We woke up and had breakfast at a cafe next door to our mud hut. They had tortoises (a family of 3) living there. They had lovely gardens and seating areas overlooking a farm. We visited with an expat from Michigan who has been living outside of Pai for years. He told us a little about what that has been like for him. He sounded very happy with his decision to move to Thailand. Next, we took a taxi from our accommodations to downtown bus station in Pai. We dropped our luggage and had lunch nearby. After a brief wait in the hot, open air bus station, we took the 4 hour van ride back from Pai to Chiang Mai. It was much like the trip up to Pai. We took Dramamine and watched the landscape speed by as we snaked our way down through the mountains.
We stayed at Pissamorn House while in Chiang Mai this time around. It’s a guest house run by Ms. Pissamorn herself. She was delightful! Her English is excellent, and she majored in Thai while in college, so she helped us a lot with our Thai. For example, she was quick to give corrections if we used a phrase incorrectly or pronounced something wrong. We really appreciated the mini lessons she shared with us. She runs a 3 story guest house and a hostel next door. The room we stayed in was clean, quiet, and comfortable. This was inside the old city walls, so everything we needed or wanted was within a short walking distance. The laundromat was right across the street and an inexpensive Thai restaurant as well. We definitely want to go back to Pissamorn House next time we’re in Chiang Mai. She even got us a tuk tuk ride to the airport for half the price of what we were going to pay.
In case you’re not familiar- a tuk tuk is a motorized version of a cycle rickshaw. It has three wheels (one in the front and two in the back). The driver sits in the front and steers with two handle bars. There is a bench behind the driver for passengers and a roof overhead. They are very popular in Thailand and other tropical and subtropical climates around the world.
We didn’t do a lot of site seeing while in Chiang Mai our second time around. We ate amazing food, caught up on laundry, and took some time to slow down after the whirlwind of Pai.
