Pai in the sky

From Pun Pun we headed northwest to the hippy/expat enclave of Pai, a small town nestled into the northern mountains. Arriving in the off-season we found Pai to be very quiet and relaxing, but we were assured that a Khao San Rd-like atmosphere explodes in the high season. Lucky for us we missed that. We took it easy for a few days in, enjoying complimentary coffee and bananas from our guesthouse in the mornings, exploring some of the sites & attractions later in the day and lounging in cushiony bars with free mojitos at night.

Thai curry paste

Chef Sadrah

We took an excellent Thai cooking class from a very friendly, extremely thankful woman @ the Red Orchid and finished the day full of knowledge and even fuller of delicious food. First we visited the local morning market to shop for all our ingredients for the day. We were finally able to put some names to mystery vegetables we'd been spotting along our trip so far. Then we learned to cook five different traditional Thai dishes each, including a lesson on how to make Thai curry paste with mortar and pestle. Needless to say it's quite a workout. Thanks again to the low season we were the only two people in the class, so we got lots of personal attention.

Unexpectedly tough ride to the hot springs...on rickety cruiser bikes

Some other highlights: we rented bikes and took in the scenery on the way to visiting some local hot springs, hit up a in-ground pool/bar, sampled some tasty teas, coffees and pastries, wandered the night market along the main road and checked out open mic-night. Perhaps Pai was a bit touristy all and all, but we enjoyed it.

After a few days in Pai we rented a motorbike and made the 45km journey over the mountains to Soppong and Tham Lod Cave. It was rainy and cool at the top, but there were spectacular views of the valleys below. Surprisingly the ride wasn't much of a challenge after our last motorbike jaunt. Sadrah's becoming quite the road hog!

The view from Pai to Soppong

We arrived a few hours later and took a bungalow at The Cave Lodge. A cozy outpost complete with food, lodging and a multitude of tours to offer. Cave Lodge is built into a hillside overlooking the river that runs through the cave and its front door is just a short jaunt from the entrance to Tham Lod.

That evening we hiked a short distance to the cave exit for the infamous bird/bat show. Every night hundreds of thousands of swifts fly into the cave to eat and sleep for the night while all the bats fly out of the cave. We witnessed and endless stream of birds circling above the entrance to the cave and then spiraling down and inside for the night. We watched mesmerized for nearly 40 minutes as the steady stream of birds showed no signs of letting up.

BIRDS

The next day we both started to come down with something and opted for the more basic cave tour run by the forestry office down the road from the Cave Lodge. We rode into the cave on a bamboo raft, our guide lighting the way with a kerosene lantern. We visited several caves off the main river which housed huge and varied rock formations, sink holes and mysterious ancient coffins. Even in our sickly state (heightened by the overwhelming ammonia stench of bird/bat guano), and with our guides very basic English (she could only really point out rock formations that look like animals), it was all quite interesting.

After the tour we managed the motorbike ride back to Pai and fought through the fever and nausea to board a late night minibus to Chang Khong, a small Thai town along the Mekong River and the border with Laos.

After what amounted to a very easy and uneventful border crossing the next morning--except for the guy at the border bragging about his photo with Steven Seagal--we found ourselves in Huay Xai, Laos--a bit weary but excited to explore a new country. But first we found a decent guesthouse and slept most of the day away, hoping to recover quickly from whatever ailed us.