Utopai

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Ok so I ripped the title of this entry off some tshirts I saw in Pai but it's so appropriate I felt the need to use it. We were at first apprehensive about going back to Pai - having been there before we thought it may have lost it's uniqueness in our eyes and that we might be a little bored. But as we drove up the winding hills and down the other side into the paddyfields that surround this little slice of paradise, all our misgivings floated away.

We had planned to only stay one night in Pai, but as soon as we stepped off the bus we decided to stay another, wishing that we had more time to chill and relax. We got room once again at the very friendly 'Breeze of Pai' guesthouse, which was just as laid back as last time only now they have a cute as a button little baby to welcome guests also.

First up was a return to local legend 'Nong Bia' for some of their delicious Khao Soi (Northern Curried Noodles) and fruit shakes, followed by some mooching round the funky shops that line the road between there and our guesthouse. We found so many cool things we were keen to buy, but with limited room left in our bags we settled on a tshirt each, and I got some magnets and pretty postcards.

We then checked out all the local cookery schools, as we decided that Pai was a much more relaxed place to do the cooking course we had been dreaming of (it was one of my 'must-dos' for Thailand the first time round but we never made it). Deciding on 'Bebe's Wok and Roll' we headed along to fave, 'The Good Life' for some delicious Penang Curry on Brown Rice and some more tasty shakes of course.

In between their was a whole lot of lazing and relaxing and some time spent chewing the fat with some Malaysian bikers at roadside chai stand (yes, that's REAL chai Sarah!!).

Day Two dawned later than most thankfully and we headed back to Good Life for some French Toast, Fruit Salad and Jiaogulan Tea on the swings before cooking school.

At 'Wok and Roll' we had a fantastic day. It was separated into two parts, the first was 10-2pm where we learnt all about Thai herbs, spices and other key ingredients, made our own curry paste which we then used in some curries and of course, ate. Corb tried his favourite, the Penang Curry, I went for the old classic the Green Curry and our sensei for the morning, Carlos went for the Indian inspired Massaman. I can safely report that all were DELICIOUS! And we were well proud of our efforts.

After a nap through the heat of the day we headed back along to meet Carlos' friend Tee for round two. After an intro to rice and noodle variations we went through the intracacies of sauce making (and there were maybe 4 versions of soy alone!) before we got onto our dinner. This round I made a chicken and holy basil stirfry with some Tom Kha Goong (coconut soup with prawns); Corb made a chicken and cashew nut stirfry and some Som Tam (spicy spicy papaya salad) and Tee finished off with some Mixed Veg in Oyster Sauce and a mega spicy Squid Salad (he added about 7 times the chilli Corb and I added to our dishes!!). Washed down with some cool beer, local herb whisky and some fresh ginger and lemon tea it was a feast like no other. The guys were awesome, really laid back and friendly with some good music to help in the cooking. Oh and they had a cute puppy.

All up it was a fantastic way to spend a day and something I would highly recommend to anyone passing through. The only negative was the ache in my belly from eating too much, but I suppose that comes with the territory!!

And so sadly we had to say goodbye to Pai 😞 We decided that it is probably one of our favourite places in Thailand and possibly would make the top 10 of the trip for me.

I love Pai. You love Pai you just don't know it yet (unless you're Caz and then it is your destiny to love it). Everyone loves Pai!

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Comments

[Caz]

pai, pie, pai, pie
i miss pies, pai sounds like fun i love pies and i'm sure i'd love pai too..