After meeting up with my friend in Bangkok we ventured north on a sleeper train to Chiang Mai, but after arriving early we decided to jump straight on a minibus and head for the hills to a village called Pai. Whilst it is rather like a little backpacker enclave; with lots of coffee shops and wide range of restaurants about; it is surrounded by hills and mountains leading to brilliant views outside the village. Here is the view across the river to our accommodation, basic huts but peaceful setting:
We set about a loop of the hills on a bike making several stops. There was the site of a World War II bridge which had been rebuilt in the 70s, then we stopped at Pai canyon to get views out down to valleys over ridges of rock. These photos are from the hillside Wat (Buddhist temple) which was at least a straining 200 step climb.
It looks lovely Tom ! really peaceful….no news here except to say more snow in the air today and its freezing! ha ha!