A 6am start was far from our comfort zone in the hippy village of Pai but one we had to make to get to our bus on time. We were off on a very unique faalung (tourist) experience- a thai wedding. My new siamese twin Kelly and I were off to her boyfriend, Boo’s, brothers wedding (phew mouthful) in a small country village 14 hours out of our nesting spot.

After escaping the outskirts of Chiang Mai it was pretty much long hot highways and due to the lack of sleep the only real thoughts I could grasp was fuck its lu-ng (hot) and how highways all look the same no matter what side of the car, road, or country you are on; long concrete paths of madness. Although maybe I lie, there where two different things after all (maybe mum and dad shouldn’t read this part); 1) in our time driving there and then another three hours to a family hometown we passed 4 crashes. THREE trucks in different parts of the journey had rolled off the road and one ute that had flipped rather horrifically down a bank on its roof. 2) There are a lot of bridges and when you go on and off a bridge you may as well be driving down a flight of stairs- bang bang bang. This factor pretty much made sleeping impossible.

So after much fun there, we arrived at our first stop ….. Here we fell into one bed for a cosy sleep, Boo, Kelly and I oh and think aircon deserves name sake as well. Mmmm aircon! The next morning we got lost in the famous markets which felt as though you were walking through medieval china town, I kicked myself for leaving my camera behind.

Once we arrived out on the farm (I guess you could call it) we realized the true desertedness of our location. As we plied out of the car everyone stopped and stared. And by everyone I mean the entire village who had come to help with the preparations. Turns out it was the first time many of the hang had seen a white person or tourist in real life. After a few intimidating laps around the property I had found some smiles with my camera and clumsy Thai attempts and before long we had a fan club of kids watching our every move. Over the two days, as people gained confidence, we ended up been the focal point of many photos, pointing and giggles.

Thai people prepare everything themselves from scratch. The women sat about ALL day in the intense heat making alloy (delicious) meals and desserts while the men circled around piles of coconuts cracking them open ready for use. By the end of the day they had taken and used 400 coconuts for the next days feasts.

Once we begun to peel off that night from heat exhaustion and far too much beer (Boo haha) it was time to get a few hours sleep before the 5am start for the ceremonies. We begun by sitting as the monks blessed the couple and chanted, then we all had turns at scooping out rice into the monks bowls for their breakfast. The traditions and rituals continued on until midday- parades through the villages, dancing on the dusty roads, tying of rope around the bride and grooms arms, pouring potentially holey water over the couples hands while giving our best wishes (while everyone else watches might I add, pity my Thai is so crap! I had decided to say something inspirational in Maori instead but I got too nervous and just spoke quickly in English so they couldn’t understand instead) and the exchanging of money from family to family.

What an amazing experience it was. Not only to spend time with my new friend Boo’s family, be involved in a Thai wedding or learn the way these resourceful people make everything by hand and using what’s in their backyard but to throw myself into an environment so far off the beaten track that I don’t even know the name of the place (although Kelly tells me its near Suphan Buri). So secluded that we turned heads all day purely because of our white skin. So remote and yet we were so welcomed.