This is just a quick post to let you know that we’re still alive and well and planning on writing more at Asia Steps. Speaking of alive and well, here is
a cool photo of an albino turtle from an island in Thailand.

A view of the Pai River from the nearby mountain

We’ve just uploaded photos from our last two days in Pai. Instead of joining an organized trekking tour, we decided to ride around by ourselves and explore different villages, waterfalls, wats and farmland. It was fabulous.

Check out the photos from day 3 and day 4.

We are now back in Chiang Mai packing our bags and getting ready to say goodbye to each other and to Thailand. Tomorrow morning we both fly out of Chiang Mai – I am flying back to HCMC for 1 night before flying back home (via Tokyo) and Kevin is flying to Malaysia to start his adventure!

Patong Beach took the No. 4 spot and Koh Pi Pi Islands landed the No. 7 place in a recent Travel Channel survey of the World’s Sexiest Beaches!

The “sexiness” of the beach destinations was evaluated based on a combination of how sexy the local population is thought to be, the sexiness of the tourists crowd and the overall sexy nature of the nightlife or party scene. Most of the beaches were top quality in terms of standard beach criteria as well: sun, sand, water, etc.

We have not yet been to either of these beaches but Koh Phi Phi has been on our list for some time now.

Pam Bok Waterfall Near Pai

We’ve uploaded new photo albums from our first two days here in Pai in the North of Thailand. Check out photos of our motorbike travels:

Pai, Thailand – Day 1
Pai, Thailand – Day 2

We’ve been in Pai since Sunday afternoon when we arrived by bus from Chiang Mai. The name of the town is pronounced with a hard “B” sound, as in, “Bye Bye”, not, “American Pie”. The weather is quite different up here in the mountains of Northern Thailand and we wake up to the chilly morning air protected by a couple of blankets and a mosquito net in our cabin. The cabin is the ideal setting for a little morning stretch and exercise, complete with a straw mat and a beautiful view of the gardens.

We decided to skip the included “American Breakfast” as it’s called and cross the street for something a bit more interesting and healthy. We first dropped off our dirty laundry, also across the tiny street, where they wash your clothes for 20 Baht (50 cents) and it’s ready by 6PM the same day. The breakfast cafe was small and charming with statues, flowers and little offerings of food in dishes which the passing dogs seemed to enjoy very much. Tamar had a fruit, yogurt and muesli cup and I enjoyed a mushroom crepe and some very strong and good coffee.
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Some of you may have noticed that we had a technical problem with the video we shot at Koh Mak Seafood and included in our post, Koh Mak Seafood: A Taste of the Island and Its History. The problem was due to YouTube not processing the video we uploaded and the video appeared to be unavailable.

We’ve re-uploaded the video which includes a feline friend who helped us to pick out a crab for lunch and eat it too!

Tin Tin Up Close

Going to the north of Thailand without riding an elephant is a little like going to Vegas without gambling. Yesterday, on our first full day in Pai, we decided to go elephant riding in the afternoon. For our journey, we got “Tin Tin”, a huge female elephant who doesn’t look a day older than 412. Tin Tin, as we learned moments later, is a moody girl with a serious gas problem (the two are related, I suspect).
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One of the many dirt roads around Koh Mak

We decided to end our week long stay on the islands by spending two nights in Koh Mak – a smaller island off of Koh Chang. We took a slow boat from Koh Chang’s fisherman’s village and an hour later we were on a gorgeous new island. Even before getting off the boat, I could already see that the water was crystal clean turquoise and the scenery resembled one of those posters you see in a tour agency. Koh Mak is definitely less touristy than Koh Chang with far less resorts, restaurants and activities. There are stretches of land where you see nothing but trees (and dogs). It is very quiet and somewhat secluded, a perfect romantic getaway.
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Crab with garlic and pepper

When we arrived on the small island of Koh Mak we were already hungry from the long but beautiful ride by “slow boat” from Koh Chang. After checking into our resort, Monkey Island, we asked the receptionist for a recommendation for local seafood. He said he knew of a restaurant that was open and after one phone call they were on their way to pick us up from the resort!

After about 20 minutes we were picked up by a middle aged Thai woman in a taxi which on these islands is always a covered pickup truck with 2 benches to sit on in the back. She drove us to the restaurant and the ride turned out to be a freebie (to and from the resort). Not only that, but after bringing us to the restaurant the driver then put on a smock and went back to cooking for the other customers already seated at the restaurant.
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The beach by the slow boat pier

We’ve just uploaded a new album of photos from the island of Koh Mak in the Koh Chang Archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand. This island is smaller than Koh Chang with less tourists and activities but offered an excellent getaway from big island life, plenty of roads to explore by motorbike (or bicycle) and very nice beaches and seafood. Click here to view the photos!