Leaving Pai

Yesterday night was another regular night in Pai. As expected, it didn't take long until we bumped into Axel. I spent great chunks of the evening watching his kung-fu moves, admiring his new home made skateboard lights, and listening to his 'long story long' about how he nearly died after being attacked by a rabies ridden dog. Axel also made a very important proposition. He is hoping to start an adventurous trek in a couple of months to an obscure country. Originally he was eyeing Bhutan, but he changed his mind once Kirsty informed him that it officially costs $200 per day to visit there. Axel is therefore now looking into the prospect of visiting Papua New Guinea, and he has invited me along. Whether I will accept yet, I don't know, but even a trek to Leeds would be exciting if it involves Axel!

It is now the following evening. By the afternoon I had said my goodbyes and was on a bus back to Chiang Mai. As I stared out of the window it felt sad to be completely alone again. My aim was to hopefully get my camera fixed and depart towards the Laos border, preferably all that day. Finding the local Fujifilm store proved surprisingly easy, but my luck soon changed. It will cost me about forty pounds to get a new screen. Furthermore, I will have to wait a month and then return to Chiang Mai to collect it. This is just not feasible. I was also informed that I could possibly go down to Bangkok to get it fixed. This would be a little cheaper and take around half the time.

With trains to Bangkok running dry for the evening and the final bus towards Laos revving it's engine, I found myself increasingly flustered by the decision. At first I thought I should just carry on with a broken camera - it possibly still works despite the fact that I can't use the screen. I then realised that I could simply change my planned route by heading to Bangkok, dropping off my camera, visiting some of Thailand's southern islands, returning to Bangkok to collect my camera, and then heading East into Laos or Cambodia. This seemed very appealing, but the extra transport costs rendered it rather pointless - I would be spending so much extra money that I may as well buy a new camera.

I have decided to carry on heading towards Laos. Time has pressed on unfortunately and I'm going to have to spend a night here in Chiang Mai, although at least this gives me time to consider buying a new camera in the morning. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last time, it's been a very frustrating day. My spirits have been dented. It probably is not helped by the fact that I am once again alone.