Onwards and Upwards to Pai

Pai is a small, sleepy provincial town just three hours North of Chiang Mai near the Myanmar border. It has a real rustic feel to it, set out in the hills and surrounded by green fields with the Daen Lao mountain range as its backdrop. 

Our accommodation there fit the rural scene to a tee - open air barns made from bamboo, leaves and little else. It was wonderful to wake up to the bright blue skies every morning but the evenings were rather different. It's winter time in Northern Thailand and despite not seeing a single cloud during our entire stay, the minute the sun laid itself to rest behind the mountains the temperature dropped dramatically! The hostel provided us with plenty of blankets but we still shivered ourselves to sleep each night. 

The town is so quiet and free of tourists that there's a significant lack of tuk tuks or taxis. Hiring a scooter seemed to be the only way we could truly explore the countryside which is Pai's number one asset, not to be missed. Not keen to repeat my performance in Koh Phangan (I almost didn't make it to 2014) I let Hana do the majority of the driving. Fortunately, like everything else in Pai the roads are fairly quiet and so aside from steering around the occasional elephant or a wandering monk we felt pretty safe. 

On our first day we took ourselves on a tour of the area, starting out at the Tha Pai natural hot springs. The small pools are situated along a stream which increases in temperature the higher it goes. We bathed in the cooler areas (still thirty-eight degrees!) and boiled eggs at the top where it reached over eighty. It took almost forty minutes and a few failed attempts but eventually we'd made ourselves a lovely afternoon snack.

Feeling the need to cool off we drove over to Pam Bok waterfall, just one of many of its kind to be found in Pai. The sun had passed over long before we arrived leaving the water icy cold but perfect for a paddle. Then, with just a few hours of daylight left we headed to the canyon to watch the sunset over the hills. Though we climbed only a little way it felt as though we were on top of the world watching the sky darken behind the mountain's silhouette. 

That evening we were wrapped up in bed early because we'd booked a Muay Thai boxing class for the following morning. Our day started at eight o'clock when we were sent on a five kilometre run as a warm up. Not what either of us thought we'd signed up for! In the hour that followed though our trainer, Bee, took us through the basic movements in front of a mirror. Then, once satisfied we'd done enough damage to the air in front of us, he paired us up with a professional to practice sparring. It was so fun and I can imagine incredibly therapeutic if I'd had anything in the world to possibly be worried about! 

Our final day in Pai was a little more ladylike. We found a cooking school called the Red Orchid which allowed us to choose five different dishes each to make from scratch. Between us we covered all of the favourites: massaman curry, green curry, red curry, paenang curry, pad thai, spring rolls, chicken cashew, chicken garlic, chicken ginger and chicken fried rice. This absolute feast took us over six hours to cook but less than two to eat. There was of course way too much food for the two of us but we did a pretty good job at polishing most of it off - it was just too good to waste! We've eaten an extortionate number of thai curries over the last few weeks but I'm proud to say that ours were some of the best we've tasted. 

We're incredibly sad to be leaving Pai, not only because it's so beautiful but also because it's our final stop in our tour of Asia. With just two nights left on the continent we now need to make our way back down to Bangkok ready for our long haul flight over to Australia. Perhaps it's partly still the aftermath of our five course meal but I'm genuinely feeling sick at the thought of leaving Asia without knowing when I'll return. It's all coming to an end far too soon!

Changing it Up in Chiang Mai

Whenever I think of Thailand I picture tropical beaches, crystal lagoons and longtail boats so I had no idea what to expect from the Northern town of Chiang Mai which sits hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline. What we found there, though very different from the South islands, was just as beautiful in its own way. 

The town is built up but not in an industrial sense and has somehow maintained its simple charm. It's a sensual place with a relaxing atmosphere and you need only go a little way out of the centre to find yourself totally immersed in the jungle. 

Chiang Mai is famous for its 'Walking Markets', thus called because they're so busy that the entire street appears to be moving. We were lucky enough to be there on a Saturday which is when they hold the biggest of all and it did literally go on for miles. Unlike other Asian markets each stall is completely different so we refused to stop until we reached the very end, not wanting to miss out on any bargains. Whenever we were flagging we topped ourselves up at one of the food stalls, avoiding the fried insects but steering towards fried pumpkin, spring rolls and waffles instead. 

As we had limited time in Chiang Mai we paid for a tour which crammed in as many activities as possible into one day. We were picked up in the morning by a minivan but soon transferred onto the back of an elephant for a trek along the river. The elephants are generally very well trained but ours seemed to prefer the off-road route, not willing to wait behind slower members of his family.  His temper turned to tantrum when a loud helicopter flew overhead and we were almost thrown off completely - a not-so-gentle reminder that you can't control a creature that's bigger than its boss. 

Our journey along the river continued on the slower and considerably less stressful bamboo raft. The driver used a wooden branch to guide us downstream as we took in the surrounding views. 

Once we'd reached the end we zip-wired back over the river, landing conveniently at a restaurant where lunch was waiting for us. Naturally we piled our plates high with rice, noodles and green and red curry. Buffets always bring out the worst in us but we justified it this time knowing that we have less than a week left to enjoy Asian food. 

Fortunately we had the opportunity to work it all off anyway on the hour long trek which followed. Our guide took us up through the jungle, pointing out various plants and picking their fruits to use for her own cooking later that day. We arrived at our destination hot and sweaty so were pleased to find there were waterfalls to swim in. They were breathtakingly beautiful and we spent just under an hour bathing in the pools and splashing around in the falls.

Our day was due to end here but of course no Asian tour would be complete without the minibus breaking down. As we waited for a replacement our guide took us to the only attraction she could think of that was within walking distance - the Poo Poo Park! It sounds shit (pun unintended) but it was actually really interesting and ironically is one of the cleanest places we've visited in Thailand. We were shown how the faeces of elephants, cows and horses is transformed into paper and card to make all sorts of products from gift cards to picture frames. It's a scheme funded by the government in a bid to save Thailand's tropical forests and it's doing a great job. 

We're now travelling even further North to a small town called Pai. Again, I really don't know what to expect but I've yet to come across a place in Thailand I dislike on this trip so I'm looking forward to it nevertheless.