the mountains we had just climbed, a bright moon and glorious stars, and the joy of going to sleep just after sunset.
The third day would see us into Pai, of that we were certain. It would also be our most rewarding day so far, which we would discover. We awoke to an orange sky, a fireball sun rising over the mountains, and our breath making little clouds in the air. We once again bundled up, reluctantly packed away the blankets, and got onto our bikes. At sunrise the road to Pai is quiet, with only the occasional local zooming by on their motorbike, navigate the turns second nature to them. At that time of morning, there is a beautiful stillness in the air, uninterrupted by tourists on their rented scooters, taking the turns at frightening speeds as they frighten us by giving us thumbs up and fist pumps instead of having both hands on the bike and concentrating on the road. To our surprise we discovered downhill. And then more downhill. As the downhill continued, our joyous exuberance could not be contained. We fought gravity as we took the hairpin turns clutching the brakes so hard our knuckles hurt, the beautiful morning air streaming through the trees, the fresh mountain air being greedily inhaled, the bandana covered smile on my tear streamed, nose running face would not be tamed. And then there she was, the hippy haven of Pai. Six roads, three traffic lights, hundreds of tourists, and a laid back, night market food consuming, live life without worry kind of vibe. We knew we would like it here, with it’s never ending array of food to eat, beautiful landscapes to relax the body and mind, and live music appearing throughout the city on a nightly basis.
After a few days in Pai that seem to have vanished along with much of our money, we have successfully managed to eat our way through Pai, experienced a taste of the backpacker life which we used to know so well, and perhaps mistakenly looked at a map. Our next stop of Chiang Dao, we have discovered much to our chagrin, will see us tackle all 762 curves once again, but this time in reverse. Ignorance, in this case, was definitely bliss.
