Mae Sot, Thailand

Our next stop was Mae Sot. It was a very out of the way stop, as we were coming from the Central North, and Mae Sot in on the very west of Thailand, near the Mynamar / Burmese Border. But it was a very important stop to us. Our friend Christen Chiles had spent a year living here, working on a mission. 

Mae Sot is not a tourist town. Some may pass through on their way to Mynamar, but it is mostly freight drivers passing through and locals. 

After a full day a full day of travel - two mini vans and a bus - we arrived. 

We were dropped off at an essentially closed bus station. 

We didn't have a map or directions for our hotel. 

Of course this was the only place we haven't been swarmed by taxi drivers, and the people working in the little convenient store spoke no english. 

We took a guess at which way looked more populated, and started walking. 

We had no clue. 

We were just looking for anywhere open. 

After much walking around, we found a tourist police station. We went into it to ask directions, and they actually drove us! 

Our hotel, Picture Book Guest House, was super cute! 

It was very artistic and unique. It's gardens and cool stain glass windows made it an oasis in the (pretty grey) city. The room was built out of concrete molds, and the furniture was hand made out of reclaimed teak wood. 

To top it off, it was cheap ($17/night) and was run by a non profit group who provides training and jobs to Thailand's youth and Burmese refuges. 

The next morning we went and explored on bicycles the hotel provided. 

Mae Sot quickly became a favorite stop on our trip. 

We went all over town! 

First we headed to the day market. It was a typical flea market setting, but we found at least one interesting (and funny....maybe applicable) find. 

Next, we headed to the border. Which to get to, we biked along Asia Highway 1, which is the main route between Thailand and Myanmar. A very busy road! 

We stopped along the side of the road where local stands were selling HUGE beetles for fighting and bags of eels for eating. 

We interacted with the locals for awhile, trying to speak to each other through hand motions to understand what the eels and beetles were for. It was so fun. While maybe the most simple, it was one of my top favorite moments of the whole trip. 

At the border there is a huge market (Rim Moei border market) which we also walked through. And we also crossed the friendship bridge. 

The whole town is basically full of markets. 

I don't know how they sell everything - it wasn't that bustling of a city. And there is not a wide selection or differences in stands. 

The markets were more like big flea markets - selling shirts and clothing, small electronics, and some food. 

For lunch we went to the restaurant Christin Chiles helped build, and the reason we were in Mae Sot- Famous Rays. 

The restaurant was built by a mission in an effort to provide jobs to the Burmese refugees and to support a local safe house. It was such a good thing to see what she contributed to and where she lived for a year. 

It was a cool place - really nicely decorated. And the burgers were awesome!!! I had a Burmese one for lunch (curry flavors) and Josh had a Thai one. 

Christen painted those signs

The workers were so nice! Bah was our waiter and he was so sweet and kept saying how much he missed Christin. We also met Michael, who was American and helping there. 

In the afternoon we rode our bikes around more and explored. Really just saw more markets. 

The city is a real Thai city. There were no tourists. Lots of electric wires. Lots of businesses. 

That evening, we took a yoga stretch class our hotel offered and just chilled. 

That night it was back to Famous Rays for dinner. Unfortunately we didn't get to meet Christen's friends who were still working there, but we got two more burgers. I made a veggie one and we had the Thai salad which was so good!! 

Mae Sot was a lot of out of the way travel but it was so worth it and good to see the real Thailand and something different. And something meaningful. 

Pai, Thailand

We chose to go to Pai for its access to nature and to do some hiking. Unfortunately we didn't plan a proper guided trek in advance and couldn't figure it out last minute. And there weren't self-guided hikes like we expected. We ended up doing a lot of exploring though. 

The area is very green, and beautiful with lots of lookouts and farmland. 

The town has character. It was more touristy than I expected and filled with backpackers and ex-pats. It had a vibe that was good for a few days, especially if you're traveling for awhile and need a break to chill out. 

There weren't a ton of sights, so everything there is to see can be done in a day. It would have been great to plan more time here and take an adventure from here.

We arrived around noon, and immediately rented a scooter and went for sandwiches at Little Big Cafe, which was really just a cool little counter on the main road. 

Then we drove around and explored. The roads to Pai are known for crazy turns. On the way here, I even felt car sick, which rarely happens. And with all these turns, comes lots of backpackers with bandages from scooter accidents. It's like a badge. 

Luckily my expert driver helped us escape without a scratch! 

Our first stop exploring was to Mo Paeng Waterfall. It was a really easy walk to see. 


There were multiple tiers with people relaxing in the pools and sunbathing around flat rocks. 

We ventured off the path and walked up into the streams that flow into the waterfall. 

It was a nice place to relax, but not a very impressive waterfall. 

We went to a nearby look out point in Pai's "Chinatown". It was a little farm house that served green tea. The views of town and the surrounding areas were awesome. So much green! 

We next went to Pai canyons, which is one of the area's main draws. It was pretty cool and some crevices to hike in and climb. If you read up on the area, the descriptions compare it to the Grand Canyon and make it sound much more stunning than it was. 

The last stop was to the Pai land split and Pem Bok waterfall. It was a really pretty area. We went for a swim here. 

At night, we explored the "walking street" which is lined with food stands and craft stalls. These street fairs are of Thai towns, especially those that tourists frequent. There were also a few nicer boutiques amongst the stores of the typical tourist items. 

We had dinner at Na's Kitchen. I got the pad thai, and it was super delicious and cheap!

The second day did not start off great. We slept in, and Josh and I were not on the same page with traveling dynamics. (We really only had two fights on the trip and this was the bigger one.) But the good news is we talked through it, expressed our frustrations, communicated, and moved on. By this point we had spent enough time together to notice something was wrong with a slight change in each other's behavior, event without saying anything. In this case, we let things build up and then just let it all out more negatively than needed. 

Basically we couldn't decide what to do, and were let down by our hiking options when that was our goal for going to Pai. The only self-guided hiking trail didn't have great reviews and would take all day. We didn't really want to commit to 8 hours of OK scenery during our only full day in Pai. 

We decided that we would do part of the trail, but not go the whole way to the waterfall at the end. Hiking is why we went to Pai, so we were going to give it a shot. We hiked through soy bean fields and jungle for an hour. 

We had to keep criss-crossing a river. It was really pretty but not as different, or "Thai" scenery as I expected.

After, we had a late lunch at boomalicious  where I had a really good roasted vegetable salad. It never seems there are enough vegetables while traveling. 

Then we did Josh's favorite thing - scootering around. We went down lots of side roads and off the beaten path areas. Once again, if there was a road on the map, we went down it. And then a few others too. 

We passed through tons of beautiful farm land - soy beans, corn and rice. 

Went to the white Buddha temple for sunset. The temple is just a giant statue.

 You have to hike up 300 stairs and its up on a hill facing west, overlooking the town. 

Unfortunately we didn't get much of a sunset. The sun went behind mountains pretty quickly. 

We went back to the street market for dinner, and went for a drink at an Aussie pub to watch some soccer. 

As for our accomodations, we stayed at Paiburee Guest House. It was a good place and it had pretty cool little rooms with beds like western adobes.  Cute common area, although no other guests. It was located just north of the main section of downtown. 

I would recommend a place further outside of town for quiet and peacefulness - There were SO many beautiful area of fields. There were pretty & quaint resorts to the northeast of town. But the main town area did have some great options too. 

Next up is a LONG travel day to Mae Sot. We are going from very Northern Thailand, to as far west as possible.