Piranhas and hippies

In my last post I mentioned that we left Chiang Mai for a few days to visit a small town called Pai. Pai is a very small town located in the foothills of the Himalayas that is generally known as a laid back hippie hang out. Growing out of a history of opium trade, current day Pai now has more of the earth loving, peace seeking vibe than anything else. It's surrounded by peaceful green valleys and amazing views.

Shot from the back of the motor bike

I had read that the drive up to Pai was incredible for the views it presented, but not to be undertaken by those with sensitive stomachs. Since neither Jeff nor I have any trouble with motion sickness, I truly didn't give it much thought. Yet, as we found ourselves bumping along in the far back seat of a mini van with terrible suspension and inadequate ventilation, being thrown from side to side as the van wove its way back and forth (and back and forth...) along the twisting 's' curves of the mountain road, we both found ourselves feeling more than a bit urpy. Thankfully, the trip only lasted a relatively short three hours.

Once in Pai and settled into a guest house (our room had a fun open air bathroom!) we set out to see what the town had to offer. We shortly came to the conclusion that sights and activities are short on hand in Pai, and that the town appears to be more of a place to do very little. We were, and still are, more than a little perplexed by the schedules, or lack thereof, that the store owners keep. As we wandered we passed innumerable stores that we closed or appeared open but completely unattended. As we searched for a place to eat, we were hard pressed to find one that clearly was open and serving food. Since we were looking for lunch around 3pm that first day, we thought that perhaps businesses were open during the more normal breakfast, lunch and dinner times. As we later observed, there really was no rhyme or reason that we could find for the opening or closing of business, so we assume it must simply be at the proprietors will.

Fun towelepant waiting for us on our hotel bed

Huge bug that was almost the length of Jeff's hand.

 The next thing we noticed about Pai was the abundance of comforts tailored toward the new age set. Meditation masters, reiki sessions, yoga classes for all skill levels, health shakes, raw food restaurants, artist retreats, mountain foothill communes, even a restaurant with a decidedly Wiccan slant (and awesome food) surrounded us on all sides. Bars invited patrons to join in for open mike jam sessions and cafes advertised the benefits of homemade herbal products. Men and women with flowing clothes and dreaded heads wandered the streets. Pai definitely knows who it caters too.

The next day, we rented a motor bike and went in search of one of the local waterfalls. After a few wrong turns, we managed to find it and spent an hour or so splashing around in the surprisingly warm (for mountain water) pools. I'd show you a picture, but where ever water is involved we use our waterproof camera to snap shots. As this is the camera with the missing cable, it keeps its secrets for now. But, picture a low, sprawling waterfall that spills over multiple levels, creating many shallow pools, and you'll just about have it.

Coincidentally, there happens to be a somewhat unusual attraction found near this waterfall: piranha fishing. A British man named Dave owns and operates a guest house built next to 3 man made ponds, with which he stocks many varieties of fish. Piranha happen to be one of them. You don't have to be a guest to stop in and fish, so we went over for lunch and two hours of fishing. While we didn't catch the big ones, we did have a lot of fun with the three little guys we did manage to hook. I caught a tiny tilapia, and Jeff caught two juvenile catfish. We were warned that the catfish were the only ones to watch out for, due to having spines laden with ouchy poison. Of course, Jeff managed to catch two. Thankfully we were well warned on how to handle them. By the way, everything was catch and release.

Cruising through a small village

Time to fish

Jeff's first catch. The second was roughly the same size.

My own tiny catch

Finally, to wrap up our day, we got caught in an absolutely torrential down pour as we walked back to our guest house. Within minutes we were soaked to the skin, so there was no point in taking shelter. I personally loved it, since the rain was warm and fun to play in, but Jeff wasn't so thrilled!

Two days was enough, so we made our way back to Chiang Mai the next day. Thankfully, this time the van had better seats, better air, and better suspension, making for a much more pleasant descent!

A little culture

Wow, I hadn't realized that it's been almost a week since my last post. It's probably due to the fact that we're not running around like crazy, and are mainly based in Chiang Mai. We did spend two days in a small mountain town called Pai, which I'll post more about shortly, but for the most part have been enjoying slow days and our comfy hotel room.

After our cooking course last Monday, we didn't do a whole lot on Tuesday. Looking for a little activity, we came across a brochure for dinner at the local cultural center and decided to give that a try. The evening included a traditional Khantoke dinner, often served at weddings and gatherings, and multiple demonstrations of traditional dances.

Our Khantoke dinner. We sat on the floor in traditional fashion.

The food was very good, and seemingly endless. As we ate, waiters were quick to come around and refill our dishes as much as we liked. I particularly enjoyed the Burmese pork curry, and we both ate way too much of the sweet crispy noodle dish!

After dinner, the show started with a bit of music that was followed by the dances. Each dance was fairly unique, with different style costumes and music, but all followed a definite style of dance that focused on hand movements above movement of the feet. We saw traditional dances from Burmese tribes, Northern Thailand and Laos hill tribes, modern incarnations, and even dances created just for special royal functions. Even some local hill tribe children were included in the show. (The lighting made getting good photos very difficult, but I think these give you some idea of what we saw.)

Fingernail dance

I got to join in! They brought lots of us up on stage to teach us a simple dance.

Teens from a local tribe performing a fantastic drum dance.

A rice harvest dance.

Seeing the beautiful traditional clothing and dance styles was very interesting. Although the day to day experiences in a foreign country are always engaging, it's also important to explore and attempt to understand the history of a new place as well. We both enjoyed the show and were happy to learn more about the Northern Thai people. Plus, as I mentioned above, dinner was yummy! If you ever get to visit Chiang Mai, we'd recommend spending a night at the cultural center (www.oldchiangmai.com).

Speecy Spicy, Hotsy Totsy

In the words of the Swedish Chef, "Bork bork bork!"

Jeff and I learned to cook a little today. Or tried to, at least.We took a Thai cooking class and between the two of us we made: yellow curry, green curry, tom yam soup, chicken in coconut soup, green papaya salad, chicken and cashew nuts, pad thai, spring rolls, banana in coconut milk, and mango with sticky rice. We couldn't even look at food by the end of the afternoon, we were so full!

The class was a whole day affair. Our instructor, Tommy, picked us up at our guest house first thing in the morning. Once we had picked up the rest of the class, he took us to a large local market and began explaining the integral ingredients of Thai food. Since I've shown you markets before, I hold off on the pictures of this one, with one exception.

Mmm, crunchy!

After the market, we headed outside of town to their private farm where they grow many of the fresh ingredients. We learned more about the fruits, vegetables, and spices that go into Thai foods, and then we got down to business. Mortar and pestle at hand, we learned how to pummel our own fresh curry paste. From there, we moved into the kitchen where we boiled, chopped, stir fried, deep fried, and munched the day away.

We had a great time. Tommy, our teacher, was very funny, constantly throwing in unexpected pop culture references all day. The food we made was fantastic, and surprisingly easy to make. I say that now, but I'm sure recreating it all at home might not be the same. At least now I have a better idea of what I should be doing the next time I try!

No powders here.

Jeff, stir frying cashew chicken

The first three dishes I created

The first three dishes Jeff made

By the way, should you ever find yourself here, we highly recommend Thai Farm Kitchen, www.thaifarmcooking.com. Rather than a class in town, they have their own organic farm in the countryside. The staff are great, and the food you make is fantastic.

Keeping cool

Jeff and I are now in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It's rather warm here. So warm, in fact, that even the locals seek shade where ever they can find it.

We found him curled up inside a shrine at a local temple.

Taking time to relax

Seeing that it is our honeymoon after all, Jeff and I decided that it was time to relax and take some time to ourselves. After 3 weeks of moving every 2-4 days, long bus trips, and constant activities, we needed a little down time.

We left Phnom Penh for the beach town of Sihanoukville. We arrived on a weekend when the local population also had holiday time, so it looked like it was going to be very busy for a few days. That, and the fact that we didn't really take to the atmosphere of the town, lead us to look elsewhere. Friends had recommended we head out to Bamboo Island and book a bungalow with a place called Koh Ru, so that is exactly what we did.

Koh Ru is pretty much the only thing on Bamboo Island. It sits on a beautiful, empty beach with no sun lounges, no vendors, no tuk tuk drivers. Heck, no roads. You rent a bare bones, wood plank box called a bungalow and then you do nothing. Blissful nothing. Bathrooms are shared and showers are cold. Koh Ru has one main gathering area that is also the restaurant and bar, so you don't even have to make the choice of where to eat each night. Papasan mattresses that have seen better days are thrown everywhere for your comfort. Your daily activity choices include taking a swim, reading in the hammock, eating, and drinking. You could throw some sunning on the beach or a game of chess in there too, if you wanted. No internet. It was wonderful to be so unoccupied and amongst other similarly minded souls.

Bamboo Island beach

Beach

Chilling

Our bungalow

Proof that I too am on this trip

We stayed on Koh Ru for three nights. Today, we decided the relaxing should continue, although on an entirely different scale. Koh Ru was what you could politely call rustic. If you have serious issues with sand, dirt, or bugs everywhere, then it wasn't for you. While we didn't mind, we did find ourselves facing a necessities day (when you literally have no clean clothes left) so we splurged on a treat and checked into a resort just off of the beach on the mainland. We now find ourselves in the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in, for just $30 a night. It's huge, with a super comfy bed, satellite flat screen tv, wifi in the rooms, granite and tile bathroom with rain style shower head shower and a separate bath tub. The bath tub is huge, and is my dream. It was the first tub that I've ever been able to lay out completely in. Plus, it's next to a window into the room so that I can luxuriate and watch tv at the same time. Oh, but for privacy, it has a remote controlled curtain! The hotel also has a gorgeous pool. It's a great place to wait for our clothes to get back from the wash, especially since we don't have anything to wear other than our swimsuits!

Hotel pool

Our room

Our bathroom

 Now the only thing left to do is to figure out where we're going from here. Find out next time!

Street life

While I greatly enjoy sharing our activities with you, it has occurred to me that this simply gives you an idea of what we see, not where we are. I'd like to share with you a bit more of the reality of being in Cambodia.

Cambodia is a country of roughly 14 million people who are to this day still attempting to undo the damage wrought by just 4 years under the Khmer Rouge in the 1970's. As of 2010, the per capita income was just $2,470. Agriculture makes up more than 50% of the populations livelihood, of which rice is the main crop. Poor education is common, especially in the older and rural populations, and street begging is all too often the replacement to school for young children. Even so, the Cambodian economy is now growing at a faster pace thanks to the ever increasing influx of money from tourism. While scammers are plentiful, it's been our experience that most Cambodians are extremely friendly and want to keep the money from tourism coming in. Many speak English better than many other countries I've been to, and the country seems to appreciate tourism more, rather than simply expect it as a given.

I'd like to share a little more of what we see everyday when we walk down the streets. These pictures were all taken in Phnom Penh, and therefore do not represent what you see in the countryside, but should still give you a better appreciation of where we are. The country and culture here are well worth getting to know.

The fresh meat section of the market that was just down from our guest house

Fresh cooked meals available in the market

More fresh fruits and vegetables than I can identify

A small street side restaurant. These are found up and down the streets.

Typical building structure in Phnom Penh. A shop is often on the first floor, with apartments or private residences above that.

A gas station. Seriously. These home made gas stops are everywhere along the streets. My favorites are when the gas comes in Johnny Walker bottles.

A welding/metal shop located just across the street from our guest house. Next to it, you might find a restaurant, a mini mart, or a home. The variety of life on just one block is amazing.

I have many other photos to share, but I think this gives a small idea of where we are and how different life is like here. Differences like these are why I enjoy traveling and exploring other countries. It's good to have an open perspective on the world.

Temple time, part 2

I'm a bit delayed on posting our second day at the temples, due to a bit of an issue with the blog website. But, it seems we're up and running today, so here I am!

Last Sunday was our second day of exploring the many temples around Siem Reap. We didn't have plans to see all of them, since there are so many, so we visited some of the larger and more popular sites. Of course, with that comes more crowds, but that's just to be expected.

Our first stop was Angkor Wat. Built by Suryavarman II from 1113 to 1150, it was a temple dedicated to Vishnu, with whom the king identified. After his death, the temple became his mausoleum. Angkor Wat was eventually converted into a Buddhist Wat in the 13th century. Examples of both religions are evident throughout the vast complex, mainly in the large bas relief carvings that tell stories of the gods and kings. As I previously mentioned, pictures can not convey how truly amazing this, and all of the structures are, but I hope you like them anyway.

Angkor Wat from a distance

Small section of wall carvings

A devata, or female deity

One of the large center towers, with Jeff for size reference :-)

Next on our list was Angkor Thom, a complex that includes numerous temples within its walls. The most well know, I'd say, is Bayon. As with Angkor Wat, this is a temple that has been altered numerous times and was both a Hindu and Buddhist temple at times. The most prominent feature of Bayon are the Lokeshvara, or faces of the Compassionate Lord. It is estimated that there were, at one time, more than 200 of these faces to be found in Bayon.

Bayon

One of the many faces of Bayon

We couldn't resist playing with a little optical illusion

A fun carving I noticed at Bayon

After exploring Bayon and the other temples enclosed in the Angkor Thom walls, our last stop for the day was Ta Prohm, a temple you may have seen before without even knowing it. Ta Prohm, built in 1186, is largely unrestored and is famous for having very large trees growing in and on the structure. It was this jungle taken appearance that lead to it being filmed for the original Tomb Raider film, a novelty that is still quite played up around Siem Reap.

Ta Prohm

A tree growing fro a corner of the temple

Another tree located on the roof

An interior hallway that demonstrates some of the original arched ceilings

Finally, another fun size comparison :-)

 There you have our visits to just a few of the amazing ruins of Siem Reap. I hope you can someday visit these structures yourself, because there is simply no comparison to experiencing them first hand.