NORTHERN THAILAND

CHIANG MAI

Trav was at the hostel when I arrived, what a relief. We were leaving for a 3 day trek the next morning with two more people, a Korean guy who didn’t speak very much English and an older Dutch man who was having the time of his life. The fist day we went bamboo rafting, which sounds a lot more exiting than it turned out to be. It was more of a meditative ride gliding through the forest. Our second stop was a waterfall where we got to swim and cool down for a bit. Then we set off through the forest, following our animated guide Machete. He was a short portly guy, with long black hair and a love for everything the forest can provide; whether it be lemon flavoured ants, liquorish tasting berries, making umbrellas, pouches, toys and hats out of leaves and making often stops to look for mushrooms. In the evening we got to witness a breathtaking sunset, it was as if the sky was set on fire and to further highlight the evening our guide offered us some roasted tarantula, which to me, tasted like BBQ Chicken. Latter that night we were invited to one of the houses in the community to witness an offering to the spirits. As we waited for the ceremony to begin, we were sitting around with some local men who offered to share their cigars with us, since we didn’t want to be rude we accepted. A puff of tobacco and tamarind, which left my head spinning for a good 10 minutes. When we entered the house, there were about 25 villagers there already (1/4 of the entire village). It was beautiful to see the sense of community as they prayed together and shared rice whisky. The night came and we jammed away with a guitar we found in the shed. What a night!

Our second day was not as exiting as the first, we walked around from village to village but this time it was only the two of us and we had a different guide who took a very long nap at lunch and kind off left us hanging... nonetheless he was very crafty and made us chopsticks out of bamboo and made me beautiful hair pin out of a red tree. When we got back to the village we were staying in out guide announced that 8 people were coming to join us tonight. As the voices approached we looked up and it was Steve and Liz…. What are the chances? Drinks, cards, guitar and lots of catching up.

 On the third day we did some trekking in the morning, the casual waterfall stop and then elephant riding!!! To be honest I didn’t expect much but it was a really cool experience; the way they walk, the way they grab bananas from you and wrap them around their trunk and how they breathe on you when they want you to feed them… to make it even better, we had a baby elephant following us every step of the way.

And back to town…. That night we treated ourselves to a nice Indian dinner, visited the night bazar, which had tons of handicrafts, and got well-deserved massages.

The next day we took a cooking course. I learned to make: pad thai, spring roles, pranag curry, cashew nut chicken and mango sticky rice. They took us to the market in the morning where we went “shopping” for the ingredients but in reality they just filled up our little baskets with the ingredients. The actual cooking part was really fun, and everything was portioned already, which made the process very efficient. At the end we got “chef” certificates. During the afternoon I went to the salon and got the best haircut I have ever had… head massage and everything you can think of included for $10… sigh … rough day I know. Went out for dinner with Steve and Liz to celebrate and say goodbye.

On our last day in Chiang Mai I finally went to visit Doi Suthep, Trav for the second. It is the oldest and most prestigious temple in northern Thailand. It sits on top of a mountain with stunning views of the city. A 300 step dragon staircase leads the way up to the golden temple. Around the temple, like in the others we saw in Bangkok, there are hundreds of tiny bells that you buy as a donation to the Wat. The way they glimmered in the sunlight, mirroring the massive pagoda in the center, was just what I needed to feel ready to leave.

PAI

After the 5 hour minibus ride to pai we were greeted by an older jolly man who offered us a place to stay. Pai was such a change of pace… the streets (and there are only 4 main ones) are lined with handmade crafts, leather items, and rustic little restaurants. Everything is so pretty and carefully decorated. The hippie vibe is out of this world. After we were all set up in our hostel the man gave us a ride to a place to eat on his motorcycle, I had the best burger in the world, no joke.

On our one and only full day at Pai we took a yoga class. The sole owner and instructor of the place was Mam, an older Indian woman. She was an incredibly interesting character; in her youth was a model and actress but got very sick and was unhappy with her life. Her parents forced her to move back to India but no one turned up to pick her up once her flight arrived. With no money and nowhere to go she ended up at an Asham where she ended up staying for 6 months. She found true happiness in yoga and developed a passion to help others. She moved back to Thailand and found the small town of Pai where she opened her studio and offered her services to the villagers, schools and hospital, promoting healthy living.  She told us that the most basic lesson is to live in the present. Forget about what has already past and stop concerning yourself with what’s in the future, live in the moment.

 

The next morning we took our trusty motorcycle (or mope-head according to Trav) and did the “southern loop” around the mountains. We went to natural hot springs in a gorgeous spa and resort, went to the Pai Cannyon which has stunning views all around, and passed elephants on the road.

TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL

I am currently sitting on a slow boat in Lao, have been sitting here in this spot for mmm 8 hours and probably have 3 more to go… and yess the landscape is gorgeous, green mountains surround the river with small clouds lingering on them, fisherman lined up the river banks with their children running around and waiving, the light breeze cleaning our lungs from being in the city for so long. However, we have been traveling for WAYY too long and I think I’m staring to go crazy. Over the past three days we have been on the move nonstop:

1.     Bus from Pai to Chiang Main è 4 hours through the windy mountains

2.     Bus from Chiang Main to the Laos border è 6 hours

3.     Immigration process through long tail boat è 1 hour

4.     Random mini busses to meet slow boat è 30 minutes

5.     Slow boat day 1 è 7 hours

6.     Slow boat day 2è 11 hours.