Easy Riding

After a long fast paced month in Burma and then 3 crazy days in Bangkok running around stocking up on meds, batteries, visas, souvenirs, and a duffel bag to store all of the crap we bought to bring home, we spent about 4-5 days just exhausted trying to recover. We were too tired to enjoy anything, and ended up doing a whole lot of nothing.

Then we found Pai. Pai is a small town in the far Northwestern part of Thailand. It is mountainous, beautiful, and the most relaxing place we have been in months. We found a beautiful hotel with an overgrown green lush environment, a coi pond, hammocks everywhere, and the most comfortable bed we have had in a long time. We rented a motorbike and spent a few days driving around town, going to a waterfall, and a hot spring, eating great food, seeing live music, and just having a really nice time.

Then the Irish showed up. We met the Irish (Pippa and Susie) 2 months ago in South India and traveled with them and some others for about 2 and a half weeks. They came up to Pai to have a little reunion.

The first day we all took a Thai cookery course. We were taken to the market and taught how to select only the finest fresh ingredients, and introduced to new ingredients like Galanga, lemongrass, and fishball.

Then we went back to class and learned how to make curry paste, I'm talking from scratch, with a stone mortar and pestle! Then we each made our own curry, and yes I chose one of the best dishes on the planet, panang curry. We also learned how to make Thai soups, salads, and stir fries. All of the food turned out amazing, and we had a blast eating and drinking late into the night.

The next day the 4 of us climbed on 3 motorbikes and set off on an overnight trip. The first day was slow going, just getting use to the up and down of the winding road. But by the second day with about 200 miles under our belts, we were flying.

We went to a cave called Tham Lot. It has very amazing stalagmites and stalactites. After walking around with a "guide" holding a lantern we got on a bamboo raft and floated through the back side of the cave. Tham Lot is the largest known cave in all of South East Asia, the mouth of the cave is about 150 feet wide, 120 feet high, and small boats can pass through it.

Then we drove on for a few more hours to a beautiful town near the Burma border. The next day we drove out to a "long neck village". The long necks are a group of Burmese refugees living in Thailand who wear these insanely heavy and long coils around their necks and legs. No one knows why they do this, but apparently they continue to do it so tourists will come and buy their handicrafts. We met a woman and her daughter that were really cool and hung out talking to them for a half hour or so. They are the women you can see in the pictures posted on yahoo.

After Pai we headed to the Laos border. We stayed at a place on the bank of "the mighty Mekong River". It was really cool to sit and enjoy a beer over looking the Mekong with Laos on the other side. Then we boarded a boat and crossed into Laos.

photos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/marcandnatalie/my_photos