Adventuring in the Wild Blue Yonder: Log 27: Chiang Mai to Pai

The day had come to leave Chiang Mai and head north for a few days to a village called Pai, a hippie haven that sprang to life ironically back in the 60’s and 70’s where a few of the residents checked out about that time and are still there. We were trying to decide between Chiang Rai and Pai and after a few positive recommendations we chose Pai. We booked a minibus and after we were picked up from our hotel in the cab, that are literally covered pick-up trucks with seats in the bed, we all piled into the minibus and made ready for the curvaceous journey along the Pai road, known for its 762 curves up a mountain road. We met a couple of retired Canadian teachers that were traveling through winter and had rented a house in Pai for a month. Dave and Maseko gave us the heads up on where to eat, what to see, and what to expect to pay for accommodation. They also kept us from sitting in the back of the bus where it was inevitable to get car sick from the curves. Our stomachs still churned a bit on the journey but the kind that could be coped with.

We booked a little hut for two nights and ventured out to find a drink, along the way we found Dave and Maseko having a coffee and they invited us over to join them. After coffee, we walked around the village seeing the shops and massage parlors, Foot therapy fish tanks, and book stores. I found a massage place that two German ladies exited and gave raving reviews for so I left Matt to wander and I went in for an hour long oil massage for $6.50 US. SCORE!! Sitting on a cloud of relaxation I wandered through the village, bought an ice cream, and found a book store to browse trying to find my next read. I finally headed back to our hut to meet Matt. We headed into the village center for the evening to find a street market on with street food galore, which we sampled quite happily. We managed to stuff ourselves, with strawberries, fried chicken, sticky rice and garlic pork, BBQ’d corn that Matt had been eyeing up in 3 countries now, some kind of grilled rice pancake, and some homemade doughnut and fried sweets for dessert. All for about $6 US dollars each, I LOVE street markets!

Our second day in Pai, we had a lie in and then found some lunch and coffee around 11, after which we decided we’d passed enough of these foot therapy fish tanks that we needed to try them out ourselves. So for 30min, we sat with our feet and lower legs suspended in a fish tank with hundreds of little sucker like fish eating the dead skin away. It tickled and felt strange, but mostly it felt like a 1000 little fish giving you kisses on your feet. We could physically feel the larger ones eating their way across your foot but it didn’t hurt by any means. We had silky smooth feet afterward but I still had my calluses for walking, phew! Matt went off to brave a massage and I headed back to the hut to relax. That night the market was on again with even more booths, and along the way we found our friends Dave and Masako just as we were off to find the Curry Shack they had suggested for dinner. We walked around the market for a bit, sampled a deep fried bread with sweet black bean in the middle, then headed over to the Curry Shack for their famous masaman curry. It turned out to be the place to be as there were 9 people already waiting and it wasn’t even open yet. There was a small traditional Thai looking kitchen with just a young couple running the show and their 2 yr old daughter running around entertaining the guests with her bubble blowing abilities. The kitchens bamboo ceiling extended out over a seating area that would have held no more than 15 people but it was some GREAT curry! The best part was ordering by writing your own receipt with prices listed and added up, and handing it to the couple in the kitchen. Dave and Masako showed up and joined us for dinner as they couldn’t resist the curry either. Dave showed me how to make a proper shandy beer with sprite and Singha beer, while we tried to get across to them in a polite way that we weren’t actually a couple as they assumed and kept mentioning. They said their goodnights and headed off to bed as we headed back to the market for dessert and some pie at a recommended restaurant known for their desserts. By that point we were rolling ourselves back to our hut filled to overflowing and ready for sleep it off and perhaps go without breakfast in the morning.

By morning we had digested properly and thought food was still an option for the coming future, but I still tentatively ordered breakfast of eggs and coffee. We surprisingly met Dave and Masako where we chose to get breakfast, but maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised as small of a village as it was. We chatted over coffee and I introduced them to the Johnny Possum Band, upon their request, with the bad garage recording I had of one of our tunes, as well as the Irish session at the Irishman, and we exchanged e-mail addresses and they were sad to see their ‘adopted grandkids’ leave. They were heading back to Canada in a few more days anyway but we promised to keep in touch.