Muay Thai

Yes, Gurcharan is crazy about it. He is currently at a Muay Thai Training Camp.
Which is why I am here catching up on my blogging.
I will let him fill the rest of this post in - if he is physically capable when he gets back!

Yoga in Pai

All hippy-ness is slowly creeping in - Gurcharan is wearing baggy cotton pyjamas and I am hunting for a cheap place to braid my hair! Soon I will have Gurch in dreadlocks! heehee!

Continuing with the hippy trend, this morning we went for yoga. It was Gurcharan's first time, and he absolutely loved it!
We rode about 5 minutes out of the main town up a hill. This place has a beautiful pool.
The yoga stage is beside the pool, open on all sides. On one side you can see the tall hills shrouded in morning mist, the other side is a farm and the rest is surrounded by banana trees and lush green vegetation. It was a wonderful experience - the whole set up was perfect. It was a small class of about 4 others so a more personal lesson.

Hopefully this will promt us to have more regular yoga sessions.

Rain, beautiful rain!

I would never have thought rain could look so beautiful!

Its raining today, which I am told is quite bizarre for this time of year - evil Global Warming strikes again!
But it never looked more beautiful! Its been raining all night and all day. Pai is an area surrounded by high hills and lush tropical vegetation, the 'hut' we are staying in overlooks the hills and is surrounded by banana trees and lovely green plants. So when I opened the curtain this morning the whole place looked like a fresh wet tropical paradise!

Big Bad Biker Chic

That'll be me! Yup - I have finally conquered the dreaded bike! (ok so its only really a scooter, automatic one at that!)

So far, Gurcharan has been the rider and I'm the one that sits in the back suddenly aware that I must do my prayers more regularly!

But yesterday, I overcame all fear and rode with Gurcharan sitting behind me (feverishly doing his prayers!)

Gurcharan has become quite the rider. He is pretty good and I do find that I feel more and more relaxed sitting with him. If you recall, I put a post on the first time we hired a bike - a rainy wet day riding on a muddy sloshy road with puddles as large as ponds in their own right! But he manouvered through it like a pro - very impressive stuff!

Gurcharan has already decided to buy a scooter when we get back to London. We got an email from a friend about the ridiculous price of fuel in London - I think everyone will be considering buying a scooter!

Pairadise in Pai

Just chillin....

So what have we done so far in hippyville? Well, while in Rome do as the Romans do!! While in Hippyville do as the hippies do! (sorry, couldn't help that one!)
More chillin...

What does that mean, really...you ask?! well, in my book it means doing a whole load of nothing! We have been totally chillin and relaxing!
mmmm...chillin while sippin on some yummy ice cold fresh fruit smoothies

At night the streets turn into a massive stage for live bands positioned between various hippy paraphernalia - loads of street food stalls, stalls selling anything from jewellery to shoes.

They sell a whole load of hot teas in large earthen pots - I tried out a corn milk which was like...well, drinking corn!

We tried out this Japanese restaurant that turned out to be FAB!
The sushi was the most delicious sushi I have ever tasted!

The atmosphere is relaxed and everyone walks around with a big smile on their lips!
Some more delicious Japanese noodles

Pairadise

This is where we're staying in in Pai.
Its made of bamboo and is the roof is thatched with grass and leaves. The furniture inside is made of thick bamboos and the bed is draped with a flowing white mosquito net (although I haven't seen any mosquitoes so far as its not the season for it).
The whole front side is made of glass doors which all open so that there are only 3 solid walls to the hut.
Breakfast near the coy pond
A long windey cobble path lit with linen lamp shades leads to the reception area which has a coi pond and bamboo bridges and beautiful bright red Japanese umbrellas.
A circular bamboo staircase leads to the open air message parlour.

I could live here forever! :o)

Pai - hotsprings

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Need I say anymore!?!!

tuk tuk

This is a tuk tuk.
The tuk tuk driver is Charlie.
That is Preet sitting in the back.
Charlie took us to the gurdwara in Chiang Mai.
It cost 60 Baht. This is too expensive!

Some of you may have seen this vehicle in India. In South East Asia this is a common mode of transport and is what tourists mostly get around in.
I believe the name is derived from the sound it makes
tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk tuk..........

Chiang Mai Gurdwara

We went looking for this Sikh Temple and just couldn't find it.
Then, a day before we were about to leave Chiang Mai we met a sikh family dining at an Indian restaurant - Dr Sarin and his wife Dr Savita. Their dad was a very fit 92 year old whose wife was a Thai lady. We were told that she was quite the looker in her day, and she still looked stunning for her age (we didn't ask her age). They wrote the exact directions in Thai so that the tuk tuk driver would have no trouble finding it.
As we were leaving the next day, we had to wake up extra early in order to visit the gurdwara before the bus left for Pai.
The gurdwara is currently undergoing major construction - which explains why we couldn't find it the first time.
Always so nice to go to a gurdwara. While travelling we hardly get the chance to see any sikh temples.
We even had a lovely langar (breakfast) at the gurdwara.

Close encounters

Gurcharan v Alien v Predator

Pie in Pai

Today we arrived in Pai which is a hippy (Preetville!) town based in northern Thailand. After a 3 hour mini bus ride through some of the windiest terrain we arrived in Pai. As of late we haven't been booking our accommodation, because we havent any trouble before so we thought there wouldn't be a problem, how wrong we were, HOW WRONG WE WERE!

After ringing around for a while to different guest houses we managed to find two, which were quite pricey that had rooms for the night. So for our money we got a private bungalow style wooden hut, which is really nice and set in some nice gardens. We are yet to sleep there, but hopefully it will be ok.

It looks like that we are going to be doing some serious relaxing here and maybe some muay thai, if i find it not too tourist orientated (in other words im not doing it if i think i might get damaged!!).

Oh, and we haven't really had pie...... yet!

Chiang Mai - Quad BIKING!!!!!

The Two Terrors!

Officially, quad biking rocks BIG time!

Today we went quad biking, which was really full on, like most of the things in SE Asia, there is no faffing around and doing things slowly, you are basically thrown in the deep end and made to get on with it.

This is my good side!

With minimal or non existent safety briefing and training, we were told where the accelerator is, the gears are and how to stop and then made to drive around for a few minutes before we headed for the open road, yup public roads, there was a sticker right in front of me saying that the quads are not for use on public roads, but what the heck, this is SE Asia, laws and rules only serve as a rough guideline!

I tried to look like a big bad mean terror rider - but this is the pose that came out!

Gurch looking more the part in his army shorts and bandana and pose!

So after a some on road stuff we headed for the off road, and after a bit things got really fun with lots of quite dangerous terrain, dangerous as in you could fall easily into a valley or river!

I gave up on the mean poses and went for the 'im contemplating' pose

I managed to crash twice and burn my leg on the manifold and to loose all gears, ok, so i was pushing a bit hard and being a little reckless, but i thought when am i going to get the chance again?!

In case you are wondering what that white thing dangling from Gurcharan's ear is - its not his sexy new look, its a surgical mask to protect from the dust.

Preet really had a good time too, she was being far more sensible not doing power slides and drifting like i was or ripping the poor engine,, ahh i miss driving! We had to wait for her a few times, she did crash too, but the quads are built to take a beating.

I thought id bring some glamour into the quad bike scene!

On the way back it felt like all our bones had been shaken up, but it was really fun and well recommended!

Follow that quad bike!

Chiang Mai - 23rd Jan 08 - Thai cooking school

Today, finally the blog is pretty much up to date, this has been more work then anticipated, but worth it. Preet is at a cookery course as i type learning some vegi Thai cooking, which is great for me when I get back to the UK. I have been watting again (visiting the temples. Wat is temple in Thai) and walking around the city and sampling some normal local life. Right, pictures to go up later, im hungry, I spotted a vegetarian restaurant so im going to get my fill!

Its an apron - not my outfit!

They taught us to carve this beautiful lotus flower out of an onion!
Everyone's attempts - can you spot the one done By the instructor?
Some more pretty pictures - mmmmm the food was SO yummy!

The team - each had his or her own wok and cooker. Very professional place.
I cooked fish cakes. Except mine were the vegetarian variety made of soya - sooooo goooood! mmm!
This was my atempt at a rose - this was made out of a tomato.
They took us to the fruit and veg market in the morning to introduce us to Thai vegs.
Not sure what this is - but it looks pretty!



Yes - this i saw at the veg market! Yes - it is for consumption!!!!!!!

Thai Green Curry - we made this from scratch. So now when I get home i'll treat you all to a great big Thai feast! haha!

Chiang Mai - Long neck village tour

Yesterday we got in touch with a tourist agency to organise a very touristy tour of Northern Thailand. Gurcharan pulled this sexy lady! (that's how the tour guide described her anyway!)! She is from the Akha tribe in North Thailand.
They are found roaming the streets of Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai selling various traditional crafts and jewellery
Long neck village or Karen Tribe of Northern Thailand

We headed out to see a village on the northern most tip of Chiang mai, called the Golden Triangle, where on one side lies Burma, the other Laos.

The day started off in an orchid garden and butterfly park, nice but we have seen some amazing orchids in Singapore and some beautiful butterflies in Malaysia. But it was a great opportunity for Preet to practice her picture talking skills.

The orchids had been freshly watered

I was doing an impression of an orchid! The colours, varieties, shapes and sizes of the orchids was incredible!

We then headed for some caves where about 200 hundred years ago a rishi had done some time praying and meditating.

This was great spot and saw some impressive stalagmites and tights. Outside the cave there was a pool with some huge fish, koi and cat fish i think. Preet was also ambushed by the old ladies selling herbal remedies for anything and everything!

I love this pic! A subtle positioning of the hand - one of many (over 200) postures of Buddha

On the way to the village we stopped for some food and also a viewpoint where we could see the point where Burma, laos and Thailand meet. There was a huge Buddha image here too.

A while later we arrived at the 'Long Neck Village', well this was a village setup 12 years ago which had 4 or 5 different tribes there, it was very touristy, but gave the opportunity for tourists to see the different village people and for the village people to get some trade and to better there way of life.
The grannies were the most adorable things! They smiled their toothless smile which made them even more adorable. They have a habit of chewing tobacco - hence the black teeth.

Preet posing with a lady from the Lisu Hill tribe.

So from what we know, nobody really knows why the women lengthen there necks, some say it is to beautify them, some say its to protect against tiger attack, some say its to identify tribes. But anyhow, the way they do this is to where heavy rings round there nicks which actually compress the shoulders down and pull on the head.

A lady of the Lisu Hill Tribe. They call them angels because their beauty is renowned in all of Thailand. They have beautiful skin and originate from Myanmar (Burma). They say a beautiful girl will have the skin of a Burmese and eyes of an Indian.

Preet posing with a lovely little girl of the Karen Tribe (Long Neck Tribe). She has the sweetest smile!

Even with out the rings we saw in pictured that the neck looks really long. When the girls are young they can choose to have a long neck or not, so they aren't forced into it.

Yes, that is a massive hole in her ear!

Preet testing out her bargaining skills.

We decided to buy a hand woven scarf of one of the women, she was sitting and weaving interesting scarves, with some interesting patterns and colours.

Gurch scrutinizing this handmade scarf. He ended up buying it for Gurpreet, his sister.

The little girls were really cute, but made me think, shouldn't they be in school or playing with friends instead of being a tourist attraction,,, but hey!

Isn't she adorable?!

Here she is again with her baby brother.

This is called a jumbo! In other words its a cattle truck for carrying farangs (tourists). We always felt like cattle being taken to the slaughter house when sitting in the back of one of these!