Just some additional media to share...

Sugar break purchased in a market.  Bread, butter, sugar, grilled on a skillet.  Ridiculously good.

Hill tribe coffee is a thing.  The coffee has been SOOO good. and at approx $2cdn for a latte, my habit is affordable here!!!

Elephant times!

Strangest hippy band ever.  The asian man walking around blowing into these horn looking things was quite a spectacle.  Sonically, the worst thing i have ever heard.  People watching GOLD!

High Level overview of the hippiest hippy party ever.  The russian man who sang with a ukelele in russian, a song about our beautiful earth with the shit eating-est grin EVER on his face was a highlite!

Market shot from the cooking school day.

 More Ramchuak Market.

 Sun dried red chili's.  HOT.

What seems to be the Thai equivalent of rice krispie squares.  available for your snacking satisfaction virtually everywhere.

Meat. All the fried and crispy meat!

This is Kamee frolicking in the Pai River.  This was a really special day.

Getting Caught up!

Okay Okay.. Far to much time has passed between the 'sick in bed with food poisoning for two days' post and this one.  With apology, on with the update.

Pai was a lovely little town.  Far more hippie than anything one could have expected, but amazing none the less. Some music was played at an open mic or two, lots of coffee consumed, and an over-saturation of night markets happened too.  Those things can really get crowded, and when the point comes that you want to move and actually GET somewhere, it can be a real challenge.

These two fellas are some pretty amazing musicians that were kind enough to have guests.  It was amazing to share a stage with an international group of really skilled performers.  I mean serious talent from across the globe.

Sunrise and sunset in Pai were spectacular times of day. This photo absolutely does not do this justice. At all...

This is the best photo taken so far.  This adorable little girl was enjoying some fruit shake in her mother's shop on the market street in Pai.  Not sure if it's the outfit, her innocence, the perfectly imperfect way the hat sits on her head or what, but so far it wins. 

Night markets.  Everywhere you turn there are night markets, and Pai is no exception.  There are better photos that capture the madness, but as Pai is small, this gives you some idea of what is happening!

This is Fred the tree.  He was planted after spending the afternoon with a new friend, who appears below. There is an amazing conservation area outside Pai who is doing forestry and elephant rehabilitation work.  Really an amazing thing they have going on.  Grass roots, and funded entirely from the donations provided from those who visit.  You can visit their website at www.conservenaturalforests.org to get a better understanding of what they are all about. 

Also, this is the new friend referenced above.  Everybody meet Kamee!  Lovely, very pregnant, and consuming 40kg's of bananas (among other things) daily!  They believe she will give birth in April or May, so it will be fun to follow along and see how that all turns out having met her.  What an amazing experience....

 This past Monday brought a return to Chiang Mai ahead of a night train to bangkok happening later this week, the main purpose of which was to hit a cooking school that came highly recommended by a university friend.  A stop at the market on the way to the school (with a lovely group of people I might add) brought some amazing photos, and a serious education about Thai food, and the market and farming experience.

 So.  Many.  Peppers!

A bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice made from these babies, (which ironically seem to look less appealing than oranges seen in north american grocery stores) was absolutely delicious, or 'arrrroy' as you would say in Thai!

Nothing here for scale, but these avocados are easily the size of grapefruits.

And lastly for today, the cooking.  ALL the cooking.  The recipe book that was provided at the end is highly coveted at this point. And rest assured that making Thai curry paste of any colour from scratch is involved.  The outcome though, 100% worth the effort involved.  This is Tom Yum Soup with shrimp....

Spring rolls with scratch made sweet and sour sauce...

On the left, Yellow (massaman) curry, and on the right a sweet basil cashew chicken and vegetable stir fry.  Fast, simple, and delicious.

Lastly the sticky rice and mango that is a staple of the dessert genre here.  We were told to go to town with presentation today so things got a little bit nutty.  The rice is tinted blue from local flowers being simmered in coconut milk and folded into the sticky rice.   Visit at www.thaifarmcooking.com











So that's the update from the last few days.  It's great to be able to advise after discovering the current season does not provide for flights to Chiang Mai from Pai, the driver who operated the van back to Chiang Mai on sunday was NOT the crazy sort as the whackjob who drove TO Pai.  No motion sickness.  No fear of loss of life.  All good. 

Tomorrow is largely a laid back day prepping to get to the train station for the overnight train to Bangkok.  A good friend from high school will be there this weekend to hang out, and it's been something amazing to look forward to for a couple of weeks.  So, up next... Bangkok!

The dinner...

Yep. It was a lovely dinner indeed. Until it wasn't!!

Tuesday evening saw an invite to a lovely gathering put on by the owner of the guest house a friend rents. Gracious to be invited. But some of the meat clearly had other ideas for the following 36 hours!!! All I can say is that spicy Thai food in combination with food poisoning is NOT a good time. After 36 hours of cleanse, I am starting to feel human again.

Today was a return to semi normalcy, and included some recovery of the body in a natural hot spring, and some great live music. I anticipate some more normal activity levels in the coming days, and hopefully something more to post here for your continued travel entertainment.

I love Pai!

Pai Pai Pai!

Feeling grateful this place is so magical because honestly never has a 3 hour van ride provided such fear and motion sickness!! The mountain pass to get here was a gong show with a Thai Mario Andretti at the wheel. I can still feel the bruise on my left arm from getting BASHED into the side of the mini van interior at each of the 700+ sharp turns! There were very nearly grown men tears today upon discovering at this particular time of year the flight that would have been far preferred for the return is not happening. Let us digress...

I am slowly indoctrinating myself into this ridiculously hippy flavoured town. I bought some pants that complete the transformation but I am just not quite ready to sport them in public. It's coming!!!

Today I took a wee video of how sleepy Pai is mid day. Tomorrow I will capture some of it at night. A shockingly different vibe. And the whole avocado toast thing is, apparently, a world WIDE phenomenon!!!!

There's a glimmer of possibility for a motorcycle rental in the next couple of days and a ride in some mountains. That would be a real treat!!

The last challenge of the day was trying to sort out what kind of fruit smoothie to order. As you can see, it's fairly serious business.

Get here sometime. Just get here. 😎

Markets and people and markets and people!

Oh, and a trek up the Mae Ping River. A
Fun one at that.

I wish I had taken a photo of the super awesome car engine/transmission combo that pushed the boat up the river today. Some kind of ancient system that is clearly effective, but what a spectacle!!! It was nice to see some of Chiang Mai from the water, and see some of the farming practices that exist.

And then there was tje Saturday Market. Thank gawd for getting there early. By 9pm you seriously couldn't move and I have rarely been so grateful to be departing an area of one city. Grateful to have seen it once. Can't imagine going back, tough the street food there was truly out of this world.

The day ended with a supremely lovely exchange with a young fellow from the south of France who arrived here three weeks ago with 20 Baht (about $1 cdn or less) to his name and was serving a beer and telling the story. He also feels like a new friend.

Tomorrow centres around a relocation to Pai and a change of scenery.

Onward....

PS. The tuk tuk action on a Saturday night is NEXT level in case you were wondering!!!!

Temples markets and statues oh my!

Well it was a photo heavy day and I think they can speak for themselves.

Note the last one though. It feels a little... well, biographical!

Gregarious

Relocate, Temple, Massage, Bedtime!

830pm local time and I am ready for bed. Time change has hit and kicked my ass today.

Briefly then....

A relocation happened to a different accommodation. #improvement

Some brief walkabout today led to a temple (and a funeral as well it seems) that were both quite a spectacle to take in.

There was lengthy coffee stops today. A trip to the 'grocery store and the day was wrapped with massage. I wish I had a picture of the barely 5 foot tall woman who nearly broke me. (I mean that in a good way). There is a very good chance I will see her again tomorrow and possibly for a two hour extravaganza that she spoke of on my way out the door!!!

I am epically tired and headed to bed early.... Nite all 🙏

Full day 1... sorta!

Despite being awake for 36 hours straight, sleep was painfully short last night. I think there was about 6 hours and that was that. Hopefully the lack of napping today will lead to a hard sleep in spite of the ridiculously hard bed. Tomorrow brings a location change as a result.

Made it to a night market this evening, and have had the good fortunate to sample some delicious and inexpensive food and beer. Oh, and also some beer.

The idolization of the Elephant is alive and well, as is the risk of getting hit by 37 tuk tuks every time you contemplate crossing the road. The traffic keeps the dull moments at bay suffice to say.

Today I had 3 Delicious and 1 very mediocre coffee experiences. A trend I hope will continue.

I also happened upon a beautiful park today in the old city part of Chiang Mai and watch a vast number of.. well, hippies enjoy yoga, circus acts, time on a slack line and all sorts of other fun activity. A lovely sense of community in that park today.

Now if I can just find a decent breakfast spot in this town....

SIXTEEN HOURS AND COUNTING!

Well, I have to admit that the first leg was FAR less painful than expected.

I am typing offline as the plane is prepping for landing that will be followed by a tiny layover happening in Hong Kong. It will be tight. Bags. Security. A terminal change. We shall see what happens.

The screen in the seat back ahead of me provided an animated birds eye view of our route today. Hopefully the time lapse I have included here is visible to those of you reading.

It will be a dash to the connection. Hopefully this post makes it live from Chang Mai later this evening.

Update: You couldn't get any closer to missing a flight than what just happened in Hong Kong. And who knew you could bring a massive travel pack right on a plane when the checked baggage counter is closed already and you're basically staring at the reality of having to forfeit your ticket an rebook the next day... not the most fun travel experience I have to say....

In other news, have now been awake a full 26 hours and I am pretty certain that no sleep in the last year will be as good as tonight...

Till the next....

Life Redux - Asia Edition

Well here you have it: 8 weeks of life reduced to this 65 litre green beauty and his little daytime brother. And off!

Just a short little 16 hours on the first flight tomorrow morning between me (and my little, not as little as I was hoping) bag friends here and South East Asia. Hoping you'll want to follow along. And look forward to the commentary that follows in return.

See you on the other side...

Gregarious