Seeing Pai By Motorbike (Mini Loop 1)

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Our mission in Thailand is to try and hit as many fanastic places to eat as possible. In Pai, there isn't a ton to choose from, so by Day 5, we should have hit the best. Breakfast today is at Om Garden. Most places to eat don't open until 9:00, which goes to show how laid back Pai tends to be. I had chocolate french toast with bananas and a cappucino. Zach had a Thai omelet with mixed fruit juice. He had some fruit with his eggs, and in it was papaya. We tried it again, and this time it was not like a festering pile of garbage. Dragonfruit though still is tasteless.

Our goal for the day is to go north on the motorbike to see the Chinese Village, the viewpoint, and one of the waterfalls. It's just a little loop and only would take a few hours. We are going to the Southern loop tomorrow, which will probably take all day if we hit all the stops. The northern loop road is quite beautiful, easy to do, but the roads start get extremely bad and full of potholes after you pass the Chinese village. Our first stop was the viewpoint, which is fantastic! We drove back through the village and did a little bit of shopping. We are going to go back and buy more stuff when we leave. The tea here is incredible (this coming from someone who despises tea). Apparently there is NO bargaining here (or in Pai at the night market I noticed). I tried, but no one will budge. I hope bargaining hasn't disappeared in Thailand!

We headed up to the waterfall. On this road there is a lot of the guesthouse farms. I debated staying at one because they are so peaceful, but when I saw how far it is out of town, I am happy we stayed in Pai. I would not have liked to ride to town everytime I wanted good food. The waterfall is nothing to write home about, but Zach ran up the side to check out the top. As he was coming back down, I thought to myself "oooh, I should videotape this in case he falls" but then stupidly I just took a picture moments before he pretty much toppled down it. He did manage to stay on his feet (sort of), and he had to leap about 7 feet off the side of it to avoid face planting. He jumped right into a giant mud hole. I could not stop laughing. Everyone there saw him, and I was cackling, rolling on the ground, hysterical. He was all acting cool, like he meant to do it, but I knew better. He washed off and we rode back to town.

For supper, we ate at Nong's. I didn't take pictures, but we tried Massaman curry for the first time (wow!) and Khao Soi (kind of a curry soup with crunch noodles). Nong's had absolutely none of the food we wanted from their menu, so we ate light then hit the street market for snacks and shopping.

We heard the princess was at the market (tons of cops), but we didn't see her. I bought a pair of pants for 250 baht (no negotiating at all here apparently). We enjoyed some bbq'ed creatures (squid, chicken, pork), and I had a strawberry waffle. Tonight we vow to eat on the street only. So many great things to try. I want some fried chicken.

We headed back to the room, and Zach downloaded the Packers vs Titans game to watch. He went out to the guesthouse bar with the computer to drink and celebrate the crushing victory, while I read and went to bed. Sounded like he met a nice German couple. I will be partaking in the drinking Christmas night, but I didn't want a hangover for our big motorbike jaunt.

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