Settling In

The days are long and relatively lazy in Pai. We work diligently to make the most of them, seeing the local sights and exercising when possible with a little morning yoga, evening run around the perimeter of the school's soccer field, or laps at the community pool.
Pai Canyon
Today we visited a mini-Grand Canyon. Northern Thailand is relatively lush, but still, it is two months into the dry season and a certain dusty haze hangs in the air. But this natural formation, a few kilometers out of town, felt like the American Southwest.
Narrow ledges threaded back and forth, plunging down into deep canyons. In one or two places, we had to climb on all fours down a narrow passage - the tan/pink earth was crumbly and faintly soapy on our hands. It is mysterious then what is in the ledges that made them resist erosion all these years.
Petting Zoo for Giants
Elephants have a long history in Thailand as the working man's companion. They moved logs, hauled stuff, and did any general heavy lifting. But now that way of life is dying out, and there are many animals out of work. We saw a sad, incongruous sight in the cities - a baby elephant being led down a busy street. Yes, for just 30 baht you could feed him or take a picture of him.
In Pai, there are 5 - 6 'Elephant Camps' outside town, where people can ride and play with retired animals. We decided against the riding, as it seemed it would get old and chaf-ey reeeal quick. But we did want to hang out with them.
The elephants were chained to posts, but were fed and talked to often. Shane did a couple of sketches included in this post's album.
P.S. The White Elephant concept is a part of Thai history. When a white elephant was born, it was always given to the King as tribute. When the king had a particularly annoying, hanger-on kind of courtier or distant relative who was always asking for favors and preferences, he might very well grant him the title 'First Honorable Minister in Charge of 3rd Elephant Herd' and make them responsible for several elephants' care, effectively bankrupting the person!
Walking Dollar Bills in "The Land of Smiles'
So there's a little controversy going on in Pai. One of the area attractions is a natural hot springs and mud bath, with simple facilities the locals have been frequenting for a long time. So apparently in July 2006, the admission cost went from $1.50 (for everyone), to $7 for foreigners. Then in Dec 2006 it jumped again to $13 for foreigners.
Now, we have seen this dual priced system many times in our travels, but it was usually only about twice the price, not 10 - 20x as much. The ex-pats here have started a letter-writing campaign to protest. But with the Thai bureaucracy, good luck. There's definitely some backlash in the air - visa regulations just changed so foreigners can only stay 3 months. It's tough - reconciling that famous Thai friendliness with the suspicion there is underlying resentment of foreigners.

Pai II