Even as I headed to Pai I had a feeling that I would end up staying past the date that my visa expired. However, I certainly could not have predicted that I would overstay by 5 days and be forced to pay the inordinate fee, by Thai standards, of 2500 baht.
It started out innocently enough, after leaving Ban La Up I said goodbye to my friends in Mae Sariang and made my way up to Pai. I surprised my friends there and had a great time reconnecting. All the guesthouses in town were full because of the festival, but some friends offered to let me stay in the extra room of their home.
That night we all went to the Reggae festival. That was where I received my first clue that something drastic must be wrong with my body. I had been starving to just let go and dance all night to live reggae. However, at midnight, many hours before the party was to end, I went home.
The next morning, I just didn't feel right. Now, I know what many of you are suspecting with the reputation of reggae festivals and all, but let me set the record straight. The only things that I ingested were a couple of Sang Som rum and sodas.
A couple of days later, when I was still not feeling better, I decided it was time to pay my first visit to a foreign hospital.
They didn't seem as concerned about a high level of privacy or quite the same level of sanitation, but I was pleasantly surprised that the small town Thai hospital was much more efficient than any I have been to in the US. Within a couple of hours I had been screened, lab tested, counseled by a doctor, injected, charged a small fee, and was walking away free with my prescription meds.
A couple of days later the sharp stabbing sensation in my stomach had subsided and my bathroom habits seemed to be heading back to normal.
My friend had been waiting for me to feel better so that he could take me to a Lisu hilltribe village to celebrate their New Year. Although I was still taking the medications and I really should have been exiting the country on account of my visa, I really didn't want to miss out on the celebration. I convinced myself that I was ready and compromised with the visa by booking a direct bus ticket for the next evening.
I threw together some warm clothes, my toothbrush and meds and took off on the motorbike. After a couple of hours weaving through the jungle we arrived at the Lisu village. We were welcomed by what sounded to be gunshots. I was only partially relieved when I learned they were firecrackers.The party had already been going for a couple of days. Each family had built an offering platform out of bamboo and filled it with glasses of homebrew, rice, bits of meat, candies, money and whatever else they had to offer to the spirits to ensure a good new year. At the center of the village the people put together a dance floor with a large bamboo offering shrine that held the head of a large pig.
As we explored the village, several families invited us in to join in on their feasting. The stabbing feeling in my stomach may have been gone, but it was now being replaced by a terrible sinking feeling that I would not yet be able to handle all these exotic "delicacies" that I didn't have the heart to turn down. Many of the foods I don't bother to ask about.
There was no mistaking the cow tongue. I watched as they scraped away its taste buds, placed it directly on the coals, chopped it into smaller pieces, barbequed it and proudly placed it in a bowl in front of me.
I tried to keep an openmind, but honestly it was the weirdest thing I have ever eaten. Fried crickets and blood soup don't have a thing on tongue. I swear I could feel the thing licking me back as I worked it around my mouth. It was slightly sensual and absolutely revolting.
In another hut I quickly hit it off with one little girl. We played a clapping game and traded some words in English and Thai. Her mom took off her traditional Lisu jacket and gave it to me to wear for the night. She then disappeared and came back with the matching skirt and a beautiful silver belt.
After I was fully dressed as a traditional Lisu woman, the mom and little girl led me to the dancefloor. The men were in a circle around the pighead-offering playing drums and a flute-like instrument and leading a dance. The women were in a larger circle around them, all holding hands and participating in a circular dance. They let the three of us in and I did my best to follow along with the dance. The first few minutes were a bit awkward. Not only did I not have a clue what I was doing, but despite the outfit, I didn't exactly blend in. However after a few minutes the people seemed to get used to me and I started to feel the rhythm of the dance.
After dancing for over an hour the little girl kept tugging on my arm to take her home. So, I walked her up the hill to her hut and then joined my friend, Nikon and a group of the other men in some card games. I never quite figured out the rules but I seemed to be quite lucky at it.
It was about this time that I started to feel the effects of a vengeful spirit that I had offended. Well, it was either that or possibly all the strange foods interacting with my weakened stomach. Even though I really was looking forward to seeing what else this party had to bring I knew I couldn't do it. I went back to one of the family's huts and sprawled out on the blankets they had put down for me.
At this point all that I could hope for was that I would fall asleep before the sickness kicked in. But even in my increasingly delirious state I knew it was a joke to think that I could sleep during a Lisu New Year celbration. Even if I could get used to the sounds of the music, chanting and dancing, it was the firework explosions that jolted me to my soul. Besides, everytime I closed my eyes I had vivid flashbacks of eating the cow tongue.
It wasn't long before I had to get back up, climb down the stairs of the hut, wind my way down a steep path and empty the contents of my stomach into a dirty, flooded squat toilet. My only relief was that at least I couldn't feel the cow tongue licking me on the way back up.
I returned to the hut only to have to repeat the process again throughout the night. The party continued on until 4am when the villagers and myself were finally able to fall asleep.
The next morning I could barely summon the energy to hold on to the motorbike. Nikon took me back to my friends' home to rest and then later back to the hospital.
"Would you like a private room?" The doctor asked me after reviewing my tests and talking over my symptoms.
I assumed she meant a private room just to get an injection. "Oh, no. Regular is fine."
"Ok, you stay until tomorrow."
"Wait a second, what!?!"
"Yes, you stay one night."
For only the second time in my travels I had actually pre-booked a bus ticket. Because my visa had expired I had even sprung for the expensive direct ticket that left that night.
"Oh, no, impossible." I told the doctor. "My visa is expired, I need to go to Laos tonight."
"Ohh..." the doctor empasized. "You can go... but quite dangerous."
I thought about it for a moment then came to my senses. It would be ridiculous to get on a bus by myself feeling the way I did. "Ok, I stay in Pai tonight, but I stay at my friend's house." I compromised.
"Ok, you get injection first, then rest and lots of water and come back in morning for second injection."
"Deal!" Finally my bargaining skills came in handy for something more important than saving a dollar on a tuk-tuk ride.
Next I went to see what I could do about my non-refundable bus ticket. With hospital papers in hand I asked to switch the date on my ticket.
The man directed me away from the other tourists to say "impossible."
I was quite exhausted and slightly delirious at this point, so it didn't take much for tears to well up in my eyes. Without effort, I used the oldest trick in the book.
"Ok, I move your ticket to tomorrow. No problem."
I rested at my friends' house and they lovingly took care me, bringing me homemade and soup and lots of water and juice. I followed all the doctor's compromised orders, said some more difficult good byes and left the next evening for Laos.
When I spoke to Thai immigration they confirmed that, as I had only recently discovered, the daily fine for overstaying a visa has more than doubled. I pleaded with the man a bit and showed him my hospital papers, but I was not so emotional this time and didn't turn on the tears. So, I bit the bullet and paid the whole of my fines.
