pai pai pai

after a three hour bus trip out of the city of chiang mai, through some of the curviest hills you can image matt and i arrived in pai. quiet, peaceful, perfect pai.

 here we go

 on the tuk-tuk to the bus station

the views on the way

so beautiful

we had to go through a couple security checks

but we arrived, safe and sound!

our accommodation for night one

the main town

the world war II memorial bridge

getting gas 

the road to the waterfall

the waterfall

here he goes...

yeah!!!!!

"did you get that?"

hello!

need a ride?

we had a great time riding up and down these back roads, 

 through farms and small villages

but we encountered this guy on the way back down, we were a little nervous 

but this old towns woman assured us it would be fine to pass... we survived

i want to live in pai

ah, i love thailand!

cute coffee shop with the BEST coffee in pai

everything is so green

cool little huts

pai canyon

dork

dork x 2

we were having dinner and this little guy stopped by to beg

it was hard to be annoyed, he was so gentlemanly 

very cool bar

we listened to music

and matt joined in!

where we ate breakfast one morning, wheat-grass!

chiang mai holiday take two part one

things have changed around here: term one 2010 ended at mathus. jenna's days of teaching at mathus are complete.  nicki is in america (short term only, yay!). matt's in thailand! 

matt arrived on my last day of teaching and was fortunate enough to catch the most chaotic class i teach.  after class we headed out, picked up my laundry, and made our way to the train station.

the night train to bangkok

"you can drink beer on the train?"

 matt, nic, and kirsty

 jenna and erika

ah and jeff

blowing kisses to us while we stopped

pouring each others beer; sealing their new friendship

"omg, matt- you're in thailand!!"

bye girls, see you in a week!

have fun in laos!

we spotted this gaming convention in the shopping center in bangkok

the city of bangkok

"chocolate trail mix from target? get out!"

matt's first thai meal: khaosoi

matt's first thai market food: spicy chicken on a stick and an unknown (not delicious) snack inside a banana leaf

city of chiang mai

i love this city because you can see the mountains in the distance

and there is a river that runs around it

adorable cat sound asleep on 'bean bags'

a market

everything comes in plastic bags

you can't get fish much fresher than this!

on a walk around the city

inside a pet store

these bunnies were all smushed together and so hot :(

we rented bikes for the day, this is in front of our guest house

we stopped along side the river and had a beer

matt kept asking me: "are you sure we can do this?"

store fronts and houses in chiang mai

more streets of chiang mai

attempt to take our picture in the tree

dok-mai sawai: beautiful flower

the thapae gate that surrounds the old part of the city

 the night market in chiang mai

 the night market

 these guys were awesome musicians

 "matt, you're driving me crazy!" just kidding!

 "ooh, you have to try one of these!"

 "it's a mangosteen!"

 "but first take a picture of me in this, i think it might break!"

"... and a picture of your motorcycle in thailand!"

 "...and finally, the long-awaited mangosteen!"

 alleyway of chiang mai

elephant with wings! fountain

 longons (fruit) for sale

 we stopped at a park

  all of these birds kept flying at us, matt was scared

 played pool at a bar near the gate

 we were not very good, matt says the table was slanted

the next day we left for Pai... more pictures to follow!