Pai

Pai

3 hours and 700 curves outside of Chiang mai sits a paradise named Pai. The tiny town, ran by Thai Rastas , hippies and back to the earth happy folk is surrounded by idyllic rice patties who's bright green color blends to forest in the surrounding mountains. We rent a scooter and Adam very safely winds us along tiny un trafficked roads where I feel like I am flying, riding the back of a bird. We land at amazing water falls, view points and hot springs, climb stairs to a giant Buddha on the hill, and stop to find tropical birds that I spot from the back. 

To stay we have found a place in the rice patties owned by a couple of Thai hippies. The woman is passionate about cooking and makes us amazing breakfasts centered around fresh fruit and an assortment of home made seeds and dried vegetables. It is Thai health food at its best! The man is passionate about fish. So passionate that he has three giant fish tanks, a fish pond, and two separate small lakes that are stocked with fish if all types and sizes. Our little cabin is built right on the side of one of the lakes and, when Adam asked if he could swim the owner said "well you can get in but you might not get out! There are fish as big as you in there!" He even has a small pool to breed his own fish and will rent guests fishing poles but they cannot eat the fish-they have to release them back after catching them.

As the last major destination on our trip Pai serves as the location for us to envision integrating back into normal working society again. We feel both sad that our trip is ending and excited to see friends and family again and contribute back to the world through our work. We have now shared an experience as partners and travelers together which has brought us closer, cementing the beginning of our marriage together with a strong and beautiful bond. Our gratitude for all of our community that have supported us making this journey with funds and/or love is overflowing. And now the travel fire is lit-we are planning our next adventure already.

Chiang Mai, city of memories

Chiang Mai, City of memories, we explore her busy streets finding foods, businesses, and words that I pull up from my experience living here almost ten years ago when I studied abroad in college. The city is so easy to be in and get around through and we stayed about one week, having a multitude of experiences in and around town where we dug deeper into life here. we loved filling our bellies with delectable Thai food, and took a cooking course with a passionate chef who truly schooled us on how to make Thai food on our own. We also discovered the live music scene and Adam made friends with an incredible beat boxer from Chicago and ended up free styling with him in a packed bar. We were immediately drawn to the ornate and sacred Buddhist temples and decided to do a two day intro to meditation course where we donned all white in complete silence and sat with a monk and other foriegners . We learned about Thai Buddhism, how to pray, and how to bring mindfulness to many different practices. We also spent our time visiting vibrant street markets, riding an elephant, and learning about northern Thai culture. And I ate a LOT of mango and sticky rice. 

Hanoi Hustle

Hanoi Hustle 

Remember the old school Atari and the game frogger? We stood on the corner of a street in the bustling alley like maze of Hanoi's old quarter, feeling much like that green digital frog and wondering how the heck we were supposed to cross a street with no lights and no break in the swarms of motor bikes the rule the road. How does it work? Well it's a lot like frogger except instead of getting squished, the bikes weave around you. That doesn't change the fact that we felt like every street crossing was worthy of a gold medal.

Motor bikes aside, the old quarter is fascinating - bamboo, locks, traditional medicine, toys, flip flops, trinkets, kitchen sinks, flowers, jewelry - you name it - every street had something it was known for selling. Mixed in were delicious street food vendors that each specialized in one fabulous thing (pho, mixed noodles, pork buns, hot pot, sugar cane juice, jelly shakes etc). The little fried donut balls would put Dunkin donuts and Krispy Kreme out of business in no time. At night we drank copious amounts of bia Hoi, a cheap beer (20 cents a glass) popular with locals and tourists alike. To escape the hustle, we enjoyed two lovely city lakes, water puppets and a few museums. We made friends with the owner of our hotel/homestay, talking Buddhism while drinking beers and listening to Vivaldi on his old phonograph. The place was the queen garden hotel and we dug it. We met up with some fellow travelers we'd run into a few other places for beers and shared meals. Though Hanoi has its hustle (and fair share of scams, which we were warned of ahead of time) there's a vibrant fun to its fast pace urbanity. Elisa Was happy when on our last city day we walked to a large lake and escaped the mayhem. Happier still when we left the "big city" for gorgeous natural scenery in both Halong Bay and Sapa.

Sapa mountains, vietnam

Here I met my Black Hmong sister Kerr, our guide. Same age same positive disposition we giggled through the mountains, looking at plants, comparing love traditions, and admiring beauty. As she led us through her scenic mountains gorgeous rice patty under looming mountains opened upon each other.

It is a place of simplicity, recognized from some of my previous travels where traditions are honored and people live close to the land and each other and far away from everything else. The floor of your house is compacted dirt, you cook on a fire, and the jungle a bit up from your rice patty serves as a place to collect food (adam ate skinned bees that the 14 year old boy collected for dinner), where to get wood and fronds for building your house, the medicine cabinet and a bathroom. Each piece of clothing takes almost a year to make so the value of your five piece wardrobe is completely different.

We leave our three day track soar, muddy and a bit soggy but with the insight of having walked through a world so different from ours, but also in many ways the same.

Elisa