Fancy Travels

I’ve been a bad blogger. Ok fine, I’ll admit it, a really bad blogger. To my credit though I’ve been really busy and haven’t been up to too many exciting things.  I’m settling back into my routine here in Phuket. Annaliese has been in the U.S. for the past month so it’s just been me here in Kamala. I was a little nervous I’d be lonely, scared, and slowly drive myself crazy but it has been pretty nice. 

My first two weeks back from traveling I (stupidly) agreed to substitute teach at a HUGE county school down in Chalong. I subbed there for three days at the end of last semester and despite it being good money, I pretty much hated every second of it. In just three days I had more excitement there, if you could call it that, than in an entire semester at my other schools. I had kids boxing each other and as their punishment I was to let them hit each other (sounds counterproductive if you ask me, but no one did), a child I didn’t know was autistic tried to jump out of a second story window, I was asked to “autograph” 100 student workbooks, I had little boys watch me through the crack of a window as I used one of the squat toilets, students were petting my hairy arms as though I was a dog, and I mistakenly turned on a fan that looked as though it was going to fly off the ceiling and kill someone and to make matters worse I needed the help of a 5 year old to show how to shut it off. It was an interesting three days to say the least. 

Like I said, literally petting my arms.

These two weeks were not as noteworthy but were equally as miserable. My classes had about 40-50 students in them and there was no Thai teacher to help me with the classroom management. It was really frustrating until I just pretty much gave up on trying to teach them. The school clearly didn’t care enough about the English program to put another teacher in the room so I had to really lower my expectations. I knew I wasn’t going to be there long term but I still wanted to teach them something. I think I got through to a few students but it was mostly telling kids to stop talking, sit down, stop talking, please stop talk for about 7 hours a day. Not ideal to say the least. 

I had to make a quick trip to Malaysia to get a new visa, which was pretty miserable but successful. I left Sunday at 9:30 pm, arrived in Malaysia at 9:00 on Monday morning, and then left to return to Thailand at 10:00 am on Tuesday morning. My travel time and time actually in Malaysia were about the same. I didn’t do too much there. Slept, ate nasty hotel food, and watched movies. 

This is the only photo I took in Malaysia. I loved the bright colors of all the different types of fruit at a local market in Penang.

I started my new teaching job in Patong the day after I got back from Malaysia. I wasn’t too nervous to start but I was warned by my boss that the teachers there have been known to have some attitude. He built up the teachers to seem like monsters but I wasn’t too worried. I’ve been known to be able to throw out some tude as well. Fight fire with fire, right? In reality the teachers have all been really nice so far. They haven’t been overly helpful in staying in the classroom while I teach to help with classroom management but I am learning to control the little monsters by myself. 

See! 5 out of 6 are working!

The school is all pretty open and consists of four different “buildings” which are basically all touching. The school has about 400 hundred students in total.

I’m teaching several different sections of P1-P3 students for a total of seven different classes. I haven’t asked yet, mostly because the students have no idea what I am saying 95% of the time, but I think they range in age from 6 to 8 or 9. I’ve been trying to find the balance of making the kids scared of me so they will listen and I will be able to teach while still getting them to like me so we can have fun. It is a challenge because part of the reason they behave so well for the Thai teachers is because there is always the threat of getting hit, pinched, or swatted at if they misbehave. I obviously am not going to hit the students to gain their respect but also realize that is just part of the cultural difference here. I’ve learned a few key Thai phrases which the students seem to respond well to, although it is frustrating because even though they know what I am saying for a change they still don’t listen. 

P1 sweeties :) Kelly and Kim. I gave all of my students English names.

Overall the job is going well. It is really nice to just be at one school and feel as though I’m becoming part of it’s community as opposed to running from school to school like I did last semester. The commute is also a lot shorter, although I do have to climb the huge mountain between Kamala and Patong, which can be scary seeing rainy season is in full effect here. I work from about 8:00 to 3:00 and then head south for my tutoring job in Chalong. 

I’ve been tutoring two Koreans, Lisa and Eric, for about a month now. I go to their house on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and tutor each of them for an hour. It has been really rewarding, we’ve been having lots of fun and working hard. On those days I don’t get home until about 8:00 which makes for a really long day, but between the money and the overall experience it’s been worth it. 

They are complete opposites. Lisa wants to learn everything and is like a little sponge while I have to trick Eric into learning. It’s been fun!

With rainy season here there has been less beach time, my tan and blonde hair are surely fading, but it has made me appreciate the nice days. Last weekend was beautiful and I took full advantage of the nice weather and spent many hours at the beach! 

I’m really happy and loving the simplicity of my life right now :) I feel so lucky that I am able to have such a broad experience since being here. I feel that I’ve had a great balance between travel and adventure and really setting my roots and making a home here in Phuket. 

After Bali I was headed back to Thailand to spend the last week with Lily and Lyndsay. I opted to fly flew Bali to Phuket instead of flying into Koh Samui and then taking a shorter ferry to save some money.  But of course that meant more travel time and more adventures.

I was planning on taking a taxi to the bus station I knew about in Phuket and then taking the bus to Surat Thani where I would spend the night and figure out how to get to Koh Tao the following morning. I fought with the taxi drivers at the Phuket airport for about 30 minutes trying to get a good price but they were being completely ridiculous and quoting me with outrageous fares. A metered taxi finally showed up and I quickly hopped in before anyone else could take it. I told him, and by told I mean I did a lot of gesturing and pointing on a map, where I needed to go and that I was heading to Surat Thani. Just as we are about to turn on to the main road we see a bus that is headed to Surat Thani. I immediately thought I was screwed because it was about 6:30 and I figured that was the last bus. But have no fear my little taxi man begins chasing after the bus, flashing his high beams, and practically throwing half of his body out the window to try to get the bus to stop. The bus driver finally sees him and pulls over on the shoulder of the highway. I quickly threw money to my driver, gathered my belongs, and ran down the highway to get on the bus. It was all pretty hysterical until I realized the guy who collects tickets and fares was VERY drunk. I was just hoping the bus driver had a little more common sense than to drink on the job that entails driving a massive vehicle but who knows. I successfully made it to my hotel which was actually just a house with two bedrooms that are rented out per night. The women who owned and ran the place was so sweet and the bed in my room was heaven. The beds in Thailand are usually hard as a rock. In any event, she booked me on a bus and ferry to finally meet back up with the girls! 

Lyndsay and Lily had already been on the island for about two days and were in love so I couldn’t wait to see it. After walking around and exploring for just a few hours I knew we were going to have an amazing three days there. The island is pretty large. You need a motorbike to travel around but we stayed in a pretty central location where it was just about a 10 minute walk down the hill to the beach, shops, restaurants and bars. The main little drag is off limits to cars and motorbikes so it was really nice just to mosey down the street looking at menus and window shopping. Koh Tao was really laid back and not too backpack-y but there were definitely still people around. 

Koh Tao

Reunited for a night on the town! 

We ate at some really good restaurants down by the beach and then we treated ourselves to a nice, “farewell” dinner at our hotel for the sunset. We always find excuses to treat ourselves :). As per usual we all ate until we were uncomfortably full and then ordered dessert, some things will never change. 

We had the place to ourselves!

We took a few day trips to other beaches. The beach was nice but it was narrow at high tide and the water never really got deep which made it hard to cool off. The first day we went over to Koh Nangyan which is two small islands connected by a sandbar. It was pretty crowded and the water was really shallow and really hot but we had fun!

Koh Nangyan

The next day we headed to Mango Bay to do some snorkeling and sun bathing before we took the ferry to Koh Phangan later that. The snorkeling was… interesting. I wish someone had a video of the three of us freaking out because a school of fish would not leave us alone. They kept trying to nibble on our bodies and we wanted nothing to do with it. The entire situation was was hilarious and included Lily actually trying to drown me in the process. She even admitted that she was watching my mouth fill up with water and my head go under but in the moment didn’t care. Hahah great friend, right! 

We were really sad to leave Koh Tao and even contemplated stay there for the last couple of days but ended up deciding against it. Koh Phangan didn’t have the same charm as Koh Tao and was a lot bigger and way more spread out. One of the only places that had a ton of things going on was the area was where all the partying happens and it seemed more touristy and pretty trashy. We only ventured down there once. The beach we stayed on was small but really cute but unfortunately the water was super shallow and extremely hot so one day we took a longtail boat to Bottle Beach and the next day we just hung out on our beach and by our pool. Koh Phangan was pretty but nothing really to write home about. Looking back I would definitely preferred to stay in Koh Tao but now I know! 

On the longtail to Bottle Beach. The water was unlike any color I’ve seen. Way more green than it was blue. So beautiful!

Our last night and sunset for the trip. 

It was SO SO sad to say by to Lily and Lyndsay. We had such an amazing time together and seeing them made me realize just how much I miss my friends and family. We said our teary good-byes and I headed back to Phuket while Lily went home and Lyndsay met her mom for 10 more days of travel in SE Asia. I can’t even begin to explain how lucky I feel to have been able do all the traveling I was able to pack in to those amazing 6 weeks of my life. I’m pretty much going to be in Phuket until I leave July 18th but I’ll squeeze in some weekend trips as well.

Indonesia was amazing!!! It is definitely one of the most beautiful countries I’ve traveled to with it’s blue, blue waters and sandy white beaches, I was in vacation heaven! I spent this portion of my trip with Annaliese and Dana, a friend from Bates that came to see us! Our initial plan was to spend the week in Bali but after talking with people who had been there and people we met along the way, we decided to only spend two full days in Bali and then travel to smaller islands off the coast. 

We spent our first days in Kuta which was pretty nasty. It reminded me of Patong here in Phuket which is not a good thing, like AT ALL. It was super touristy, pretty dirty, and all around not a nice place (I’m being pretty dramatic here and super critical but it is pretty true). We didn’t spend any time here during the day and instead headed up to Ubud which was truly amazing. It is the place where Elizabeth from Eat, Pray, Love spent her time in Bali and for this reason it had lots of people around but remained charming and authentic. It is up in the mountains and is located among tons of greener than green rice paddies. The streets are small and are lined with little one of a kind shops, restaurants, and temples. I had some really amazing food but I regrettably didn’t buy anything from the shops, I was being too cheap (sigh). 

Ubud. View from lunch of the rice paddies.

Rice terrace outside of Ubud.

Next I headed to Nusa Lombongan, which was just about an hour and a half on a boat from Bali. I was going to write ferry instead of boat just then but it certainly was not a ferry, or a speed boat, or like any boat I’ve seen before but hey, it got me there in one piece (although getting onto the boat was a task in itself. I had to wait from a wave to go down then run and jump in between the two engines before the next wave came and lifted the boat too high where I couldn’t reach it. Sketchy, I know).

Not the greatest picture to illustrate my point, but you get the gist. Looks like a spider with those stabilizers. 

View from the top of the hill/ higher ground from the potential Tsunami

The island was so quiet, there were hardly any people around which was so nice. It felt like we had it to ourselves. Even though the island was small and we still needed to rent motorbikes to get around even though there are just a few different roads. I use the term roads real loosely here as they were unlike any roads I’ve ever seen. They were only about seven feet wide and were made of concrete, not asphalt, and lined with more pot holes than I could ever imagine. Enough about the roads though and on to more important things like THE BEACHESSS!! I spent both of my days basking in the sun (with 30 SPF on, don’t worry. No wrinkles for this one!) at Dream Beach, and honestly it couldn’t have a better name. Amazing blue water, fun waves to play in, and a small, empty white sandy beach!! 

Yup, that is the road, not the sidewalk! 

Dream Beach. Annaliese and I frolicking in the waves :)

The second day we left the beach early and went on an adventure to find the cliff jumping we’d heard about. I wasn’t so psyched about the prospect of having to jump of a cliff but I was willing to at least go check it out. It was quite the project to find the island but we did and it was beautiful!! 

THE CLIFF- its hard to see but 8 meters is the ledge about a half inch (on the screen) below the orange/red flag. 13 meters is from the very top. 

I wasn’t going to jump but, I mean, everyone else was doing it and I hate missing out on things (and it’s surprising I’ve made it this far in my life with that mentality!). I only jumped from the 8 meter platform while the rest of the gang opted for the 13. I’m SO SO glad I did it but I honestly did not enjoy it for a second. The moments before I jumped were agonizing, the falling was horrifying, hitting the water was scary, the water up my nose (and butt ha!) was painful, and the climb up the latter was terrifying. But hey, I did it! And I don’t regret it! Conquering fears! 

AHHHH!

Next stop was the Gili Islands. This was much more of a backpackers island which has it pros and cons. I find that sometimes backpackers who have been in one place for a while can be cliquey which makes it difficult to meet people, but then again there is the opportunity to meet people from all over the world which is obviously a huge reason to travel in the first place. The beaches were not as nice as they were on Nusa Lombongan, but we went on a snorkel trip one day so it wasn’t such a huge issue. Gili was much smaller, you could walk around the island in two hours, and it had a ton of restaurants and bars while Nusa was super spread out with not much going on. I did enjoy the island a lot though. It was undeniably beautiful and I was able to meet some interesting people and have some great memories with Annaliese and Dana. 

Snorkeling :)

The people were also so friendly, the men a bit too friendly in my opinion, and as soon as I said I was from the States people’s faces lit up and they proceeded to say some variation of, “You from Obama?!!!” and “You are Obama??!” or “Ohhhh, OBAMA!” They are clearly very proud of the fact Obama spent some time there. The food was also really good, pretty similar to the food here and in Cambodia, but of course it had slight variations and different flavors. 

I’ll definitely be going back to Indonesia at some point in my life. That is a fact, my friends. There is so much more to explore and I’m completely obsessed with it’s beauty. I think I was made to be on a boat or a beach and this is not a bad place to do either one of those things. I left the girls to head back to Thailand and meet back up with Lyndsay and Lily, while Annaliese and Dana continued exploring Indonesia. The adventures continue!!

Lily, Lyndsay and I were all really sad to be leaving Cambodia. We all fell in love with the country and it’s people, but we were excited to see what Laos had to offer as we had all heard wonderful things. We ended up having a lot of fun but if I could do it over again there are definitely some things I would change. 

Nothing like walking directly from the airport on the runway to the plane. Watch out for those propellers! 

We only had five days in Laos because I had already planned my trip and bought my ticket to Bali months ago. We thought that five days would be enough to at least get a feel for the country but we ended up trying to do too much in a short amount of time. We spent three nights in Vang Vieng and one night in Vientiane. I wish we would have just picked one place and explored it more thoroughly. You live and learn, I suppose. 

We arrived in Vientiane and got dropped off at what was supposed to be the bus stop. I should have learned by now that although bus stations really do look like bus stations the vast majority of them are simply sidewalks or side streets that have been deemed a stop although you would never know it just walking by. We were pretty skeptical of the bus driver that was hustling us to get in the bus, strap our bags to the top, and embark on this three hour drive. We had about 45 minutes before it actually was going to leave so we got some food across the street and slowly watched the bus fill up with back packers. We felt a lot better at jumped in before we lost our seats. It just goes to show that sometimes you just have to go with the sketchy, somewhat unreliable way to get anywhere in Asia. 

The drive to Vang Vieng was pretty miserable. Thankfully we were in a smaller bus but the dirt roads were horrible and lined with pot holes, cows, dust. I managed not to get car sick as the bus flew up and down the mountains. We were getting nervous as we approached Vang Vieng as we felt we were in the middle of no where, and if you look it up on a map we really were. What brought us here you ask. Well if I’m being honest, there is a pretty famous river party that goes on each and every day in Vang Vieng, its a special place. We decided to do the river party one day and something more cultural and adventurous the second. 

Vang Vieng was absolutely beautiful. We had am amazing view from our bungalow of the river and the surrounding mountains. Just as in northern Thailand the air was really, really dry but it wasn’t as smoggy, which was nice. It was extremely hot and dusty though. We had heard about the town being crazy and filled with young backpackers but it was actually eerily quiet. The streets were pretty empty even during dinner time. 

The first day we explored the town a little and then ended up going on a guided kayak tour down the river. We thought it was going to be a large group of us but it ended up just being the three of us which was awesome. Lyndsay (the princess) was in the kayak with the tour guide while Lily and I were left to our own devices and were forced to navigate through the rapids by ourselves. I can normally handle a kayak, however this massive plastic thing was no match for us and won every time. This most often resulted into us crashing directly into big rocks, getting stuck in shallow water, and accidentally doing a complete 180 down some rapids. Success? Not so much, but we had lots of fun. Unfortunately none of us brought our cameras because we didn’t want to get them wet but here is a picture from google. 

I wasn’t too impressed with the restaurants because they didn’t have too many local options but the food I was able to try was really good. It was more similar to Thai food than Khmer food, but not as spicy. We went out to a few of the bars the first couple of nights and then did our day at the river party our final day. There are a ton of bars that line the river and people rent an inner tube and stop at bars as they float down the river. We were lame and didn’t tube but don’t worry we took advantage of the bars ;) 

It is so hot that everyone uses umbrellas to shield them from the sun. Let’s just say I was pretty much dripping in sweat the whole time. 

Next we were headed to Vientiane. Let’s just say we were all feeling a little under the weather (must have been that bus ride) so we took it easy there. We immediately found a restaurant for an early dinner where we all inhaled an ungodly amount of food which helped a lot. We did some exploring around our hotel and along the river and I bought a few things at the outdoor market (as I write this I’ve realized I have no idea where that stuff is I hope I didn’t lose it). My flight the next morning was out of Udon Thani, which is in Thailand. It was really expensive to fly from Vientiane to Phuket and Udon Thani was cheap and only a 2 hour bus ride. A no brainer for me really. I was going to spend a few hours exploring the city more but once I got to the station to buy a ticket I realized the bus times wouldn’t really work and I ended up having to take the 10:30 bus. My flight was at 6:30 so let’s just say I had some time to kill in the airport. 

I had a really good time in Laos but I wish we had planned things a little different is all. There are so many more areas of the country I’d love to explore. I initially thought that as I travel and see more places my desire to continue to travel would diminish but the exact opposite is happening. As I travel more and explore more countries all I want to do is travel more! I’m so jealous of the people I’ve met that are able to spend months in each country just explore but then I remind myself that the life I’m leading is pretty amazing! 

After a long but wonderful month of traveling, I’m finally settling back in to my simple life back in Phuket. I can’t even begin to describe how lucky I feel for being able to do spend the last month the way that I did, especially after seeing so many people that couldn’t even imagine such a thing. 

My first stop on my adventure was Siem Reap to meet Lyndsay and Lily, two of my best friends and old roommates in Boston. I had quite the adventure getting to Siem Reap. The flights from Phuket to Siem Reap were really expensive so I opted for the cheaper, sketchier, unsafe, slower way to travel. This included a motorbike ride to the airport in Phuket, one hour flight to Bangkok, monorail train into Bangkok, taxi ride to the bus station in Bangkok (I was too cheap to get a taxi from the airport to the bus station), 6 hour bus ride to the border of Thailand and Cambodia, walking the boarder and crossing immigration in each country, and then getting a VERY SKETCHY taxi two hours to Siem Reap. Needless to say once I saw Lily and Lyndsay I was very, very excited!! 

We all had such a hard time believing that this was actually happening. Ever since I arrived in Asia we had all talked about wanting to do a trip like this but the fact that we actually made it a reality is a miracle! Lyndsay and Lily were both doing a volunteer trip through Lily’s company, United Planet, and I was able to tag along and volunteer with the girls at one of the local orphanages. 

I was in Cambodia for a total of 8 days and spent 4 of them at the orphanage. We woke up early in the morning, took a tuk tuk to the orphanage, taught for 2 hours and had a 3 hour break to get lunch and lounge by the pool before we returned to the orphanage for 2 more hours of teaching. All of the kids were so, so sweet and most were really eager to learn from us. It wasn’t as sad being there as I thought it would be. I left most of the teaching to Lyndsay and Lily and helped the kids one on one or let them read to me which they loved doing!

The kids seemed genuinely happy despite their current situation, which is one of the reason I loved Cambodia so much. Most of the people are rather poor, living in a one room house with a tin roof, but they all were so friendly, helpful, and seemed happy. While driving around the countryside it was evident that Cambodians live a very simple life- farming, hanging out and laughing with friends, playing soccer, sitting in hammocks, and relaxing. 

Some of the kids on the last day. So sad to leave the kids especially not knowing how their lives will turn out. 

We were able to spend the days off from the orphanage doing some more touristy activities including going to Angkor Wat and Tonle Sap floating village. 

We went to four of the temples in the Angkor Wat complex. We had a guide which was actually really helpful otherwise we would have had no idea what we were looking at and which parts were significant. All of the temples were constructed from about the 9th to the 13th centuries and were either Buddhist or Hindu temples depending on the King. Some kings did incorporate aspects of each religion into a single temple as a sign of unification and peace. 

Bayon Temple. Notice all the faces- each tower has four faces to represent mercy, compassion, sympathy, and impartiality which are the four mortalities of the king.

Ta Prohm. This is the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. The trees have completely taken over!

Angkor Wat, the biggest temple.

Angkor Wat

Beng Mealea Temple was about a two hour drive outside of Siem Reap but it was definitely worth it. The temple was in the worse shape, mostly fallen rubble but we were lead all through, on top of, and under the rubble by one of the “security guards” which was really helpful, and nice too!

We spent our second free day walking down by the river in Siem Reap and then had a trip planned for sunset. We went to Tonle Sap Lake to see a local floating village. There were shacks lining the river and lots of boats going from the small port to the village. I didn’t really know what to expect but these people have set up a small floating community complete with small floating stores. The families are really poor but I never got a straight answer as to why they were relegated to the lake. 

Tonle Sap River

The floating Village.

Cambodia was not the most beautiful country I’ve ever been to but it is certainly one of my favorites. The food was amazing and the people the friendliest I’ve ever met. My experience there was really wonderful and I’m so happy I was able to share it with Lily and Lyndsay!

I should be in bed right now! I’m leaving for my month of travels in 4 hours but I wanted to finish updating my blog before I leave!

So this will be fast and short and will certainly have typos, so hang in there!

I had heard so many great things about Chiang Mai and I was super excited to check it all out! My time in Chiang Mai was spent doing lots of activities- cooking classes, elephant rides, playing with tigers, hiking, swimming, shopping, EATING, etc. All in all Chiang Mai lived up to all the hype and I had a great time! My favorite parts were definitely the cooking class and swimming in the waterfall.

Here kitty kitty. Don’t bite me! First picture and tiger of the day. I was clearly still nervous and didn’t really want much to do with it (sorry about my greasy hair). I wasn’t in love with going into the tiger cage, not for the obvious reasons (why would one want to go in a cage with tigers?) but because I wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea of these animals being kept out of the wild so that tourists like me could have their picture taken. At the last minute I decided to just do it. I guess I’m not such a great person after all. I need to stick to my convictions even when photo opts arise. 

Making the curry paste at the cooking class. We made three dishes each. I chose to make pad thai, spring rolls, and massamam curry (which I am obsessed with). Making the curries were a lot of work but we all helped each other out, so it wasn’t too bad. Plus, I got an unexpected arm workout. Check out those biceps, hard at work!  

At our hostel we signed up for a one day package of touring that included elephant trekking, hiking, swimming, white water rafting, bamboo rafting, and a trip to a hill tribe village- all for the low cost of 700 B or 21 bucks! The elephants were beautiful but perhaps the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever been on. I also don’t know how well they were cared for at the place we went and definitely wouldn’t go trekking again. It seems that the elephants do the same trek throughout the day and then are chained to a post at the end of day. It made me really sad and I wished that I hadn’t gone on the trek to begin with. 

We went on an hour hike up to this beautiful waterfall. The water was freeeezing and I really didn’t want to go in but I had FOMO (fear of missing out) because the rest of my group jumped right in. I also didn’t want to be viewed as the girlie girl because let’s face it I’m pretty tough. Our guide was really knowledgeable about the area we were hiking in and taught us a lot about different plants, animals, and about the locals who use the river as one of their main food sources.

The last day Annaliese and I went to this beautiful temple on Doi Sethep. It was supposed to have great views of the city but because of all the smog we had difficulty seeing the mountains right in front of us. 

Great trip and I’m really looking forward to the coming month!

Cambodia, Laos, Bali, Thai Islands!! I feel so lucky to be able to do this and am determined to make the most out of each day!

Our original plan was to take a bus from Chiang Rai to Pai but our tour guide told us that that just isn’t possible. Of course it is possible, you just have to find the minibus that takes the route. We were wrong. No minibuses because the route is just so miserable that no driver wants to do it. Fair enough. Off to Chiang Mai and then we caught the bus to Pai from there. 

I want to mention that just because minibuses go from CM to Pai does not mean that the drive was enjoyable. Think about the road down the Amalfi Coast or the Kancamangus Highway and then picture it with 50% more curves and a steeper incline and decline. It was miserable. Every second of it. 

Pai itself on the other hand was great. It is a small little walking town mostly filled with backpackers and Thai hippies that want a slower pace to life, good food, and a place to relax. We did a little exploring here but mostly took it as an opportunity to hang out, meet some locals and backpackers, and see the countryside. Just as in Chiang Rai, the air quality was really poor and the land super dry but we did manage to see some beautiful places and great views. 

We rented a motorbike to do some exploring and driving around. On the itinerary was more waterfalls, a Chinese village, and a small canyon. The waterfalls and the canyon were really pretty, but the Chinese village was really no more than a big sign and a couple of stores that sold tea sets- kinda strange if you ask me. 

After walking around the first day I was most excited about the FOOD! There were so many restaurants that looked good, lots or organic, western, and health focused places! I had a hard time deciding what places I wanted to go to and then I saw this women…

… and instantly fell in love with her and her veggies. I’ve never just seen grilled, simple, veggies not cooked in a wok with loads of vegetable oil since being in Thailand. I was in HEAVEN. Amy and I ordered a huge plate of mixed veggies and as expected they were to die for. We couldn’t stop talking about how good they were. We also ordered an Indian style curry and we got served BROWN rice- another first! We came back and ate here the next night too, I mean how could we not. 

Most of my downtime in Pai was spent here doing this…

Amy and I must have spent over 8 hours here in a day in a half. The women who owned and ran the place was so nice and welcoming, teaching us a lot about Thai customs and beliefs. She also made a mean meal. 

French toast on homemade whole wheat bread with banana, honey, cinnamon, and fried egg on the side. Perfection. I’m telling you, if I could eat this good in Phuket I may never come home! The previous morning we ate in town and had another great breakfast- scrambled eggs, homemade sourdough bread (which I am always a sucker for), and a potato pancake. All so delicious!! 

Thanks for the great food, Pai. Off to Chiang Mai we went (for the third time in a week)!