Chelsea in Pai/Chiang Mai

So far, we’ve had very little unplanned time in our trip. It’s been great to have a plan to make use of our time, but at the same time it leaves little opportunity for spontaneity or random exploring. Today, though, I got to have some of that, quite unexpectedly! But let me start from the beginning…

Today was a travel day. We had originally planned to use the morning to practice our cooking skills but we decided not to do that, since we had yet to really sleep in. So, waking up around 7:45am was quite welcome; our average is around 6:00am or so, sometimes on purpose, sometimes just thanks to my body being used to waking early and not sleeping super well. I woke up just before my alarm to the sound of a door slamming shut, repeatedly. Our hotel, while nice in many ways, definitely lacked in other areas. Our room was right next to the cleaning supply closet, so I think the slamming came from that. Additionally, the ceiling over the toilet had developed a slow leak drip. Thankfully that only lasted a day; I suspect they came into the room to clean and noticed it and patched it up. I digress…

Anyway, I went to pick up my laundry and the weather outside was absolutely gorgeous. Seriously, the temperature and humidity at night and early morning are so wonderful – around mid-60s or so. Perfect! I came back to the room and got Jessica and we went to have breakfast at a restaurant that had a patio and WiFi. I finally got Monday’s blog post written (you’re welcome) and by then it was time to start getting ready to check out of the hotel. We got ready and headed out around noon.

Our bus was scheduled to depart at 2pm, but since we had some extra time, we went to see if we could maybe get on an earlier bus. Alas, the earliest bus with available seats was at 2pm, so we kept our tickets. We were happy enough, as that meant we had time to get lunch. We went to the Witching Well first, as I’d read good things about it. It had mostly western food, and I wasn’t too hungry so I didn’t really have anything. It was getting so hot, so I suggested we check out a bakery I’d seen on the main road. We walked over, luggage in tow, and walked into the wonderfully air-conditioned building. As I approached the counter, I realized that this was the bakery that had made the scone I fell in love with at the night market! I was so excited to have finally found the source of such deliciousness, and not a moment too soon.

I ordered a puff pastry (spinach and cheese) for lunch (by now I was hungry), and decided to get some baked goods to go later on. After being heated, the pastry was delivered to my table. A few bites in and I knew I didn’t want to finish it. I decided to scrap it and get something else – it was about $2.50 anyway. I ordered yellow curry, but it took forever to come out. Once I got it, it was also pretty terrible. One bite was all it took for that one; I was NOT going to eat that. TOO BAD since this place made such awesome baked goods! I cut my losses and just got a couple of scones to take with me on the way to Chiang Mai.

We waited out the rest of the time until we needed to head to the bus station in the bakery, enjoying the WiFi and comforts. Around 1:40, we trekked down the street to the bus station. We loaded up in our bus, with our bags on top. We were one of the first ones in the bus, and the rest of the seats filled up. There were about 5 REALLY tall guys on our van; I felt so bad for them. The back row, 4 seats across, was crammed with some Germans, all tall. Phew, this was going to be a FUN ride back! My seat was next to the window, but not in the front. I was a single seat with an aisle next to me, which was good, but there was too much luggage so there was a big backpack in the space next to me. I tried to just breathe and think positive thoughts!

We took off for Chiang Mai, and I was very thankful for the window. It was bad… really bad. The road was literally never straight. After about an hour, we made a pit stop at the same spot as on the way up, and I bought some motion sickness medicine. I don’t know why I didn’t do that in the first place!

Anyway, after we piled back into the van, I was starting to feel a bit better, and the curves eased up a bit! I tried to think about other things, and it helped somewhat. Once we got out of the mountains, the driver floored it and we sped along to Chiang Mai. I had hoped that once we got off the curving mountain road, I would feel better. In fact, though, it got much worse. I eyed the plastic bag conveniently located for anyone who got sick, but tried to ignore it. The poor shocks on the van coupled with the sudden increasing/decreasing speed, and weaving in and out of traffic.

Three excruciating hours after leaving Pai, we arrived at Chiang Mai Bus Terminal. We avoided the red truck bus/taxis in favor of a real taxi, despite having to agree to a price (instead of using a meter). We got to the hotel after sitting in a moderate amount of traffic (it was around 5pm), and got checked in. The hotel was the most hotel-like place we’ve stayed so far. We decided to go to a nearby café that we’d seen from the taxi on the way to the hotel. It was only about a 5 minute walk away.

The café, called Fahtara Coffee, was adorable!! This whole trip, Jessica has teased me that she is waiting for me to have that INCREDIBLE meal, the kind that you savour every bite and just can’t get enough of. The massaman curry with beef that I had at Fahtara was exactly that! We ate outside in the back patio, which had the cutest water feature and big trees that provided shade. It was fantastic!! And I absolutely loved my curry.

Jessica wanted to have a chill night in, so after dinner I dropped her at the hotel and went for a walk. Like I said at the start, it can be incredibly eye-opening to get kind of lost in a new place. I walked down the road and stumbled upon some amazing sites! I didn’t have my camera with me, so after having a look around, I walked back and grabbed my camera from the hotel and made a beeline back.

The first place I found was called Three Kings Monument.

Then, there were some super cute boutiques along Prapokkloa Road, so I browsed around.

Finally, I came across Wat Chedi Luang Worawihan. The first building I saw was all gold and very grand! As you walk around the side, you start to get a sight of the main Wat, which was built in the 14^th century. I absolutely love the photos I got! 

There was this crystal reclining Buddha statue, and since there were so few people there, I was able to slip off my shoes and get close for a photo. 

As I walked back to the hotel, I stopped into one last boutique. All of the dresses I’d seen thus far were way too small, particularly in the chest area. However, I saw one dress that had a tied halter neck, so I decided to try it on. The shop owner was super sweet and helped me tie the neck. I absolutely loved it! I’ve bought a few shirts on my trip (all quite cheap), and I loved the idea of getting just one good piece of clothing that I could wear back home. This was it!! I took it to the register, but realized I didn’t have enough cash on me. I told the shop owner I’d be right back, ran back to the hotel (again) and grabbed more. The dress was 1,180TBH, or around $35. I am so excited to wear it, maybe on date night with Danny when I get home!

Anyway, tonight was the first time I really felt like I was getting to know Thailand. I also realized that I really liked Chiang Mai; it had the perks of a big city without the craziness of Bangkok. I felt safe enough to walk around at night, and there was a lot within walking distance. If I come back to Thailand, I think I will come to Chiang Mai for a good portion of the time.

Next up: Elephant Day!!

Chelsea [Cooking] in Pai

Tuesday we were up bright and early to get ready for our full-day cooking class! Little did we know just how long our day would end up being.

We left around 8am in order to make a stop at the laundrette so I could have some clothes washed. I only packed a backpack's worth of stuff for this trip - and that includes my "getting ready" stuff! So, by mid-way through our trip, I definitely needed some things cleaned. We dropped off my 1.5 kg bag of dirty clothes and paid the 45TBH to have it washed and sun-dried (it was 15TBH more to have it dried in the machine).

Just down the street we got to BeBe Spice, the restaurant owned by Thom. She would be our cooking instructor for the day. We were pretty early, so we hung out and met the other students in the class. They were:

Anton & Marielle - a couple who have been traveling together 16 months throughout the Pacific and SE Asia. They are from Sweden and I loved them.

Michele - an older woman from Vancouver. Definitely wanted to flaunt her knowledge, but also eager to learn. "That person" in the class. Overall very nice but got on my nerves at times.

Sepp & Janele - a couple (?) from Germany. Not sure how long they've been traveling but will go to S.America next.

Thom welcomed the class and we got started by discussing the basic names for ingredients in Thai (gai = chicken, moo = pork, tae hoo = tofu, pla = fish, etc). We talked about curry dishes (the main thing we'd be cooking that day) as well as stir-frys and soups (both of which we would also make, but later in the day and with less prep). Each person got to choose which recipe from the book we would make for each category. I chose Yellow Curry with Chicken, Pad Thai with Shrimp, and Tom Yum Creamy with Chicken.

Once we were organized, we headed to the Thai market. We were all loaded into Thom's car, except Sepp and Janele who had a motorbike. We got to the market and, first things first, had some breakfast. We all got basic Thai fast food. I chose garlic pork on rice, which I regretted as it was pretty bland. Thom taught us about the condiments on the table, and I used some vinegar and chili powder to try to spice up my breakfast. It didn't really work.

Next was shopping for our ingredients. Thom had given each of us a list with 4 or 5 ingredients to buy. However, we got a whole education before being let loose to shop. We learned about all the parts of the pig they eat (spoiler alert: it's all of them). Then we looked at some catfish in a tank (yuck). I guess Thai's really love catfish. We then saw the tilapia, which we got two of, as some of the group were making dishes with fish. Then we learned about the types of rices in Thailand (sticky and Jasmine) and the different varieties of each. While interesting, I was getting seriously bored by this time.

We moved onto the produce/herb section, where Thom taught us about every single type of greenery they eat. Well, maybe not all of them, but it felt like it! Coriander, Chinese Celery, Chinese Kale, Holy Basil, Sweet Basil, etc etc... FINALLY, after what felt like hours (which is accurate, since it was a couple hours), we were told to go find out ingredients. My ingredients were coriander, carrot, limes, and bell peppers.  I got everything together with ease, and helped Jessica look for Chinese Celery since we had promptly forgotten all of Thom's careful descriptions of each.

Finally, we headed back to the shop with our goodies! I had grabbed a quick Thai Tea while waiting for the others to finish their shopping, so I was somewhat revived. We then had to clean and wash all the vegetables and herbs, cut the fruits, and prep the spices. We had a short break where we got to eat the fruit (some of it at least) and catch our breath. We then divided up the ingredients to each have what we needed for our first dish: curry!

First things first - we needed to make our curry paste. Since I was making yellow curry, I had to start with a red-curry base. I would turn it yellow when it was time for cooking it. First we had to chop everything, which took quite some time. Then we had to use a mortar and pestle and pound everything together to make the paste. This was pretty intensive and took some time. However, the result was so fragrant and delicious!

We were then ready to start the curry itself. Thom's method was to go through the steps of the recipe together as a group, then demonstrate once for us, then send us on our way. It was actually pretty good except that it was a lot to remember and she challenged us to cook with our senses, rather than from the recipe book.

We went through the recipe and adjusted flavors and amounts based on what we thought would be best. It was really fun to make it exactly how I wanted (ie: I got to choose the vegetables and spice level, etc). By the time we finished the cooking, we were ready for our late lunch feast - it was 4:15!! We all tasted each others dishes, as we all made something slightly different. I personally thought mine was the best, but I am a little biased. The others - red, green, panang, and massaman - were all wonderful as well! I'm really going to be spoiled on my curry now. But, I can make it at home! I don't think I'll make the paste from scratch - it took forever and the ingredients would be very expensive back home.

We then had a short break from 4:30 to 6:00. It was much needed by that time!! Jess and I went in search of a massage. We got a back-shoulder-head massage for 1 hour for 200TBH - about $6! Score!! It was seriously so relaxing, when we got up to head back to class, we both considered skipping the rest in favor of a nap. However, we persevered! Well, persevered might be too strong a word... I slogged through the evening.

Our last two dishes would be cooked in tandem, so it involved a lot of prep and watching of demonstrations, and even more trying to remember what to do. Nothing too exciting happened, minus the incredible pressure once the burner was on. Go-go-go!! Between everything, we didn't finish cooking until 10pm. I was absolutely exhausted. Thankfully, our course included alcoholic drinks at our final feast, and I took advantage. Once I had some wine in me, I was feeling MUCH better.

We sat around the table together and talked for a while. Michele's boyfriend, Tommy, joined us, as well as some people Thom had met a few days before, and two random French girls who spoke very little English. It was certainly an eclectic bunch! It's funny because this was probably the longest day we've had in Thailand, yet I feel like I have the least amount to say on it.

Overall, the cooking course was good and I enjoyed it, but it was so long and there were definitely parts that I thought we could have cut in half (or even eliminated). But, it was an experience and I'm glad we did it! Once we got back to the hotel around midnight - the latest we've stayed out so far - we both promptly passed out. The next day we had the option to go back to BeBe Spice to practice our skills, but we agreed that we'd had enough cooking for a while and would just pay for lunch somewhere instead.

And, that concludes my day of cooking. Again, nothing too crazy happened but it was a great, if long, experience! And now I can go home and cook (some) of the delicious food I've been enjoying on this trip!

Xx,
Chelsea

Chelsea in Pai

Since we had to reschedule our days in Pai due to the cooking class being shifted to Tuesday, our Monday was now free. Sunday night as we browsed the market and ate the most amazing baked goods and street food, we toyed with the idea of doing some kind of tour. Pai has a lot to offer the tourist - there is a cave exploration tour, bamboo rafting, canyons, ziplining, etc. I was so tempted to sign up for one of these, but at the same time, we'd been so scheduled thus far that I was definitely looking forward to the idea of sleeping in!

So, Monday morning, we decided to take it easy, as see where the day led us. Yes, there were loads of adventures to go on, but we were also on vacation and part of vacation is just relaxing. We got up and headed to breakfast at a nearby cafe that had WiFi, and I regaled you all with our Sunday adventures. Blog written, we decided to just explore Pai!

We walked around the town, which we decided was much different at night than during the day. The previous night, it was bustling with street vendors set up along the two or three major roads. Today, it was so much more chill! We poked around some different shops, and I am so pleased to have gotten some beautiful, handmade jewelry. We then continued walking to a part of the town we hadn't seen yet: the riverside.

We got to a bamboo bridge connecting each side of the small river that runs through the side of Pai. This was probably the most ramshackle bridge I've ever seen - there were long bamboo rods on the bottom, with flattened bamboo woven like straw on top. You could see through to the rods below in spots where the flattened bamboo had broken, and it was so rickety that having any other person on the bridge at the same time made my heart skip a beat. Thankfully it wasn't too high and the river not too intimidating that it made me too afraid. Plus, there were loads of other people walking across. One girl even rolled her suitcase across (I wanted to smack her).

The nearer side of the river was lined with a restaurant and bar; the other side had cottages/bungalows. We walked across and took some photos and explored the beautiful riverside. The mountains in the background were incredibly picturesque. However, the sun overhead was beating down and we got HOT. After hanging out on the swing sets along the river and taking some pictures, we decided to see about some cold beer and lunch!

As we walked back in the direction of our hotel, we took a side street we had not been down yet. Our tour guide back in Bangkok had mentioned that today (Monday) was a holiday in Thailand. I hadn't really factored that into our plans, but we could definitely tell as so many places, particularly restaurants, were closed. We finally found a place called Dang Thai Food ("Daaaaannnnng! Thai Food!") and walked in the covered porch. When the proprietess saw us come in, she looked around and saw that there were no open tables; she scurried over to a table of two guys who looked like they'd ordered a drink just to use the power outlets and were busy instagramming and.... kicked them out. While we felt bad that she told them they had to leave, I secretly thought it was hilarious. I was also glad, because by then I was hungry!

We sat down at the recently-vacated, four-person table, and as we did, another couple came in. Not one to pass up an opportunity to make a buck, the proprietess pointed to our table and said "You share!" Welp, looks like we were going to make some friends! The couple sat down and we started to chat a bit. Once we ordered food, we started to really talk with them. They were from Canada and had been in Thailand since early January. They were making their way through all of the major areas, from the south and the islands, all the way through to this province. They were currently in progress of doing the Mae Hong Son (that is the name of this province) loop by motorbike. I seriously can't imagine doing this loop; the road from Chiang Mai to Pai was plenty for me!

We talked with them over beers for quite a while, actually, but they needed to get on the road so we eventually said goodbye. Once we left the restaurant (thankfully we weren't kicked out!), we decided to take a mid-afternoon siesta. It was so hot at that time of day! We went back to the room and watched Anna & the King, as we were now interested in a bit of the history of Siam/Thailand. (When we went to Japan, we watched Memoirs of a Geisha, so this is basically a continuation of the tradition.) Around 5:30pm, we decided we'd cooled off enough to enjoy going back out.

Since the lighting was now WAY better, we went back to the riverside and took some photos. We had a fun little photo shoot then decided to walk around the Walking Street market again. As it was a holiday, the market was a bit smaller than Sunday, but still plenty of vendors. We moseyed through and eventually found a restaurant that looked good for dinner. We keep marveling how we are spending the most on our breakfast, a middle amount on lunch, and then very little on dinner. Completely the opposite than I had expected.

I suppose that, as a national holiday, restaurants and shops were not supposed to sell alcohol. Obviously the restaurant from lunch had, and our waitress at dinner told us to be sneaky. Okay, she didn't SAY "be sneaky" but she mimed for us to hide the bottle under the table and winked. Ergo... "be sneaky".

As we were enjoying our dinner (& sneaky beer), another caucasian couple sat down near us. Jessica was facing them, and said they kept looking back at us (they weren't even facing us). I laughed, but soon I noticed it too. It was kind of weird, how much they kept looking at us! As we were finishing dinner, we heard some drums and gongs and cheering. I got up and looked out the front of the restaurant (almost all the restaurants have open fronts) and saw a small parade coming down the road. I can only guess it had to do with the holiday, because it was there and then it was gone and that was that.

After dinner, we walked around some more and looked for our baker-vendor from the night before. I can't get over the chocolate-chip scone I had (amaaaazing) and wanted another. But, sadly, they must be really religious because they weren't there. Around this time, the helpful guy from the guesthouse, the one who wanted to return our money, texted me and we arranged to meet at the hotel. By arranged, I mean the conversation went like this: Him: "Where are you" Me: "Come to new hotel" Him: "Okay see you". He ended up refunding us for two nights minus the commission the booking agent collects (15%). Hey, its more than we expected to get back!

After this, we walked back into the hub of things to look for a bar that the Canadians had recommended to us earlier at lunch called the Yellow Sun. We walked up and down the street several times without seeing it, before we realized it was closed for the holiday! Oh well, we were tired and headed back to the hotel to call it a night. Next day was an early start for cooking class, so we got some rest.

Next time, MasterChef Thailand!

Xx,
Chelsea

Pai Out of Town or Pai In Town?

Today was a day of travel. We left Bangkok to head to the north of Thailand. Our day started early, as we woke up at 4:30am. We had packed the night before, but still needed to get ready and head to the airport. We left our hostel and asked the concierge of the hotel at the bottom floor to call us a cab. We explicitly said we only wanted to pay by meter. Both Jessica and I had heard about cabs to the airport trying to scam you by "agreeing" to a price beforehand, not running the meter, then asking for a higher price once you arrive.

The guy called a cab who, when he told him we wanted to use the meter, shook his head and said 400TBH. We said no, we would wait. He left, and another arrived. This guy, too, refused to use the meter. We had gotten out of our room earlier than we expected, so we again refused and waited. Finally, the third cab to arrive agreed to use the meter.

We packed our stuff in and got into the cab. It seems to me that Thai drivers are all pretty crazy, but I think we had the fastest cabbie on the road Sunday morning. I pulled up the route on my phone to make sure we were heading the right direction, and he took every turn exactly as Google expected him to.

We got to the airport in blazing time, and because there was no traffic, we didn't have to use the tollway. Yay! That saved us 75TBH. When we finally got the curb at DMK, the fare on the meter was 189TBH. Less than HALF what the first cab wanted to charge us. We agreed to each throw in a 100TBH bill for a small tip. Tipping is not necessary but we felt like something small was deserved.

Once we got into the airport, the line at AirAsia for check-in was HUGE. However, we had already checked-in, and only needed to drop off our bags. The line for that was much better! We dropped them off, took advantage of the restrooms, then headed for security. The security line was super quick; the girl who checked my passport and boarding pass looked at me, then at my passport, pointed to my photo, and said "Beautiful!" Awwww :)

After we got through security (quick and easy), it was time for breakfast. We went to (gasp!) McDonalds. To be fair, though, our options were McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, KFC, and Krispy Kreme. And really, I thought what I got for breakfast was delicious! We got to our gate with a little over an hour to spare and I wrote Saturday's blog. When it was time to board the flight, we had to take a bus to the jetway. I had done something similar on another flight, although I can't remember where. We got to our seats on the plane, and I really appreciated Korean Air's ample leg room. I don't have super long legs by any means, and it was still quite cramped for me!

The flight to Chiang Mai was super short, and I read my book the entire way. When we landed, we grabbed our bags and headed into arrivals. The first thing I saw was a sign that said "bus to Pai" and thought, oh good, we need that. Then I realized underneath that on the sign was my name! I told Jessica that I'm starting to feel like a celebrity with all of these signs greeting me at airports recently!

When we got to the guy holding the sign and confirmed that we were who he was waiting for, he took off heading out of the airport. We caught up to him and asked him if we can go to the bathroom quickly, and he held up two fingers and told us strictly "Two minutes!" We nodded and rushed to find a bathroom.

Now outside the airport, we got into a mini-bus and took off. I vaguely wondered if this was our bus to Pai, but the guy told Jessica he was taking us to the bus station. Hey, nice! We were getting this transfer service because when I booked the flight, I added the bus transfer onto our tickets. We were dropped off at the bus station and boarded another mini-bus. Over the next 30 minutes before we left, the bus filled up. When we left to Pai, every seat was filled.

At first, I was reading my book. I'd gotten enthralled in it on my flight and was excited to read more. I was able to do that for a little bit, but eventually we turned onto the main highway to go to Pai, and the road started to weave.  Slowly we started climbing into the mountains and the road became more and more curved, and I got more and more nauseated. I was sitting on the "aisle" and couldn't see out of the windows well. I was seriously feeling ill when we finally pulled into a rest stop, about an hour and a half into the drive.

As we climbed out, I struck up a conversation with the girl riding in the solo seat near the front. I told her I felt sick and then asked if she wanted to switch seats so she and her boyfriend, who was in the seat behind her, could be together. Not only did she agree, she gave me some motion sickness medication! Wow, so sweet!

When we boarded back into the bus, Jessica took the seat her boyfriend had been in (also a solo seat, but behind my new seat), and she and her boyfriend took our two seats next to each other. Between the medicine and my new seating arrangement, I was starting to feel a lot better. The road was still incredibly windy with hairpin turns and the bus had to go into first gear plenty of times to chug up the steep road, but I did not throw up!

About 30 km outside Pai, we were stopped at a military checkpoint. As a soldier walked towards our bus, I wondered if we would need to show our passports, but no one said anything. The soldier opened the door and looked around. When he saw the girl who switched seats with me's boyfriend, we'll call him Bob, he said something and Bob produced his ID. The man looked it over then said something to Bob which I interpreted as "You're going to have to come with me." Bob got out of his seat and they headed towards the guard shack. I tried to see what was going on but it was on the other side of the bus, so I couldn't see too much.

After a few minutes, I saw Bob come from around the back with a small cup in his hand. I could only assume this was a urine sample, as he and the soldier sat down at a small table and waited with the cup on the table. They were talking, but I couldn't tell if it was amicable or not. The girl in the van didn't seem concerned, so I wondered if this was a common occurrence, perhaps they expected it. I thought it was maybe to do with him being Thai, but they didn't ask for her ID, or the other two older Thais in the bus. My only conclusion was that perhaps Bob was "randomly" selected for drug testing (he was tattooed and scruffy looking), OR because he was a young male, that they suspected him to dodging military service. However, I looked it up and Thailand does not conscript their soldiers, so that couldn't be it.

Ten minutes later, the girl got out of the bus and went to talk to the crowd around Bob. She came back and got her things. I expected her to take them and go wait with Bob, but she just talked to the bus driver and got into the front seat. We finally took off, leaving Bob behind with the soldiers. Since I'd spoken with the girl, I'd hoped to ask her about it when we got to the bus station. However, about 10km outside Pai, the bus pulled over and she got out and the bus left her.

Jessica and I are both absolutely dying of curiosity about this whole thing, but I suppose we'll never know the real reason, or the outcome for poor ol' Bob.

Once we arrived into Pai, we got a motorbike taxi to our guesthouse. This meant each of us on the back of a motorbike, with our luggage in tow. Jessica had her hardcase rolling suitcase in front of the driver, and I had my backpack on and smaller backpack in the basket at the front of the bike. We took off, and I definitely had a surreal moment of "Oh my gosh I am on a motorbike taxi in a tiny village in the Thai highlands!" I looked in the rear-view mirror of the taxi and all I could see is Jessica with a HUGE smile on her face.

Our guesthouse was about 2.5km from the city centre, and I hadn't realized that it would feel so "out of town". When we arrived, we asked out taxi drivers to wait and return us to the town so we could rent a motorbike. They were so kind, both older and spoke almost no English. We checked in (there was some confusion over how many rooms I booked) and headed back with them. They dropped us off at a motorbike rental store, and we inquired the price - 140TBH per day. We decided to shop around and headed towards the restaurant where our Thai cooking class was to take place.

Along the way, we asked at several motorbike rental places, and they were all most expensive. Looks like our taxi drivers knew what they were about! We got to BeBe Spice, the restaurant, and walked to the back to meet BeBe. I had made our reservation back in October or November, and was instructed to contact her the day before. However, I've since deleted my facebook and had no way to contact her other than in person. I explained to her that we had a reservation for tomorrow, and she looked confused and said she was not doing a class tomorrow.... Uh-oh! She was actually very kind and good-natured about it, which made me not fret. She offered to do it the next day, Tuesday, and since we'd planned that to be our free day, we agreed to it. SHe invited us back for dinner that night at 9pm, but we weren't sure if it was free or paid, as the cooking school pupils were making it.

After we put our deposit down, we continued to walk, as we now needed to go to the bus station and buy our ticket for returning to Chiang Mai on Wednesday. While I'd planned to leave in the morning, our cooking school offered free practice the day after your lesson, so we changed our plans to leave Wednesday afternoon in order to take advantage of the practice offered. We got two of the last three seats on the 2pm bus for Wednesday. Glad we booked it out early!!

Finally, we headed back to the original motorbike rental shop and got a bike for three days. When they showed me how to use it, I felt okay with it. However, Jessica and I had planned to ride together (she did not want to drive one) and when she got on the back, I definitely felt less confident. In fact, I felt honestly very nervous!! We took off - shakily - towards our guest house. Somehow, I managed to drive it all the way there without incident, although turning was HARD and scary!!! Jessica was very good natured and trusting!!

Once we got to the guesthouse and got off the bike, I realized how much I was shaking, both with effort of controlling the bike and with nerves. I realized that I did not want to do it again, and the thought of doing it for three days was terrifying! I felt awful doing so, but I realized I wanted to return the bike. The biggest problem with that plan was that since our guesthouse was so far out of town, it would be difficult to be spontaneous with our plans. After a bit of waffling, I decided to ask our guesthouse person to help me return the bike.

I headed down to the front desk area and the guy was super helpful and agreed to help me take it back. He even got his buddy to go along and bring us back to the guesthouse afterwards. I ran up to tell Jessica, and with this decision made, we then agreed to look into another accommodation closer to town. I found one with availability AND A/C, and booked it. Our guesthouse was only $10 per night, and the new one $27, so we agreed that being centralized and with more comfort was worth losing the $30. I then went back to tell the worker who was going to help me return the bike that we were going to check out early.

His response to my explanation that we were not going to stay there was "Hold on, let me check my schedule." Errr...? I was super confused so I followed him to the desk and asked if he understood me. He said yes, but wanted to check his schedule. I tried again to explain that we would be leaving, changing guesthouse. He again said okay, no problem. Long, broken-English story short, he wanted to give us our money back for not staying in the guesthouse. I told him it was okay, he did not have to do that. But he kept saying "I want to give back to you!" I mean, I won't turn down a refund! He explained that he would have to wait a little bit to give me the refund, which I said okay no problem. He seemed relieved.

We then got our luggage together and hopped on two motorbikes - mine and one of theirs. They dropped us at the new hotel and then went to return the bike. He returned only 10 minutes later with our refunded money - we were only out the cost of 1 day's rental plus insurance - a total of 180TBH or about $5. Phew!

All checked into our new hotel, aptly named Pai in Town, we took showers and cooled off under the A/C (I'd been roasting all day). Finally we headed into Pai to just see the town and find some food. I was now able to actually relax and enjoy this CUTE little town! I'd read wonderful things about it online, and I can definitely see the appeal. It's a slow-pace, hippy town. The weather is somewhat more pleasant than in the city, and the evenings are downright cool. We wandered the Walking Street market and I found some souvenirs to take home as well as some delicious street food. Sunday night in Pai was the first time it REALLY felt like a vacation - nothing to do, nothing to worry about, just focused on relaxing and enjoying ourselves. And, part of enjoying myself is sleeping. We called it a night at 9pm once again and, with nothing planned for the morning, enjoyed sleeping as late as we wanted.

We've got two full days plus half of Wednesday to enjoy this town and I plan to do just that: ENJOY it!

Xx,
Chelsea