Fist Fights and Private Hot Springs

After spending two nights in Chiang Mai and then another two in the hippy mountain town of Pai, we are now en route to Bangkok. We left Pai at 12:30 pm by mini-bus and are now enjoying a 3 hour layover here in Chiang Mai before embarking on 12 more hours of the VIP bus and wll be arriving in Bangkok tomorrow morning. Also.... just in case you hadn't noticed, Dave added PHOTOS not only to his last post but to all the old ones too, so you should definitely go back take and take a look at them.

We had a nice three days in Chiang Mai which is considered by Thais to be their cultural (and culinary!) gem. The old part of the city is surrounded by a moat and has all of these neat little sois (like an alley but nice) that you can use to get through the city while avoiding the traffic. The city is also home to over 300 wats (temples) that have a special architecture (called Lana)that is very ornate and specific to northern Thailand. We spen most of our time here just ambling around the city, eating and taking in some beautiful wats. We splurged and did a wonderful all day Thai cooking course. After getting a lecture on rice, we headed to the market with wicker baskets and got a lesson on all of the exotic fruits (so called because of their small size) and the bizare custard apple that looks something like an artichoke and tasted like a sweet mango. We then headed back to the kitchen where we were given aprons and kerchiefs and got to learn a total of six dishes. The Tom Yum soup with shrimp and Som Tam (papaya salad) where my two favorites, but it was all delicious and we can't wait to get home and cook some of it for you all!

After a couple of days in Chiang Mai, we were feeling totally watted out, so we decided to take an unscheduled detour to Pai, a hippy town in the mountains near the border of Burma. The drive their was gorgeous, although on a horribly curvy road. The town itself was very cool and laid back although we soon learned that had we been there a year ago it would have been a lot more tranquil as Jim the expat english bartender informed us that Pai had been featured in a popular Thai movie and ever since then bus loads of Thai toursists had begun invading the place on weekends. We also had the good fortune to show up on a Friday so the town was packed with most guesthouses filled up and prices bumped up because of the high demand. Despite the craziness, Pai still has pockets that emmanate the hippy town and as soon as you get of town there are great trails and waterfalls to explore. After arriving around noon in Pai and finding a funky very basic bungalow to call home, Dave and I headed off to Fluid, a beautiful lounge bar in the countryside complete with small work out center. We spent as much time as possible soaking up the sun before the clouds moved in and we got some light sprinkles. We had a great time walking around that evening and sampled oodles of incredible street food from delicious little pancakes to savory meat on a stick. While our attempt to go out and find a roudy night scene for some drinking initially failed (Jim the bartender and Matt from Chicago both very nice ended up being our only company) we were delighted to come back to our place to find a group of lively Thai guys who invited us to join them by their campfire. They turned out to be exactly our age and forced us to take too many shots of SangSom Rum from the bottle top. We could barely communicate with the guys (one of them did have an english phrasebook from which they pointed out "intended length of stay?") but we had a great time just hanging out and laughing and smiling with them. One of the guys had a guitar and amazingly (were not sure if this goes for all Thais or if they are a group of some sort) all them could sing REALLY well and so for the most part we just hung around and listened to them play and sing Thai songs. Their was only one song that had a chorus simple enough for us to join in on so that one got played alot and they also had some American hip-hop that they played for us from their cell phones.

For our one full day in Pai Dave and I decided to take another adventure aboard a motorbike. We took off and got a bit lost trying to find the first of two waterfalls on our itinarary. It was a really nice fall with lots of Thai kids swimming around and all was great and happy until suddenly everything went crazy. I just summoned up the courage to slide down one of the falls and was alone in one of the pools when suddenly these two guys tumbled into the water next to me. WhileI at first thought it was just fun and games I quickly realized it was anything but, as these guys meant business and were going for blood. As I struggled to get away (they were blocking the easy exit) they pummeled each other and soon another guy was in the water. I really think they wanted to kill this guy (NO idea why!) but they were strangling him, punching him in the head and then it all culminated when they smashed a glass seven-up bottle right on the guys temple. Lots of blood,meanwhile I was trying the scramble my way of the rocks and Dave who was above couldn't do a thing to help me. The bleeding guy then proceeded to try and escape by following me up the rocks which totally freaked me out. Fortunately his assailants decided to let him go and didn't follow up us the rocks but needless to say I was badly shaken. We decided to take off rather than hang around and took off for another waterfall which was very cool and in a cave and didn't hold any surprises. After a quick stop in town for a very late lunch we got a big beer and headed out to Pai Canyon where we watched to sunset. Then, thanks to Jim the bartender, we went in search of Spa Exotic which was the best advice we have received in Asia. Not only did it cost less then half the price of the regular hot springs most tourists are sent to but we had the place entirely to ourself and unlike the normal hot springs that are just twelve inches deep here we could swim! It was so so so nice and relaxing and was just what our tired traveling bodies needed! Ok must run!! Bus is here more later!!
Jess xoxoxo