Our Trip to Pai and Unexpected Guests

The Fairer Traveler

The travlers at the onset of our trek

I have been out of school for about a month and the un-bearded traveler has been out of school for about 2 weeks, and in that time we took a little bus trip up to a northern town called Pai. Pai is famous with Thai’s and westerner’s for its laid back, cool-temperature, and altogether relaxing atmosphere. During its peak season, when all the accommodation is booked up, people rent out tents. By the way, the rooms that are available for rent to tourists outnumber the rooms used by locals.

The half way from Chiang Mai to Pai stop

Luckily for us, we came during the off season and the slow town was even slower then usual. We booked a mini-bus to take us the three hour drive from Chiang Mai to Pai. There are a lot of companies offering this service and the company we booked with offered to pick us up across the street from the big mall near our condo. The mini-bus’s leave every hour on the hour, so we picked 10:30 to be picked up. We were picked up and stuck in the back of a pick-up truck already occupied by a Dutch girl. We grew worried thinking that this truck was a far cry from the air-conditioned mini-bus we booked but the girl (named Myra) informed us this was just the taxi that gathered up all the travelers and took them to the mini-bus. We then picked up an Irish girl and a boy of unknown origin (he wasn’t feeling very talkative.)

We got to the bus and started our journey. It was a very windy and pot-hill-filled road, but our driver was slow and the sun was shining. Alas, all this didn’t stop the fairer traveler from feeling like she was going to puke up her guts the whole way there. Luckily we stopped half way to have a bathroom break and grab a Coke. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough and she made it to Pai just in time to throw up in a toilet there. 

Pai is a very tiny town and there isn’t much to do in the town itself. You can walk all around the town to see the cute shops, night market, and restaurants, but the interesting things to see are in the jungle or up the highway halfway to another mountain town Soppong. Along the way to Pai, we befriended our European travelers and once we arrived in Pai we followed the Dutch one to a hostel called Mr. Jan’s Guesthouse (although it should have been called Mrs. Jan’s Guesthouse, since she ran it). 

Our guesthouse was situated around a beautiful medicinal herb garden

We ran into some trouble since the un-bearded traveler and I didn’t have our passports and they required our passport numbers, but our friends at Text and Talk texted us our passport numbers later that evening. Now we know to bring our passports everywhere.

One of a pair of adorable guesthouse cats 

After we checked in and pet the adorable house cats, we went to a local place for some food and I had a delicious grilled pork meal with a lime and chili sauce which was AMAZING! Then we went in search of something to do. I had read that the white water rafting was an amazing experience so we went to the company’s shop recommended by The Guide and asked them all our questions. We only had one day to do everything since the Irish girl called Norma, had to be back in Chiang Mai on Saturday (it was Wednesday) to watch the Rugby World Cup - Ireland vs. Wales.

A famous Thai Romance movie was filmed in Pai which boosted its popularity with vacationing couples

We then worked out that we would do a hill tribe trek in the morning and visit the caves by taxi in the afternoon to watch the bats fly out of the cave at dusk. So it was a dawn until dusk adventure. The un-bearded traveler and I figured we would take a lazy day the next day to visit the natural swimming pools and hot springs before doing the two day rafting trip.

Pai at 7am before our trek

We woke up on Friday to roosters crowing at 4am and tossed and turned all night until our alarm didn’t wake us up at 6:30 a.m., it was "accidentally" set for 6:30 p.m. It was by pure chance that we looked at the clock 5 mins before we were meant to meet our friends for breakfast. So un-showered with sleep still in our eyes, we walked the streets looking for breakfast and found a place where I had a croissant and cheese sandwich thingy and a Thai tea. Then we drove 20 mins to the drop off point where we started out hike. Our driver liked ’70’s tunes and we woke up rocking out to Crocodile Rock by Elton John. It was fun :)

Hill tribe village number one - note the contrasting modernity with the wood homes

The day was sunny but breezy and we started with a walk through a hill tribe village which is essentially a bunch of wooden houses, a few pig styes, motorbikes and satellite dishes for t.v. and cellphone reception. Then we walked through the rice fields which were about 2 weeks away from harvest, so they were tall and thick. We saw plenty of people from the village working the fields or resting in the rest huts that punctuate the green rice fields. Our guide was a Thai woman in her thirty’s called Mam, who showed us the different kinds of rice that was growing.

Beautiful rice fields and jungle covered mountains

We then started through the jungle which was pretty cool if not freaky. We saw a lot of insects and arachnids, none of which I care to remember even if I can’t forget. We stopped for lunch at one of the rest huts outside the second village and ate cold pad thai. Mam also shared her deep friend chicken skins which were tasty and her pickled vegetables. We learned that she had been living in Bangkok with her boyfriend when, while she was four months pregnant, found out he was having numerous affairs, so after the baby was born she ran away to Pai with the baby and all the proceeds from her boyfriends pig farm (which she managed.) Her son is now 11 and she gets on well with the father now, and is living with a Frenchman who has taken her and her son to Europe and around Southeast Asia. She runs to company we booked the trek with and hopes to send her son to one of the international schools in Chiang Mai when he is old enough. Her english was very good and it was a pleasure learning about her interesting life!!

Our guide navigating the overgrown jungle path - she mainly cleared the massive spider webs

We then walked through another village, fed the rest of our pad thai to the dogs there and then spent another hour trekking through the jungle to our final destination, a waterfall. We then changed into our swimsuits and swam in the freezing waters, but it was lovely after the hot and dirty day we had just spent trekking. Then we got in another pick up truck to visit the caves. We stopped halfway at a vista overlooking the mountains and where the hill tribe peoples were selling there goods. I got some noodles and shared it with a dog. It was nice. Then we got back in the truck and headed for the caves.

The two travelers enjoying the refreshing waterfall

Unfortunately, we could only see the main cave - Lod Cave because it had been raining a lot and the other, smaller caves were flooded. So we paid a guide with a lantern to ferry us into the cave on a bamboo raft where we got off and walked the rest of the way inside the giant cave. It was a bit disappointing as we didn’t get to see the other caves or the bats, and the guide didn’t speak any English and was in a hurry to get us in and out, but it was still beautiful.

The view from the inside of Lod Cave, aboard a bamboo raft

Then we went back to the hostel, showered and went for a meal at a place recommended by our guide Mam. Then we went for a drink at one of the livelier bars on the main drag of Pai and then retired for the night. Needless to say, we both slept like rocks. The next day we both felt a bit burnt out, had a bit of a stomach bug, and were bemoaning the lightness of our wallets so we decided to call it a trip and head back to Chiang Mai. It was so close, we thought, we could easily come back to go rafting and to see the rest of the caves and hot springs. 

The view from the inside of "Almost Famous" bar - they had 20 different kinds of mojitos (the fairer traveler only sampled one)

The fairer traveler, remembering her "porcelain welcome" to Pai bought a packet of motion sickness pills for only ten baht!!! (It must be a common purchase.) Then, leaving Myra to stay a few nights, we took the bus back to Chiang Mai. We arranged to meet up with Norma the following day to watch to match and get a meal. We had already told Myra she could stay with us when she got back to Chiang Mai so we were waiting for her email to tell us when to expect her on Sunday.

Norma and the fairer traveler ordering from the giant menus - we had been recommended here by our guide for its exquisite banana flower salad (it was exquisite!)

So Sunday, we met Myra at the mall and took her to her favorite restaurant, Beetroot Stories for a shake and meal. It was delicious - I had a peanut butter, banana, and coconut smoothie and a grilled veggie sandwich and the un-bearded traveler had a Mango smoothie and a red curry. It was all spectacular!!!! Then we walked around the Sunday Night Market and I found a present for a family member I have spent AGES looking for and we went back to the condo to watch a movie that Myra had on her computer.

The next day we all went to lunch and had chocolate chip pancakes at our favorite deli and Myra and I decided to get a Thai massage while the un-bearded traveler headed home. It was an interesting experience - we went to the women’s prison as recommended by The Guide and had to change into the massage pants and tops, then they climbed all over us twisting and cracking. It was not very relaxing, but it was nice nonetheless. Then all of us went to our local haunt for dinner - Lemontree Food and Beverage - and then spent the evening watching episodes of Archer and swapping out folk music collections. All in all, a nice day and night.

The whole gang in the back of the truck

On Tuesday Myra went out on her own and the un-bearded traveler and I relaxed at home and met up with her for dinner at Ratana’s Kitchen. At her insistence, we tried Mango sticky rice and we were very pleased! Then we went home, she packed her bags, we hailed her a cab and she left for the airport to continue her journey into Vietnam. Very fun!

Now we have another week until schools starts up again and I will be teaching full-time! Until next time :)

A Much Needed Update

The Un-Bearded Traveler:

The Two Travelers at a viewing stop on Doi Suthep (all of Chiang Mai behind us)

So, it has been quite a while since our last update. Far too long in my opinion, but it really is all the fairer traveler's fault. Just kidding. We have been quite busy and to be honest, a little lazy with our down-time.The heat, which has actually been subsiding as of late, was a large contributor to this laziness. We just want to be inside with the fan cranked at our faces like bulldogs facing leaf-blowers.

The long view shot of our apartment

So, first, we've secured an apartment! It's a lovely piece of real estate to the Northwest of the Old City of Chiang Mai, and a good ways out of the way of the "tourist-y" part of the town. So, we can get good food and supplies at modest, not-jacked up prices. We're also near a mall with its own grocery store, so we don't have to run all over town for groceries, only walk about 5 minutes. The apartment itself is a condo owned by a German woman who also lives in Chiang Mai just outside the city who rents it to foreigners looking for an excellent home and I'm sure Thai's as well. The apartment is quite large with a living room, bedroom - separated by a sliding partition wall - and a bathroom, which includes a shower WITH A TUB!! From our balcony we have a beautiful view of Doi Suthep, the nearest mountain to Chiang Mai, and our pool which is only a few floors below. Funny enough, after hours of searching around town for an apartment and only finding dingy hotel rooms (priced from 7,000 to 9,000 Baht), we settled to look on Craigslist (which exists in Thailand as well), and found our gem of an apartment for 7,500 Baht per month! Very happy we were and are still as the apartment has treated us well over the past few months and we've had absolutely no problems!

The Un-Bearded Traveler on our bike coming home from the Doi Suthep Temple

Next, we've rented a motorbike! It's a nice little Honda and pretty fun to ride. In the past two months that we've had it, we've ridden it up Doi Suthep to the temple at the top, to the Lake at Mae Rim (30 minutes north), all around Chiang Mai, and to and from our jobs. So far, we've only crashed twice! The fairer traveler crashed once by herself and came out with only scratches and bruises, and together, we managed to crash right in front of the bike shop on our way to paying our next month's bike rent. They were happy to make note of the new scratches for us and charge us a few bucks to buff them out, oops!

Our friend Rimma and the rice fields, photo taken from our bike on our way to the lake at Mae Rim

Continuing on, we now both have jobs! We have finished our TEFL program and have subsequently been placed into semi-comfortable jobs. The fairer traveler is teaching 8 year old and 12 year old girls at a Catholic school to the Southeast of the Old City. She is full-time now and making the big bucks! As far as I know, she is happy and enjoying the experience if not a little frustrated with the communication breakdowns between the teachers and the administration. I on the other hand am teaching part-time, not really making the big bucks, but making the some bucks. I teach kindergarten kids every day of the week age 2-5. It is one of the most fun experiences I have ever had! When the kids want to learn, they try really hard and I attempt to keep the exercises fresh and constantly changing so that they don't get too bored. When the kids aren't in a learning mood, I just try to play games with them so they can at least work on some English skills, and aren't just laughing at the big sweaty foreigner in the front of the class (even though that is usually part of the game anyway). I also substitute at the Polytechnic when needed. The kids there (age 16-22) are not entirely different from the kindies. They all pretty much just want to talk to each other and play games, so that's pretty much all that I can do with them. I just talk and chat with them to get them to speak English! If they can make up and speak their own sentences, then I've done a good job! I'm going to attempt to find a full-time job to supplement our income a little better, but I do greatly enjoy my current classes (Here's hoping for a massive raise to teach the same kids). All-in-all, I find it quite rewarding and fun, not a permanent job in Thailand, but most certainly a permanent job for me in the U.S. "The Un-Bearded Teacher" Sounds good to me.

Gang-Kalee-Kai in all its glory with a side of rice

Also, I have discovered my new favorite Thai food. It's called Gang-Kalee-Gai, which literally means "Prostitute Curry with Chicken." I can't explain the name, but it's damn good and I'm very willing to pay for it! It's just a regular spicy yellow curry, not sweet and cinnamon-y like the "Massaman" curry (I don't know what that means literally translated). The Gang-Kalee has potatoes and carrots and chicken and spice and tasty and good all in one bowl. Typically, if aa restaurant serves this dish I will order it, and if it's not on the menu, I will at least ask the server if they can make it (learning Thai pays off!!!). I don't always eat this or other curries for lunch or dinner,  I also try to fit in some stir-fried vegetables every once in a while so that I'm not always having curry, but mmmm that Gang-Kalee is damn tasty.

That's the best I can do to update our current situation! I hope I didn't forget anything!