Leaving Pai for ThaTon

I said goodbye to Cesar and watched him ride off on his bicycle for his long mountainous journey ahead, only to find that my friends had all gone ahead to ThaTon the day before, but were anxiously awaiting my arrival. I wanted to hurry and get things wrapped up in Pai, so I paid my bungalow fee and left with my bag to return my motorcycle. A shady Thai cop gave me a ticket when I turned the corner for not wearing a helmet. I was upset since I was pressed for time to get to the bus station, but paid my ticket($200 Baht=7 dollars). When I arrived at the bus station they smiled and nodded when I asked for a ticket to ThaTon. I got on the bus full of monks only to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere where no one speaks English. As I argued with the driver of the bus that I bought a $150 Baht ticket for ThaTon not Mai Mirarai a sweet Burmese woman walked by, and said in perfect English that this bus doesn't go to ThaTon. I was flustered. Why then did they tell me in English that this bus would take me to ThaTon? She asked him, and then answered to me that the driver didn't know. How will I get there? I asked even more distraught?
She smiled and took me around the corner to a bus stop, and said "wait here for one hour, and the bus will come." "Korp Kuhn Ka" I gratefully thanked her. She left.
Now I was starving, not having eaten yet, so I walked to the market 30 ft. away and bought noodles in a plastic bag that I ate with two thin wooden skewers for chop sticks. If you could have seen me you would have laughed! :) BUT! I was so grateful to have a meal, because I was starving, and I felt humbled thinking of all the poor people of the world who struggle for their meals. Sometime when life is too easy you don't appreciate the little things like basic survival.
Finally the bus arrived, and I boarded the over packed bus. I shared a tiny bench with two Thai girls. Thank god Thai girls are usually skinny! haha! The bus came to a stop after an hour, so I asked the pharang in front of me if we were here. He laughed as he exited the bus and said, "Oh no, you still have another 3 1/2-4 hrs to go, but at least you took this bus, because it's more scenic. Good luck. Bye." Ok.... Well, this day was proving to be frustrating and long, but full of surprises teaching me patience. After we continued on route I looked in the distance to see the misty mountains, gorgeous jungle vegetation, rivers, and several elephants roaming free. It donned on me yet again how lucky I am to be here in Asia. :)
I awoke from my nap and it was dark. My watch said that it was 8 p.m., and we arrived to a small town where the driver yelled: ThaTon! So, I jumped off, grabbed my bag, and thought: what am I going to do now? It's late. Where will I sleep. How will I get to Chiang Rai tomorrow? When do I want to leave for Laos. My mind was swirling, and I felt my anxiety swell.
Just then I heard a sweet female Spanish accent behind me. "Didn't I see you in Pai before?" I turned around and recognized a girl who had befriended all of my friends. "Yes!" :) She asked if I wanted to share her room and her food. "Yes! Thank you." :) She and I spent the night talking before bed. Our room had a frog in the typical Thai squatter toilet. haha!
The next day after my meditation by the river overlooking the white Buddha on the mountain I stood up and turned around to see my new friend Clara talking to Marcello on a bench. When I walked over he told me all of our friends were at the cafe. Yay! We caught up, discussed all our adventures since we'd last seen each other, and decided we would all room together. All 8 of us.
After we settled into our new guesthouse, and all had a chance to shower, we decided to head to town(basically 1 street crossing a bridge), and as we walked and laughed in our element, who did I see biking towards me but Cesar! I couldn't believe it! Yay! What a coincidence! Neither of us knew the other person would be here in such a remote place on the Burma border.
The rest of the night he and I had fun hiking up to the Wat(temple of the white Buddha), and then later talking, singing, and laughing with our crazy Brazilian, Spanish, Argentinian, and Italian friends. They love to sing and dance. Visente brought several instruments.
I find it funny being in Thailand and trying to speak Spanish.
The next morning I said goodbye to Cesar telling him I want to see him in Laos, and the 8 of us left by bus to Chiang Rai. The driver kept stopping in remote places trying to increase the previously agreed upon price of travel to Chiang Rai, which was totally unfair!
After a short and aggrivating bus ride we arrived in Chiang Rai! :)