Eating in Pai

Eat

At our hotel in Pai, (Pai Homey), they served breakfast every morning from 8:00am to 11:00am. I ordered pancakes with Nutella. They were really really yummy. The pancakes came with papaya that was freshly picked from one of the many papaya trees in Pai.

This is us drinking smoothies we got at a cafe called Cafe’d’tist. I ordered a berry banana lassi and Denise ordered a pineapple ginger lime smoothie. I also got Banana pancakes, so did Denise

This is Khao Soi at a restaurant called Nong. We got it on our first day in Pai. My parents thought it was good but not as good as Khao Soi Mae Sai in Chiang Mai.

This is us eating Ice Cream at the Pai walking street with our friend Katherine. Me and Katherine ordered Chocolate-chip and Denise ordered Chocolate.

This is spring rolls and pork noodle soup at the restaurant Nong. The spring rolls were scrumptious.😀

Foot and Shoulder Massage

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 We just got to Pai, Thailand and we are really loving it. You can check the map to see where it is. Yesterday, we went to get massages. In Thailand, massages are very common. I do not think I have seen a block without a massage place. We got foot and shoulder massages, I liked the foot massage but the shoulder massage was a bit harsh for me. Denise loved it, she rated it a million out of a million. An hour massage was 200 baht, (8 dollars Canadian). Cheap, right?

Sleeping at ISTY Hotel

Sleep

The ISTY Hotel gave us a great room and very good service. Me and Denise slept in Twin beds and my Mom and Dad slept in a Double bed. We did not sleep that well for the first few nights because of Jet Lag but now we have pretty much adjusted to Thai time.  The hammocks were nice and very comfortable. I would rate the ISTY rooms  a 8 1/2 out of 10.

Guest Post (Dan): Khao Soi and Budget

Eat

Thanks for the guest spot Ev. One highlight of Chiang Mai for me is the Khao Soi Gai (chicken) at the Khao Soi Mae Sai restaurant down the road from where we are staying. It is a spicy coconut noodle soup with a chicken drumstick and topped with crisps that get soggy as they mix in. Apparently this is a particularly northern Thai dish but not like you can only get it here – I’ve had it at the Queen Mother by City Hall in Toronto and wouldn’t bet I could distinguish one bite blind. It’s kind of like the pizza in Naples, which is incredible, ‘best in the world’, but not that different (that I could tell) than the places in (pick your city) that use the same 3 ingredients, all approved by the Council back in Napoli.

Before we left I watched on recommendation the Parts Unknown episode where Anthony Bourdain comes to Chiang Mai (thanks Ben). He hangs out with the American guy who opened the Pok Pok restaurants in the states after living in northern Thailand and they sort of talk about honouring regional cuisines as they go international and what ‘authentic’ means and stuff. They also drink a lot through the episode and don’t get too too deep into anything. But this soup at this place is delicious. Maybe the coconut milk comes straight from a coconut and not a can. Maybe it’s just the idea of eating it in Thailand. Maybe (likely) it’s that it costs 45 Baht (about $1.80 CAD), and yes I will add a Fanta for 15 B. The four of us ate lunch here for less than $10 and we’re going to need more finds like this if we’re going to make it to Japan. In general, pretty cheap food and transport in Chiang Mai have been a sweet surprise after accommodation seemed to be a bit pricier than expected and many travel forums talked about how this isn’t your father’s Thailand.

Also, they drive on the left here – who knew?

Elephant Nature Park

Nature

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Today we went to the the Elephant Nature Park. The ENP rescues sick or injured elephants from unfair labour like logging or the circus. We had an awesome time hanging with the elephants. Our guide, Job, was very nice and taught us some awesome facts. Here are some of them: Elephants are pregnant for 2 years, elephants can live to 100 years old, their skin is an inch thick, and they can eat up to 300 pounds of food a day!! In the morning, we fed the elephants bananas, watermelons, and pumpkins. The elephants we fed were named Kabu and Deepo, they were 60 years old. In the afternoon, we watched them bathe and lather themselves with natural sunscreen. Can you guess? Mud!! Elephants use mud as sunscreen and bug repellent. Would you want to try that? I would not at all. Elephants are very intelligent, they make their own little families with other rescued elephants, one “family” at the park only has members with physical injury, like cataracts or a dislocated leg. I hope we can all agree that elephants are an animal of wonder.

Pool at ISTY Hotel

Swim

The pool at ISTY Hotel was very nice. It was 1.20m deep at the shallow end so little kids like Denise could stand without going under, and the deep end was 1.40m deep so older kids could have fun too. The pool had a little waterfall at the end of it which made the pool look very pretty. As you can see below, ISTY provided lounge chairs which was nice for reading or relaxing. The one con I have is that the water was very cold. Overall, I would rate the Isty pool a 7 1/2 out of 10. 

Eating at Isty Hotel

Eat

We stayed at Hotel Isty. They generously gave a big selection of breakfast at the breakfast buffet. From waffles to croissants, the food was always delicious. My parents really enjoyed it, as you can see below. But I think me and Denise enjoyed it even more. Overall, I would rate the breakfast at Isty a 9 out of 10

Mae Sa Waterfalls

Nature

Today we went to Mae Sa Waterfalls. We went to 7 waterfalls!! The names of the waterfalls are Wang Sam Muen, Wang Thao Promma, Tat Muei, Tat Phanarom, Pha Ngoeb, Wat Hang, and Lan Thay. This is Wang Sam Muen .This is the first National Park we went to in Thailand. All the waterfalls were so pretty! 

We went under the falls at Wang Thao Promma. It was so much fun, as you can see from our faces. The water was pretty cold but we had the time of our lives anyway. I  hope we go back.

This is Tat Muei. We could not swim here because the current was too strong. This was the third (in thai: Saam) waterfall.

This is Lan Thay. The Waterfall was easily accessed so you could even sit on it!! No doubt this was an awesome adventure! 

Night Bazaar

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Yesterday night we went to the Night Bazaar. In the evening the Bazaar is crammed with people bustling around and bargaining with vendors. After we admired the many stalls with non-edible things we went for food. Me and Denise ordered some pork gyoza, it was delicious!!
For my second course, I ordered fried rice with chicken. I could not finish it, but it was still worth it. I wanted to eat all the raw vegetables but my mom said that you cannot trust all street food.
Finally for dessert we had smoothies, we were really hoping for the ice cream shown below but our parents were not going for that idea. I ordered a mango lassi and Denise ordered a mango- orange smoothie. Over all the smoothie was great.
When ordering this ice cream you could choose your ice cream flavour, two mixers, one sauce, one sprinkle flavour, and one garnish. Who could resist?

Temples, temples everywhere

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This is Buddha at Wat Inthakhin Saduemuang , people give offerings to him at his shrine. They give offerings such as fruit to show the fruition in their Buddhist practices to the Buddha, flowers because they are the most beautiful thing in the world, and candles to show the radiance in their hearts and minds to the Buddha.  The term Buddha literally means enlightened one. You must take off shoes before entering the temple and cannot be wearing shorts, tank-tops or short skirts.
The dragon statue is placed at the foot of most temples. It represents protection of the temple and the Buddha. The dragon is also associated with wisdom and longevity.
The elephant is placed at some temples. It represents good luck and royalty . It is very sacred to the Buddhist people in Thailand and Burma. These elephants are at the temple Wat Chedi Luang.  
This is the Buddha at the foot of Wat Chedi Luang. Part of the Chedi was destroyed by either a 16th century earthquake or by cannon fire during the re-capture of Chiang Mai from the Burmese in 1775, nobody knows for sure. You may not go in the Chedi but can get great views.