Life @ Pai and a little Chiang Mai

From a speeding van to slow moving train we made it from the Cambodian/Thailand border to Bangkok, and up to Chiang Mai.  The train was super relaxing, and it was our first time riding in one since Germany.  We only have fifteen days to spend in Thailand on this first go-around, so we jumped up North to visit Chiang Mai and Pai (pronounced ‘Pie’).  After roughly 34 hours of travel since leaving Siem Reap, Cambodia, we had a quick break in Chiang Mai before taking the local bus up to Pai.  Upon inspection, the bus looked like something that had been broken down and sitting in a junk yard for the last twenty years.  Nervously jumping on literally as it was leaving the station we found a couple of comfy seats, and I have to say it was one of the best bus rides we have had.  There were only a half-a-dozen people on it so we had room to sprawl out a bit, and the driver was sane.


(Bus to Pai)

Pai feels like a little hippy town pulled straight out of Colorado.  In fact, the only people we met randomly were Americans either from Colorado or with some connection to Colorado.  Megan and I almost didn’t want to leave as we spent some time cruising the area on a scooter, taking a cooking class, and relaxing to the art and music scene.  When cruising around on the scooter we got to venture up a super steep road to a viewpoint.  I thought I was going to have to kick Megan off the bike so I could get to the top.  At that point we really thought we should have gotten a bigger bike, but everything after that was easy as Pai.  Now it did make sense why the bike rental place offered insurance on the scooter.  We saw foreigners all over the place wrapped up in bandages and covered in road rash.  Apparently this location is where a lot of people try driving a scooter for the first time (it was only $3.30 to rent).  Traveling around we saw waterfalls, Wats, elephants, a canyon, and some amazing scenery.  One of the best things was a juice stand we stopped off at.  Hoping to fend off lunch just for a short period we stopped at a small place on the way to one of the waterfalls.  As we sat down this lady, who was super happy to see us, brought us over some juice and a bunch of fruit, boiled potatoes, and nuts.  Megan immediately asks how much it costs, and she says it is whatever you want to pay, pointing at a donation box.  Lunch!  The fruit was grown in her garden and was all amazing.  I think in the end we might have had a bit too much sugar from all of it, but it was nearly better than some of the sights.  She had a rather large guestbook for us to sign and it was packed with excited and happy customers.  Venturing farther we eventually ran across what might as well have been pole barns with elephants in them.  Elephants are always nice to see, and Megan just reverts back to a kid getting super excited.  She got to feed one of them a papaya which only made the elephant next to it upset.  Seeing the elephants really has more of a downside than anything though.  Most, if not all, of them don’t lead the best of lives and these ones in specific are just chained to a post unless they are giving a tourist a ride down the road. 🙁  For these reasons, plus a few more, Megan and I haven’t visited the elephant camps.


(Megan feeding one of the elephants)

On a happier note we had an amazing experience taking a Thai cooking class.  We started our day off by visiting the local market where we learned about some of the different veggies, herbs, fruits, and other goodies.  Getting back we started immediately cooking; making a fried dish, curry, dessert, soup, appetizer, and salad.  After each dish we would sit down and eat it.  By the end of the day we were stuffed.  It nearly felt like Thanksgiving.  I think we will keep an eye out for another class in the future.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.


(Papaya Salad and Fried Spring Rolls)

Because of our time crunch, we hopped on the local bus back to Chiang Mai.  There are tons of Wats all around town, and some different street markets throughout the week.  The night bazaar is absolutely huge.  You need more than one night to go through it all, but they have some awesome pad thai for about 30 cents.  In one day we biked all around town and ventured through the bazaar.  By the time we made it back to the hotel we crashed. That was a long day, let alone a bit too much shopping for me.  On top of the bazaar there is the Saturday street market, then the Sunday street market. All sorts of handicrafts and great street food!  One night Megan was craving a veggie burger, which we couldn’t find, but ended up having burgers at a little hole in the wall.  It ended up being a late night there as we sat and talked to the owner for hours.  The owner, Bill, was from just outside of Denver where he owned a real estate appraisal business.  He retired and moved to Thailand three years ago, and recently started a little restaurant.  He doesn’t hold much faith in Social Security, but he provided us with a bunch of insight to the Thai culture and opening a business.  It was sort of funny as the next morning another retired exPat from Idaho caught us at breakfast and talked our ears off.

While walking around we did purchase some durian fruit to finally try it out.  The smell is really bad, but I found the taste to be boring.  Megan thought it was pretty horrible.   I say try it once and then go buy some mangos!  Aside from the plentiful fruit we were super stoked to hit some really good book stores here.  We quickly swapped a handful of books for new ones.  Hopefully they last us a couple of weeks, as we are heading down to Bangkok to catch a flight out to Yangon, Myanmar.  We will spend two and half weeks there, and then fly back to Bangkok to spend another thirty days in Thailand.


(One of the many Wats in Chiang Mai)

Just a note, it might be a bit longer until our next post as we don’t expect to have internet, or have a good enough internet connection in Myanmar to leave updates.