wednesday night we switched hotels to the shin shane guesthouse, where the bungalows offer a less spectacular view, but are less than half the previous night's rate. we pushed off thursday morning, late, to hit mae sai, chiang suan, then on to chinag rai before landing again in chiang mai.

the proprieter of our guesthouse pointed us along a route off the beaten path, but with more beauty than the highway. of course we followed his suggestion, and ended up pushing the motorbikes up red dirt paths set against the mountains at 60 degree angles. cursing and terrified of the smooth-faced hill tribes people, i pushed my scooter upward as hard as we would go; it in its neon green and i in my sandals and linen pants, and panting, we all came out at the top of the mountain, probably less than 2 km from where we started. nothing in thailand is in a straight line, i have learned.