On a Sunday at 11:0 am the Gurdwara has children’s punjabi classes. The Gianiji has done a fantastic job at setting these up. Whilst Sangeet was helping the teachers, I was sat with the Gianiji and having tea. The class is a mixture of Sikh, Namdhari and Hindu students. The focus is on conversational basic Punjabi (few children in Chiang Mai speak Punjabi or English, their main language is Thai due to schooling) and also Sikhi including reciting Gurbani.
Afterwards we popped to
Taiwan Restaurant
3/2-1 Sri Phum Road (at /btwn Ratchaphakhinai Rd and Muang Mong Rd)
Chiang Mai
Thailand
T: +66 801317718
A vegan restaurant which does good food and at great prices. There was a Thai wedding happening over the road from the restaurant.
Stall making pancakes
Afterwards, Sangeet went to see the buddhist temples of the old city whilst I went back to the hotel and relaxed.
This is a waxwork
Later as I had a wander down Charoenrat Road I bumped into Sangeet as she was returning to the hotel. We decided to pop into
The Meeting Room Art Cafe
89 Charoen Raj Rd
Wat Kate,
Chiang Mai 50000,
Thailand
T:+ 66 8-0627-9219
where we both had strawberry smoothies and tried to avoid looking at some rather erotic art! Then on to the Sunday Night Walking Street Market where I had Durian Ice Cream! Then a final stop at
U Chiang Mai
70 Ratchadamnoen Road, Sri-Poom
Muang District,
Chiang Mai 50200
Thailand
T: +66 53 327 000
F: +66 53 327 096
for hot chocolate which was rather more expensive than the prices we are now used to paying though very tasty.
Here in Chiang Mae, they have the Gurdwara programme at 7:30am until 8:30am on a Saturday morning. Giani Charanjit Singh did Asa Di Vaar then kirtan, then Anand Sahib , Ardas and Guru ji’s hukam. Guru Ka Lungar consisted of Kadi with pakoras, Bhoga (spicy vegetables!), rice, mithay chawl and gulab jamun. Sangeet had so been yearning for some good Indian food, for me some of it was very chilli, I should have stuck to the non spicy dishes of which there were plenty! The president approached me and said there are some good Indian restaurants here, perhaps the Gianiji can take you! I was expecting him to say you should come over for dinner! Apart from the Gianiji the Sikhs here have not been very friendly.
We stayed back after langar and chatted to Giani ji for a while, he spoke quite frankly about his feelings re living in Chiang Mai, his passion for kirtan and how he got to be where he is. Gianiji then met up wth a friend, Sangeet and I had a walk down Charoenrat Road in search of an ATM. After picking up some cash and a few snacks we returned to Baan Chonpakorn where Sangeet relaxed for a while and I popped out for another walk and to see if I could find a laundry. Later, we both had a wander to see if we could find any of these highly rated vegan / veggie restaurants of Chiang Mai!
As we left, the Hotel owners girlfriend who manages this place asked us what we can eat…she has been so helpful.
We looked for a vegan restaurant called GIVA but instead ended up at a fantastic cafe and art gallery called Khampang Muang with a great vibe and choice of music. The cafe is next to a vegan cafe, TianZi Tea House and Garden which was closed. At the cafe I had a coffee and Sangeet had a watermelon juice. I even got the owner who was chilling out there to check out my blog:
Khampang Muang Cafe and Art Gallery
119 Khampangdin Road
Changklam
Chiang Mai
We Skyped mum and dad and chatted for a while. Later, we then popped back next door to see if TiaZi was now open but it was still closed, apparently it has closed down. We decided to walk down to Chiang Mai Gate where there is supposed to be a vegan restaurant. After a twenty minute walk we found the place but they cooked with eggs. Very cheap at 25 baht (about 50p) a dish but not for us. The mock meats there looked very real – A bit too real! We left with some Mango and Sticky Rice from another stall nearby and then dashed back towards the hotel as the laundry was due to close at 8pm. We passed GIVA, the raw and vegan cafe we were looking for earlier:
GIVA
Tha Pae Soi 1, Loi khor Rd
Chiang Mai
Thailand 50100
T: +66 85-6248769
I suggested I meet Sangeet back there in a few minutes as the laundry was not far. While waiting, Sangeet chatted to the owner. When I returned, Sangeet was noting down recipes from the owner and then ordered an Aloe Super Mousse and an Eggplant lasagne. The owner who is also the chef puts a lot of time into preparing the dishes and happily shared the recipes. He was very pleased with the positive feedback. GIVA is a tiny place, but immaculate and very well managed. I decided not to eat as my stomach was playing up. It’s at times like this that I think I should have the surgery…….
After GIVA we wandered through the Night Bazaar which looked completely different to the other day. It looked like a different section, there was some very good quality merchandise. Afterwards I was almost tempted by Pizza Hut, then we made our way back to Baan Chonpakorn where we sat outside and watched crazy motorbikers rocket down Charoenrat Road, then some blogging before bed.
Pai is a small town in northern Thailand’s Mae Hong Son Province, near the Myanmar border, about 50 miles/80 km north of Chiang Mai on the northern route to Mae Hong Son. It lies along the Pai River. The town has thesaban tambon status and covers parts of the tambon Wiang Tai of Pai district. As of 2006, it has a population of 2,284.
Today we enjoyed the resort and the amazing views of rice fields and mountains from our balcony, relaxing by the pool, making arrangements for South Thailand. Then we scootered towards Pai town.
Our room
Reception
Hotel swimming pool
Still on the resort
We took a wrong turning which turned out to be a blessing, we saw amazing scenery including farmers tending to their fields against mountainous back drop, narrow streets where locals relaxed and chatted, beautiful temples, and dogs that refused to move from their chill out spot in the middle of the road!
Back on track, we headed through town on to Wat Phra That Mar Yen, 1km east of town and on a hill with stunning views over Pai.
Stall outside the temple
View from the temple
Pit stop at a cafe then into town where the evening market was beginning to set up.
We had a wander around the market then popped into Black Canyon cafe for drinks where we met Harbans Singh from Ipoh, Malaysia. He was on a road trip with some friends. We chatted to him for a while then wandered down to Chew Xin Jai restaurant, afterwards took in atmosphere of the night market which was now in full swing where there was lots of live music, great food and good quality local craft merchandise.
Buying fresh strawberries
Eating at Chew Xin Jai
Street stall
We then scootered back to the resort, it was a very cold journey back, where after gazing at the spectacular star studded sky, we called it a day.
We would like to thank Kulvinder veerji and family for allowing us to stay in their beautiful house.
Malaysia is a country I was not looking forward to visiting. Nothing apart from seeing the Petronas Towers was attracting me to the country.
We visited the Gurdwara in KL and were amazed at the kindness and warmth from the sangat. This had been a pleasant surprise as the sangat everywhere else has not been warm. Even back home the sangat are not this warm, it takes time to build….here it was instantly!
We were very fortunate to attend the samelan in Cameron Highlands and again were blessed with amazing sangat. This was the same in Penang. The Sikh community took time out to take us out and treat us to fantastic food. We have been invited back, an offer we will definitely take up.
We particularly like to thank Melvin Singh aka Kashera Singh Khalsa who has taken out so much time to spend with us.
Today we sorted out what clothes to take to Pai, it did not make sense taking two huge back packs to Pai, especially when we were only going for two nights. We left the backpacks at the Gurdwara. The Gianiji had to check with the president if that was okay. Luckily it was, quite amazing the president did not have to call a committee meeting to discuss! (Sarcasm!!) We went over to the Gurdwara to drop bags, chatted to Gianiji for a while, he showed us the library and where Gurmat / Gurmukhi classes are held, we left our back packs there. Gianiji came out with us and hailed a red song thaw for us to take to the bus station. He explained that the standard charge for these is 20 baht (per person), wherever in Chiang Mai you are going. That makes the 250 THB we paid to the Songthaw driver last night seem very steep!!
We were at the Arcade bus station (terminal 3) by 11am, so in good time.
I look miserable because there was a screaming child getting on the same bus!
There was a lot of activity at the bus station, including people handing out sim cards – I took one, well it was free!
The journey
Stopping at the services
Our minivan was packed. There was no room inside for passenger luggage so it went on top of the van. We set off at exactly 1130 and tried to make ourselves comfortable for the next three hours. The minivan was clean and the ride fairly comfortable, though the driver would speed over bumps every so often leaving us a bit shaken! We sped up 107 and then turned onto 1095 near Khilek where the views were very scenic.
Police check point
We drove through amazing unspoilt forest, climbing up some very steep and bendy roads. We saw villagers going about their everyday business. There were some stunning wats (Buddhist temples) to be seen along the way and the mountain views were truly spectacular. We arrived in Pai at 2.45pm. The iPhone map displayed Phu Pai Art Resort (where we had booked accommodation) as being around 1.5km from the centre of town, so we decided to walk. Map was wrong – again!
After almost half an hour of walking in the sweltering heat, some locals explained that the resort was actually 5km out of town (which is what we were expecting) in the opposite direction!! So we went back into town with the intention of catching a taxi. We ended up at a vegan restaurant :
Chew Xin Jai
222 Moo 4
T. Wingtai
Pai
Thailand
T: +66 85 7173628
Shrine at the back of the restaurant
Restaurant from the outside
The restaurant owner was very helpful and gave us a map showing us exactly where our accommodation is and also directed us to where we can hire a scooter, after a delicious meal, we headed to the scooter hire company, walked round quite a bit, searched for an ATM, picked up the scooter and headed to the resort. With all the walking we did, we actually managed to see most of the centre in the space of a couple of hours. Pai seems very relaxed and a bit of a hippy town. People seem to come here to get away from the troubles of life.
Arranging the scooter rental
On the scooter
Back at the hotel, we were blown away by just how tranquil the setting of the resort was. We were the only guests around – our own personal resort!
Phu Pai Art Resort
92 Moo.1 T. Mae Na Theung A.Pai
Mae Hong Son, Thailand 58130
T: +66 53-065 111
E: [email protected]
W: www.phupai.com www.thailand-resort.net
Outside shower
After relaxing on the verandah admiring the view for a while,
we popped over to the lobby for a stronger wifi connection so we could make some arrangements to extend our trip a little and arrange necessary transport / accommodation. It got very cold at around 8 / 9pm, it’s a strange feeling, something we haven’t experienced for a while!
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog, feel free and have a look around.Here is a bit about me, as you may or may not have guessed my name is Mandeep,I work to travel as opposed to work to pay bills and die!Every trip for me is an adventure, I have been very fortunate to stumble across amazing places and meet awesome people along the way.
Why gaygoat? When I first started this blog I was a vegetarian, so gaygoat – happy goat! Also you have to admit it is catchy and a URL you will not forget!
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