Category: travel

Travel Documents for Thailand-Lots of Options

January 15, 2017

Wat Chedi Lueng, Chiang Mai

Travel Document Requirements

This post is not so much of a story as a lesson on how to obtain travel documents. My examples are specifically for Thailand, although you would probably have to follow most of the same steps to travel to another country for an extended time.  I’ve included a few pictures for those of you who are not needing all this information at this time.

Ebb and flow of traffic in Chiang Mai

For those of us who travel to the United States, Mexico or even Europe, a passport is all you need to enter the country as a tourist, even if you are planning to stay for an extended time.  If you plan to stay as a student or to work in another country, then you are no longer a tourist and will usually need some kind of visa.  Our children had student visas when they attended university in Pennsylvania and Mississippi.  Melissa has a special kind of work visa now to enable her to stay in California to teach, but only at the school that hired her.  Owen married an American so he has a “green card”. This is a visa that allows him to live in and work at any job in the United States.

The purpose of the visa is a way to keep track of who is visiting and to ensure that tourists are not taking jobs away from the residents. Immigration also wants to make sure that visitors have enough money or a ticket to leave the country. Hotels have to register our passport/visa number with the police who come by several times a week to check on the location of the tourists. Although the economy here is dependent on traveller’s dollars, they also don’t want their culture disappearing by being overrun by outsiders.  Northern Thailand was never captured and they don’t want to start now.

Visa Waiver Stamp

If we were visiting Thailand for less than a month, we would only need our passport and an ongoing ticket showing that we were not going to remain in the country for more than 30 days.  We would receive a visa waiver stamp.  Everyone entering Thailand also completes an arrival/departure card.  The departure card is stapled into your passport until you leave so they can check that you haven’t over stayed. The same is true for citizens of 51 other countries.  Some countries can stay 15 days or 90 days and others need a visa to enter for any length of time.

For people staying longer than 30 days as a tourist, there are options.  I will share what I have learned, but the rules are changing quite frequently and I am definitely not an immigration lawyer.  I will put some links to websites in the blog that I used for information.  Blogs are useful on the “how to” part of the paperwork, as long as they are relatively current.  We have also gained information from talking with other people who have visas that are different from ours.

Single Entry Visa

Most visas are applied for from your country of residence.  You can either visit a consulate office in person, or send your documents and forms to a consulate and have them sent back to you with your visa.  Fortunately for us there is a Royal Thai Consulate in Edmonton, Alberta.  It has limited hours, but was able to process our visa the same day.  We needed our passport to have at least 6 months before expiration.  There also have to be enough blank pages remaining for the visa and the stamps when you arrive.  The new Canadian 10 year passport made that part easy. We needed to complete an application form found on-line and provide 2 pictures that are 4X6 cm. This is different from Canadian passport pictures (5X7 cm).  You also have to pay cash for the fee.

We chose a single entry visa.  This means that we entered Thailand and stayed as a tourist for 60 days.  At the end of that time, we visited the immigration office in Chiang Mai and extended it for 30 more days.  It cost us $40 CAD for the visa and about $70 to extend it.  If we had left Thailand before the 60 days were up, we could have paid for a re-entry permit at the immigration office, or at the airport the day of the flight.  They cost about $40 and are necessary if you will still be covered by your original visa days when you return.   I only just found this existed while doing some research for this post. The answer was on a blog, not an official government page.

How it works for us

This visa works just fine for us as we want to get to know Thailand first anyways. Once our 90 days are up, then we can leave the country and come back in as new tourists with the 30 day visa waiver stamp.  It can also be extended for 30 days and $70 if needed.  We are travelling to Laos on January 22 for 5 days.  We leave for Cambodia on February 16 before the 30 days are up.  After a trip to Krabi in the south with Melissa in March, we will travel to Nepal for 10 days before returning to Chiang Mai to fly home on April 1.  This will ensure that we are not in Thailand more than 30 days at a time after our visa runs out.  The number of times you can come and go is officially unlimited. Those who are in and out the country more often are likely to be scrutinized more carefully at immigration and can be denied entry.  They really want you to apply for a proper visa from outside the country.

Visas for other countries nearby

The countries that we are visiting require visas but these are purchased at the border/airport when you arrive.  They also require forms, cash and a different size picture.  We paid about $15 each at home for the wrong size pictures.  A local photo place here did 6 pictures each for about $4 and they are correct.  Laos charges $35 USD for Americans and $42USD for Canadians.  They also expect you to pay in USD. The Thai bhat price converts to a much higher amount. It can be very confusing, even with the advantage of Internet searches.

Multi Entry Visa

Canadians, and many others can also enter Thailand on a multi-entry visa.  It costs $200 and requires a copy of your bank statement to show that you can afford to stay in the country for up to 6 months. ($7500 in the bank for 6 months prior to applying) This visa allows you to come and go from the country without a re-entry permit.  When re-entering the country it gives you 60 more days to remain in Thailand, instead of the 30 days for the single entry.  It can also be extended at the end for another 30 days at the immigration office.

I have learned most of this from people who have this type of visa. It has been in effect for about a year yet it was difficult to find anything official on this visa, except that it exists and how much it costs.   Blogs and in person seem to be the best way to understand how these work.  I think it is a better choice for those that want to use Thailand as a home base and travel to other countries throughout their visit here.

Retirement Visa

People who choose to live her full-time or longer than 6 months can apply for a retirement visa.  You have to be 50 years old, have a pension and/or savings in the bank, a medical check, a criminal record check, and a lease agreement.  This visa also requires you to check in with immigration every 90 days.  It is a more complicated process as you need re-entry permits each time you leave the country and have lots of paperwork to complete in the beginning.  There are some changes that may require you to have Thai health insurance which you can only obtain if you are under the age of 70.  Many retirees here have international health coverage or their own emergency account.  The advantage, though, once you have this visa is that you can just apply to have it renewed each year.  I have met many people who are on this visa, but I don’t know as much about it yet.

I was intending to share our experience with getting our extension at the Immigration office in Chiang Mai, but I didn’t realize how much I had learned about visas.  That discussion will continue in another post.

Student monks

Elephant Parade

There are no exciting pictures for this topic, but being in Thailand wouldn’t be possible without a visa so I will share a few of my favorites.  I have also added some pictures from the Parade of Elephants art exhibit in the city.  It raises awareness for elephant care after a young elephant stepped on a land mine and received a prosthetic leg.  These can be found in the menu under travel.

Wat Muen San-made of silver

 

 

Christmas in Thailand…our first on our own

December 29, 2016

 

I’ve shared a few pictures on Facebook of some of our Christmas activities, but I wanted to share more of my thoughts on Christmas in Thailand.  It is the first Christmas without the crazy excitement of school and also the first Christmas without at least one of our kids home for the holidays.  Add to that the fact that we are far from winter in a tropical country and it complicates the discussion even more.  This is more a reflection on all the changes that retirement and independent grown up children bring to your life, than just a travel blog post.

Christmas traditions

I have enjoyed the opportunity of being away from home and reflecting on what is really important about those things I have done every year to celebrate the Christmas season.  What are the things I do that are just because I always did them, or my mother did them, or my grandmother did them and what are the things that if I don’t make them happen, Christmas won’t feel like it happened?

Celebrating a Christian holiday in a Buddhist country meant we had to look a little more carefully for what we wanted.  It also reminded us to question the value of our traditions.  Spending time this season with some Australians was another reminder that the North American version of this holiday is not what everyone in the world is used to.  Having Christmas in the middle of summer every year puts a different twist on to things.

What we did and didn’t do.

Gifts

Gifts were not a very big part of our Christmas this year.  Living small has put us off of stuff.  We bought a subscription to Google Play Music to have access to any music we want, especially while we are away.  We also bought some toys for the kids who are here every day while their parents work at the building.

I made some photo cards for the people we’ve met and spend time with.  Having my external drive along with all my pictures made that pretty easy.  Pete had a Thai woman in the building write out the names of the staff in Thai and he made up cards with a message and their names in Thai.  We found some chocolates at the store and a couple of bottles of Quebec maple syrup that we gave away.

Choir

Singing in a choir in December has been part of our lives since we moved to Rocky Mountain House.  We sang with Northern Crossing for about 20 years and shared the gift of music with the community.   I directed the Northern Crossing Children’s Choir for 11 years and accompanied them for another year.  We had several performances in the community and at the Festival of Trees in Red Deer.  That event always got me inspired to get a tree up and decorated.

I had a choir at the school for 29 years and we had performances at school. For the last 8 years Peter and I have sung with Soliloquy in Red Deer and had concerts of winter and Christmas music in formal and less formal settings.  In addition, we have sung in the church choir for many years and I have directed this wonderful group of musicians for a long time as well. Christmas without music at church would be unheard of in our life.

Lannacapella

So what we did do was join a choir here in Chiang Mai, called Lannacapella.  This group of about 15 is composed of singers from Japan, England, Australia, United States and now Canada.  We didn’t know they existed until the end of November so we had 2 weeks to prepare for the first performances at the local Anglican church as part of their lessons and carols services.  The director was helping with accompanying on the church organ, an opportunity that is not available at most of their venues, hence the a cappella emphasis.  I offered to help conduct at rehearsal.  Before I knew it I was the conductor of the group.  Peter is a big help to the bass section.  They were as happy to have us appear, as we were to find them. One of the members picks us up a couple of km walk from here and takes us to all the rehearsals and performances.  Pete is off golfing today with one of the men.  Another woman shared her home for a rehearsal.

Choir Performances

We had another chance to sing at a beautiful resort, the Ratilanna Riverside Resort for a group in town called the Swiss Lanna Society.  We did 6 carols-3 on our own and 3 as singalongs.  Silent Night was sung first in English, then in German and then in authentic Japanese with our native speakers doing the words and the choir humming along.  The audience joined in with us as we all sang the first verse again. Pete played guitar with us on that one.  It sounded really nice.

On Christmas Eve we had lunch at the Le Meridien Hotel for of the Ex-Pats club Christmas meeting.  The meal was fantastic and could have been served any place in the world.   The Christmas pudding and Pecan Pie were highlights but the Jamaican Fish in curry and the leg of lamb were pretty spectacular too.

There was a drama group that did 2 reader’s theatre.  One was a story of how John Pierpont was such a failure…except for his penning of Jingle Bells.  The second one was the story of the Germans and Allied Soldiers that held the Silent Night truce during the war.  They were very believable in their rendition.

Our choir sang in between their performances and were very well received.  We did the same program as the night before, but we had more people singing along.  It was fun to be part of the event in such a glamorous location.

Christmas Eve

We walked home from the concert with my camera backpack and Pete carrying his guitar on his back.  We went into a grocery store on the way home and bought a freshly cooked deli chicken for our Christmas dinner.  They are all pre-cut into sections and then put back together to look like a chicken.  We bought some croissants for Christmas morning but unfortunately they ended up in the bag with the hot chicken and were not so recognizable by the time we walked home a couple of km.

The sister hotel to this one held an open house in the evening.  They provided some food but people brought pot luck items too.  There was kiwi fruit arranged like a tree, decorated with strawberries.  Someone found a roasted, smoked ham from a vendor.  Others brought pizza or cake.  The bakeries here do fantastic pastries.  We took a plate of mixed raw vegetables and a dip I made from Greek yogurt and Montreal Steak spice.  It was all I had but it was pretty good.

They had a tree set up and you could buy wine or beer.  Many of the staff who work here  came to the party as well.  It was a nice gathering with many of the people we’ve met since we arrived.

We wanted to go to church in the evening, but the services weren’t until 11 pm and were too far away to walk.  It would have been very difficult to get a ride back home at that time so we decided we would have to put that on the “didn’t do” list.

Christmas Morning

I woke up early to catch up on the pictures and conversations from my family in the western world.  They shared their stories from Christmas Eve.  Peter and I had coffee and mandarin oranges together in the room.

We met with some neighbors to have our traditional mimosas out under the pergola.  Sparkling wine with mango and passion fruit juice is special in any country.  Pete and I finished our tradition with the squashed croissants with butter and jam.

We ordered an uber (which is even cheaper than a songtaew, especially for 2-3 people) and went to church Christmas morning.  Jeanne from North Carolina came along with us.  It was a community church in English, and the message and last carol were great.  It was lucky we were early enough for that much, since I had the wrong start time in my head.  The service started at 10, not 11 as I thought.  Oops!

Christmas Day

After church we came back to the apartment.  Pete had a nap and I spent the afternoon riding the bike in the gym and sitting by the pool.  It was so quiet and peaceful.

I came back and put our dinner together.  We heated up the chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots/cauliflower/broccoli, and peas.  I found a box of stovetop stuffing in a store here too so the meal was delicious. Instead of cranberry sauce I had Thai chili meat sauce for my chicken, but that was still good.  A couple of chocolates and a glass of red wine in a coffee mug finished off the meal.

“Not another picture. I want to eat.”

The evening was spent taking with family at home now that it was Christmas there.  We talked with Tim, Suzan and Joyce in Calgary on Facebook messenger video.  We connected with Owen and Megan in Houston on What’s App.  Melissa was off grid in Peru, but talked with us on What’s App video before she left.  My Mom was too late getting up for us to stay awake any longer, but we talked with her on Google Hangouts on Boxing Day morning, which was Christmas night in Canmore.  The technology makes staying in touch with family anywhere in the world so much easier.  I missed the kids. Pete missed them even more.  If we had been at home, we probably would have been alone unless we went south to spend it with Owen and Megan.  The annual Boxing Day at Tim’s might have made up for some of that feeling of being away from family.

We shared pictures on What’s App and Facebook so people knew what we were doing as well.  It wasn’t that long ago the only way we communicated with family was with long distance telephone.  It was much better to talk on video if we couldn’t be in the same room, or even the same continent.

Christmas Did and Didn’ts

Did

  • sing in a choir
  • spend time with people
  • eat traditional favorite foods
  • go to church
  • buy gifts for kids
  • give cards to friends
  • spend time reading Facebook posts to keep up with family and friends
  • hang out at the pool
  • wear our flip flops all day

Didn’t

  • feel stressed
  • spend hours shopping
  • overeat cookies and chocolate
  • put up a tree or decorate
  • sit by the fire enjoying the warmth against a cold and snowy night
  • go out into the forest and get a tree
  • sing in the Soliloquy Choir at Christmas celebrations
  • share boxing day adventure stories
  • set ski trails at the golf course

It was an interesting Christmas Season.  I’ll see how I feel about it next year with time to ponder between now and then.

 

Road to Mae Hong Son-Part 2 of the Mae Hong Son loop

December 12, 2016

Morning in Pai

Diamond de Pai hotel

Morning in Pai arrived completely overcast with low fog.  So much for our plans of vistas and viewpoints.  Although Pai has probably hundreds of restaurants, we started with our Fodors Guide book.  Walking is the easiest way to find small places, especially when the streets are too narrow for parking.  The All About Coffee showed as permanently closed on Google Maps.  We walked to our second choice, the Om Garden Cafe but it had a chalkboard sign telling us it was closed for the week.

Travel is all about exploring and making things work.  The TTK restaurant and guesthouse was the answer to our breakfast needs.  They had real brewed coffee instead of the instant that we often get.  The “American breakfast” had bacon, ham and little sausages that were like little hot dogs.  The best part were the warm, crusty multi-grain buns.  Bread is not a Thai food.  We’ve found a french bakery that makes nice rustic loaves that they will even toast and serve with wonderful raspberry jam.  The grocery store bread is just fine for sandwiches but these buns were exceptional.

There is hot springs just south of Pai, next to the Memorial Bridge.  The Japanese used logs and elephants to build a wooden bridge over the Pai River during the war to move supplies to Burma (Myanmar).  As they retreated, they burned the bridge behind them.  The Thais rebuilt the bridge using iron from a Chiang Mai bridge that was being rebuilt.  The 1946 bridge has since been rebuilt of concrete right next to the old one but you can still walk across the original structure.

Thom’s Elephant Camp

We saw the entrance to the hot springs, but carried on down the road to Thom’s Elephant Camp.  We did this with mixed feelings.  While it is exciting to see an Asian elephant up close, they are generally not treated as the wild animals that they are.  Elephants have been used for centuries as work animals in Thailand, especially in the logging industry.  Teak trees were cut down and hauled to the river by these animals.  As machinery has taken over, the animals are expensive for their owners to feed if they are not working.  Many are now used to entertain tourists wanting rides, to swim with the elephants, or feed the elephants.

At Thom’s, the elephants are taken to the mountains at night to feed and bath in natural surroundings.  They are brought into a confined space during the day where you can buy baskets of bananas to feed to them.  You can purchase a ride or bathe with them in the river.  We decided that we would feed the elephant bananas.  By getting close to the enormous animal we had a chance to get to learn a bit more about them, without taking too much advantage of them.  Although most of the “domesticated” elephants have a mahout that bonds with them and manages their care, they use shouted commands and a pole with a sharp pick on the end.  They hit the elephants on their heads and legs to get them to obey.

OT was gentle and enjoyed the bananas.  He also had bamboo leaves to eat.  When the bananas were gone, he would blow air in our direction and snort for more.  The dexterity of his trunk was quite amazing.  He could easily pick up leaves or bananas from the ground.  When we put a banana behind out back, he would reach around to retrieve it.  I enjoyed watching a young animal lover feed this giant with calmness and joy.  After spending an hour or so close up with OT, we didn’t miss having a ride. Before we came it was the only way we thought we could interact with the animal.

Elephant Sanctuaries

There are a couple of elephant nature parks near Chiang Mai that do tours where you see elephants interacting in their natural environment.  We even met a lady at the Remembrance Day British Legion dinner who fund-raised to set up an elephant sanctuary that is only for elephants, not tourists.  She provides for vets to care for sick or injured animals and provides a salary to the mahouts while the animals are in care and not working.  Elephant Jungle Sanctuary and Elephant Nature Park are 2 examples of parks where elephants are not exploited.

As luck would have it, the skies cleared and the sun came out. We decided to skip the hot springs and carried on through an agricultural area.  It was quite beautiful and nice to get out into the country.  Every few km there were little machines.  At first I thought they were ATM’s, but they were actually little gas pumps.  I don’t know how you paid since most people use cash for everything here but they were just set along the road.

Mor Pang Waterfall

The back road led us back to Pai. We followed a road on our new paper map to a waterfall.  It wasn’t that far away, but it was certainly secluded.  It really felt like being in the jungle, from what I’ve imagined from the movies.  There were actually 2 falls, but the best were the signs.  There are many places where I would like the job of fixing a little grammar or spelling to make the message more clear.  I do appreciate that there are English messages, but sometimes I am more confused that when I began.  Notice the rule that says, “Ban controversy.”

The next set of curves and hills required some good driving.  I’m glad I was in the front seat of a car and not in the back seat of a tour van.  We saw a couple of people every day stopped by the side of the road with motion sickness.  We took a side road into Sia Ngam Hot Spring.  It is similar to the Liard River Hot Springs in northern British Columbia.  There are toilets and a pathway with some other improvements in progress.  It cost us 20 baht or about 75 cents each to get in.  The water was pretty warm for here.  It was more like a warmish bath than a hot tub.

The location was beautiful.  The tree vines hang down and everything is lush and green.  There were lots of young travellers there but many Chinese families as well.  There was a little thatched hut for changing that looked very much like the family homes that we saw in the farming areas.

One of the hillsides was planted with corn.  This is not a native plant to Thailand and farmers are offered incentives to plant it for feed.  It is also a popular food in the market but required straw laid along the slopes to prevent erosion where the trees used to be. It produces a lot of waste that  contributes to the terrible air quality in Northern Thailand when it is burned in March

There were several tour vans in the parking lot and lots of scooters.  The road into the hot springs had some grades close to 20%.  We saw a few scooters where the passengers had to get off because the bike just couldn’t get up the hill otherwise.  For us in the car, there were a few times where it looked like we were going to take off since you couldn’t see the rest of the road below the crest of the hill.   There were very steep cement gutters along the road that were about 18 inches deep with straight sides.  I was a bit worried what would happen if we slipped into one of them moving aside to make room for other vehicles, but it was all ok.

There were a couple of viewpoints on the rest of the journey to Mae Hong Son.  The first had wonderful views of the area. There were a collection of children in traditional costumes that would pose for a picture for a few baht.  I found a bag in the market made of quilted fabric in bright colors.  It fits my extra camera lens and cost about $6.  This style of bag is made in one of the northern villages.

Our last stop on the road was at the Coffee View Point.  It was a perfect location.  The views over the mountains were spectacular.  There was a bamboo deck and furniture created out of natural wood pieces.  I had an iced green tea without sugar.  It was very green.  It has milk in it but it tasted a bitter like coffee.  The regular Thai Tea is made with instant tea, powdered milk, powdered creamer, and sugar.  Then it is poured over ice and liquid milk, or sometimes sweetened condensed milk is poured over the top.  The result is quite orange, but it tastes like tea and lots of other good things.  I have started asking for it without sugar.  It’s rich enough.

There was a market at the top, as expected.  Deliveries to each stall were made in one truck to the top of the mountain.  All the products were unloaded and organized together by a crew of people.  They really worked well together.  It makes you wonder about the “village crafts” but it is free enterprise taking advantage of the tourist industry.

The last 15 km took about 30 minutes with all the curves and we were ready to be done for the day.  I will continue with our time in Mae Hong Son another day.

 

 

 

The Road to Pai-Part 1 of the Mae Hong Son Loop

December 8, 2016

We wanted to get out of the city for a few days, so we rented a car and started on the road to Pai, Part 1 of the famous Mae Hong Son Loop.  I’ve included some extra pictures in the Travel heading under the menu.

Puzzle Answer

Before I continue on the road trip, I want to thank the 2 of you who guessed at the picture I posted.  Lots of people looked at the post, so thanks for that. Yes, the first picture was cut up papaya.  There are street vendors for fresh fruit or fruit smoothies everywhere in Chiang Mai.  The fruit is packaged into plastic bags and served with a stick for eating.  They usually put the fruit bag into a small plastic bag with a handle so you can hook it onto your scooter hook or handlebars. It costs about $0.75. You can also get pineapple, pomello, watermelon etc.

The bamboo tubes are filled with sticky rice and a few black beans.  There must be some water or coconut milk added as well. The top is plugged with coconut husk and banana leaves then roasted over hot coals for an hour.  The older lady cuts off the green outer bark with her knife.  When you get home, you peel off (or slice off) a section and scrape out all the delicious rice and enjoy.  Each stick costs about $0.90 and serves 2.

rice stick with grilled chicken

Mae Hong Son Loop

This loop is about 600 km and is north of Chiang Mai.  It is very popular with motorbikes as it winds its way up and down and back and forth through 1864 curves.  We gave the seat belts a good test in our little Suzuki Swift.  As you rarely reach speeds over 60 km/h, it is at least a 4 day trip.  We stayed in Pai, Mae Hong Son and Mae Sarieng.  I’ll break our trip up into those 3 stops as I think there is too much to share in one post.  There is a good website I found for travel around SE Asia where you can find more information about this trip we took.  travelfish.org

The Road to Pai

We booked our car through Hotwire for about $26/day and picked it up at the airport.  The first few minutes were a bit stressful for us as they drive on the left side of the road here.  Scooters fill in all the spaces between the cars and merging is done when the slightest space appears.  Signal lights are not commonly used.  Red lights cause the flow of traffic to stop eventually.  It is a very give and take flow down the roads.  Drivers seem patient and there are no horns honking or people yelling.  Apparently there are lots of accidents, but we haven’t seen any yet.  We came close to being squeezed off the road by a semi that was losing its lane, but a quick toot from us and he let us escape.

We quickly discovered that having a paper map would  have  been helpful as Google Maps don’t always choose the best route and it uses a lot of battery power on the phone.  The city traffic thinned out fairly quickly.  They don’t have big stores on the outskirts like we have at home. The overloaded trucks of eggs, pigs, chickens and vegetables emphasized the market economy in Thailand.

Chiang Dao

We passed the exit to the town of Pai and continued north to Chiang Dao.  The highlight of this town is a large cave at the Wat Than Chiang Dao.  It has 12 km of passages but you can travel through many of them with a guide and a light.  About a km of them have had walkways built and electric lights added.  The fee at the door states it is for the cost of electricity. This cave is inside the third highest mountain in Thailand and has many large caverns.  There was active water flow dripping down the stalagtites.

 

We walked in to see the sleeping Buddha that is thought to be from he 1850’s.  The signs are in Thai for the most part, and when I looked up the caves on line, there is nothing definitive.  This sleeping Buddha is made of bronze, and like many Buddhas in Thailand has layers of goldleaf applied to the face by faithful followers.  They also leave statues, flowers, candles and even toys.

There were people saying prayers and lighting candles.  I climbed some stairs to a platform that contained several Buddha sitting in a row.  They had different facial expressions and were plastered with gold leaf.  There were also statues of dogs and another arrangement of Buddha statues.  I don’t understand the significance of the arrangements but it was considered sacred and I had to remove my shoes before I could enter.

 

Outside the cave was a beautiful hillside with bamboo water wheels, ruins and a pond filled with huge carp and catfish.  There was also the usual market offering food and souvenirs.  An unusual stand contained all natural plant materials that we would probably define as herbal remedies.  There were baskets of ginger, ginseng, gonagal, turmeric, mushrooms and many other unrecognizable roots and stems.

There is an ancient chedi ruins on site that is reportedly 2000 years old. There is also a more recent wat that people were receiving blessings from monks in their orange wraps.

Temple dogs are common in Thailand.  They are fed although technically stray.  The “soi dogs” that live in our alley (soi) scrounge food or are fed by kindhearted tourists in hopes the dog will remember them kindly later. Almost all the dogs look the same here as far as size and distinctive features.  They do vary in colors.  That must be what many generations of inbreeding resolves to.  The dogs we see are like this.  They sleep in the heat of the day and howl, bark and chase tourists at night.  We haven’t been chased yet, but I’m glad we got our rabies vaccine before we left, just in case.

Temple dogs

On to Pai

We found a little roadside place for lunch.  They had 4 pictures of food but then one woman said “Pad Thai” and held up a bag of noodles.  We decided that was best.  It was tasty and came with a bowl of broth.  Condiments are on most Thai tables.  They include dried chili flakes, sugar, chilis in vinegar and fish sauce.  They cover the spicy, sweet, sour and salty flavors expected to be in Thai food.  It is more interesting than just adding ketchup to everything.

The drive to Pai covered many of the curves and hills we had expected.  This is truly jungle country.  There are green growing things everywhere.  The mountains are not as high as ours at home, but there were many vistas and viewpoints.  Unfortunately there were not many places to stop and look.  The roads are narrow and often along the curve of the mountains.  There was one nice rest area with lovely views and a little coffee shop.

views

The toilets were squat toilets like in China.  There was a pail of water beside the toilet.  When you finished, you poured water into the bowl to rinse it and make it flush down through the flap at the bottom.  Again, you had to be prepared with paper in your pocket.  The sink for washing your hands was outside the stall.

I had emailed to book a hotel that was recommended by one of the residents in our building. I didn’t get their email saying that they were full.  They did send us down the street to another hotel that still had rooms on a Saturday night.  We stayed at Diamond de Pai for about $35/night.  The wifi was spotty and the bed was very hard, but it was clean.  The shower was like a trailer shower where it is just in a corner of the bathroom, without a curtain.  To make the lights and A/C work, you had to put your room key base into a slot on the wall.   It was a great way to make sure you didn’t leave it running when you left the room.

Pai Nightlife

Pai is a backpacker mecca.  It is full of young people.  Our neighborhood in Chiang Mai has a mix of young travellers and retired travellers.  Pai is about 80/20 young to old.  At first glance it seemed to be much like Chiang Mai, but we discovered that the food in the restaurants caters more to International travellers than Thai visitors.  There were many vegetarian places and middle eastern food.  I had a falafel made by a Thai woman who makes her own pitas every day and fills them with fresh made falafel cooked in her portable fryer when you order.  You could order nutella and peanut butter crepes.  The walking street was filled with such a variety of food carts.  I understand that this area is also visited by Thais from the south who want to get away from the heat.  It was much cooler in the mountains, especially in the evening.

We have discovered that things change quickly in Thailand.  The restaurant our friends recommended doesn’t exist anymore.  The guide book recommendation had a kitchen issue and wasn’t open, although we could bring food from the market into their space and still buy from their bar.  The Edible Jazz restaurant had hammocks, cushions on the floor for sitting at low tables, or just reclining under the stars.  There was an open fire and stands of bamboo growing in the yard  The server brought us a little bottle of bug spray and a mosquito coil was burning under our table.

We stayed for an hour listening to the live music.  There were 2 thai men.  One sang and played rhythm guitar.  The other played lead guitar.  They did some great covers of the Beatles, Eagles, Pink Floyd, Neil Young and Bob Marley.  We went to the market to eat and while walking down the street, saw the same 2 men singing in another bar.  They were singing their own original songs and had changed roles of singer and backup. The bars with live music definitely had the biggest crowds.

I met a woman from Fresno travelling with her daughter.  I went over to see where they had bought their falafels.  The mom was about my age and was so excited her daughter had invited her to come on this trip.  The daughter had been to Thailand before a couple of times.  It was a short trip of 9 days, but she commented that it was all about spending time together.  They had had massages and listened to live music, rather that just be active and busy on their holiday.  Everyone you meet has a story.