Pai

A windy three hour drive from Chang Mai, Thailand’s populous northern city, is a town with a relaxed vibe locals claim is reminiscent of the 60’s in the states. Here, in Pai, is where we spent 9 days, including Thanksgiving and Dion’s 33^rd birthday. Set in a lush green valley, Pai was a base to explore…be it on a scooter whizzing through the countryside and hills or in town learning thai massage.

One of the memorable aspects of our time to Pai was our trek to a hilltribe led by our engaging guide Somsak. Hilltribe people migrated over 100 years ago from the southern part of China into Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam and Thailand. Comprising seven major tribes, each has its own distinct culture, religion, language, art and colorful style of dress. They have assimilated to varying degrees and levels of success with modern culture but for the most part have preserved their way of life with little change for over thousand years.

As a visitor, the hill tribes provide a glimpse into the basic lifestyle of living off the land, and residing in small self-sufficient communities that are foreign and centuries removed to many of us. Excluding the recent addition of solar panels, the living environment in the Lahu village we stayed overnight was much closer to that of the Pueblo Indians that resided in 1200’s Mesa Verde National Park we visited this summer, then to what we are accustomed to back home.

As for the remaining time in Pai, a few pictures below illustrate how days in a exceedingly comfortable town can just breeze by.

View of the river and traveler bungalows just outside the town of Pai

Vendors lined the main street each night, offering choice upon choice of food. Here is the best Pad Thai lady we found in town.

Elephants are big, and their trunks can be ticklish.

Our elephant trek was a definite highlight. Despite a backbone for a seat, they make for a great ride through the jungle. They are playful as heck, grabbing whole trees to munch on while walking by, and rolling around in the river (with us still on!)

Our garden bungalow in town

Dion's other playful friend: the mascot of our laundry shop

Samsak: our guide for the 2 days trek. The town is littered with different trekking establishments and guides swooning with the tourists; we were fortunate to connect with him in town early on and have such a quality guide, and friend, to show us the path and spend Thanksgiving with this year.

Here, Samsak is cutting a path for us, while Christy is thankful she brought the extra bug spray.

The hike started about an hour's drive from the center of Pai. The first day, for six hours and the second, five, we tredged up hills, through rivers, along rice paddies, even cutting our way through the forest in some cases. Somsak, very verse in English and knowledgeable about the various birds, trees, fruits and sounds in the forest, kept us preoccupied and learning.

Walking into the town of Eh la- of the Lahu hilltribe. With 20 families in total, there were more animals than people walking around. The sounds of roosters, cows and pigs were heard throughout the night.

Playing soccer with the village kids

Thanksgiving Dinner: fresh Thai food cooked on this open stove. It was a special place to spend the holiday this year, given how we were away from home. Eh la is as far away from Manhattan and South Beach Florida as one could imagine, so it gave us even more opportunity to reflect and be grateful for our lifestyle back home.

Dion learning how to Thai box. After 3 sessions of 3 hour grueling workouts, blistered feet and cut up knees and elbows, he's still far away from a real fight.

With time in town, we took massage courses in Thai Massage, Foot, and Oil.

Dion's birthday coincided with Thailand's national festival: Loy Krathong. It's tradition for them to send off these tissue paper hot air balloons into the night sky like stars. We heard from some that the practice sends away the negative energy for the coming year...athough Somsak's humorous explanation was that it simply floats flamable litter into the air.

Sunset our last night in Pai. After an afternoon riding our scooter around the outskirts of town, we came upon this Pai Canyon- with a spectacular view of the area.