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On our last bus ride in Myanmar I was opening a little plastic wrapper with my teeth and my left front tooth broke. Before anyone else asks, no, I haven't a massive calcium shortage that's causing my teeth to break. Yeah, 40 is old but not THAT old thank you very much. My two front teeth were crowns already (unfortunate swimming pool accident when I was 8, nowhere near Christmas) and the last set only lasted a mere 6 years. Seems that there should be a 10 year warranty on such an expensive product! Luckily we were back in Bangkok two days later so I could get it replaced quickly.
We spent two weeks in northern Thailand. Chiang Mai is one of the largest cities in the north of the country, very food focused with an emphasis on health: brown rice, whole grains, organic fruits and veggies, fresh and local ingredients. We visited a few more temples. Ugh! But it was interesting to see that their wood temples are very similar to those in Burma now that we've been there. I took a great cooking course making some of the classics: green papaya salad, pad Thai, green chicken curry, spicy
basil and chicken, and massamun curry which is a less spicy curry from southern Thailand. And I've now got at least one cook book fully of yummy recipes to bring to Bali with me. I've jumped on Toby's carb wagon and now look forward to eating rice and noodles every day. If you eat the same thing long enough, you will come to love it. I don't think I'll be forcing myself to eat liver every day though!
Pai is a small and quiet town about two hours north of Chiang Mai. There are a few streets of shops (strange ones that I'll get to in a moment) and restaurants but you're still in the thick of Thai culture. The school band practices on the soccer field and the locals gathered for what I guess was a fundraiser. Maybe they need another temple... NOT! ;-) Back to the shops... you can get your chakras balanced, take Reiki lessons (whatever that is,) be rebirthed (sounds painful,) meditate inside a triangle, and a whole host of other spiritual experiences that would keep a hippie happy for weeks. We skipped the fourth dimension and focused on the food. We had some great
Our favorite cafe in Pai
Great food, low prices, and top notch spot for people watching.northern Thai food and fantastic falafel pita sandwiches with creamy tahini and a selection of other sauces.
Post Pai, we went way south to the islands of Koh Tao and Ko Samui in the Gulf of Thailand. We did some pretty average diving on Koh Tao then wandered about Ko Samui on a motorbike. Both islands were really green and gorgeous with lovely beaches and bays though Koh Tao is much smaller and more low key which we really like.
P.S. Got a little Cliff Claven for you. In the movie "Meet the Parents" Robert DeNiro pronounced Ko Samui "ko sahm-wee" but it's really supposed to be pronounced "ko sah-moo-ee."
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Dan Copsey
non-member comment
Whatz Up
Hi guys, love getting my updates on your adventures. I've missed that little piece of info on when you will be coming back. Did you decide to stay on for another year?