Heading south

First stop in the islands: Ton Soi...

We hit yet another small hippy Thai-rasta town with great vibes and beautiful people. It's also a rock climbers and stoners paradise although we haven't indulged in either :) we managed to find a jungle hike from our town of Ton soi to the neighboring Railey Beach which is a little more touristy but for a definitive reason. The white sandy beach meets the vibrant blue water all enclosed by massive jagged cliffs; the natural beauty is amazing.

We spent the rest of the day joining the beach bum community and taking it all in.

The next day we rented a kayak to explore the coastline and nearby islands.  The rock formations are so exotic! We also bought snorkels to stop and look around at the coral and fish below us. 

Kayaking:

 

Some of their 'hippies' at their finest:

Oh, and to top it all off, there's cute little monkeys running and swinging around all over the place! I guess they are little characters and mess with the rock climbers way up on the cliffs... 

Pai Hot Springs and more!

We rented a motorbike for the day ( ended up keeping it for three days) and motored our way around Pai's vibrant green mountainous surroundings. What a freaking blast... Even though Aidan refused to let me drive. (He's a bad backseat rider...) 

But Katie did get some driving time in!!

The gas station:

Of course we saw elephants on the side of the road while motoring around... Just the usual sights: 

Interesting little hay hut on the side of the road: 

Flying down a back road: (For Colin <3)

We visited the Pai Hot Springs, which consisted of numerous tiered natural hot springs ranging from 33 degrees celcious to whatever temp water boils at...

The area was also under construction: 

At the hottest of hotspring we were able to hard/ soft boil eggs, which we came prepared with since a Pai local told us about the egg boiling extravaganza ahead of time. Wooden egg baskets were provided at the spring... We (unaware of the baskets there) were expecting to drop the eggs into the boiling water and some how fish them out with sticks haha, the baskets made it much easier. 

Eggs: 

The springs to lounge in: 

The next day we decided to search for a waterfall located right outside of Pai.  We wondered the confusing network of small bumpy roads, driving through villages and rural but beautiful country roads.  Somehow we stumbled upon this instead of the waterfall and Aidan decided to go for it; I was way to clostrophobic so I sat out and photographed the hillarious event. I was almost in tears from laughing so hard. 

Inside the orb was a blast however, rolling, falling and running, feeling a lot like a hamster in a ball over water...

Eventually we made our way to the waterfall just before dark. Didn't take a picture because rather than it being a major waterfall, it was a little stream that ran down a small cliff... Slightly/ utterly disappointing and overrated. It was beautiful and there was a sign that explained the creation of this particular waterfall which was a great story. Oh well! 

The highlight of the night however was this...

Bacon wrapped mushrooms served with a spicy green pepper sauce that was incredible: 

Indian street food- kabab, dahl, naan, chicken masala: 

And of course this sign: 

Birthday the Pai way

Today Aidan booked a thai cooking course for the two of us for my birthday. It was absolutely amazing and just what I wanted to do on my birthday...cook and eat.

First we visited a local market to explore and learn about regional ingredients that would be used in the dishes that we would later prepare.

Thai eggplant:

"Ear or woody" mushrooms: 

Quail eggs (didn't use these but learned that one quail egg, which is about two inches in size is equal to four chicken eggs calorie/ nutrition wise!) : 

After the marketplace we began preparing our first dishes. 

Katie's- cashew nut chicken 

Aidan's- flat noodles with soy sauce.

DELICIOUS!

 

Next, I learned how to make papaya salad which consists of grated green papaya, grated carrots, quartered tomatos, a squeeze of lime, smashed green peppers, a pinch of coconut sugar, half a spoon full of fish sauce all mixed/ mashed together. 

Aidan learned how to make deep fried spring rolls YUM!!!!! - glass noodles, chicken, garlic and other veggies.

Next we made Thai curries and soup! 

Theses are the ingredients for the curry paste. We mashed them in stone mortar and pestles. 

This is red curry and glass noodle soup.

After an afternoon of cooking, eating and learning about regional Mae Hong Son produce and various foods, we were exhausted... So we returned to a birthday upgraded bungalow overlooking the Pai river. 

And of course the birthday princess bed...( wayyyyy better than sleeping on styrofoam which we were previously sleeping on I think....) 

And the birthday babe herself on the front porch overlooking the river! :)

When you arrive in the town of Pai amongst the surrounding vibrant green mountains there is a glowing white Buddha perched high upon the slopes.  So... After some hors d'oeuvres and cocktails we decided to hike up to the looming Buddha figure.  It was incredibly beautiful! 

From the Buddha there is a panoramic view of Pai and the Mae Hong Son province. 

Happy Birthday Katie!!!!