Defining Happy

I know I said I was leaving Thailand after Chiang Mai but after reading up on a beautiful little city nearby I knew I had to make one more stop.

Love this place!

The sweet Italian-Thai couple I met on my first day in Chiang Mai and also the owners of the guesthouse where I was staying had recommend I go to a quaint artsy town by the name of Pai (pronounced “bye” hence the extra corny title to this post). A girl from England, that I had previously met in Koh Samui, happened to be going there as well so we decided to head out on the same day via minibus.

The road connecting Chiang Mai to Pai was the most hilly and windy road I’ve ever been on. It doesn’t have one straight stretch of road…seriously. I literally had to pop some motion sickness pills at a rest stop because I could just envision me having to open my backpack and use it as a vomit bag. Luckily I didn’t hurl in front of everyone…I’m way too cool for that anyway ;-). But I did drink an entire jug of water to try to hold it down. One hard bump and it would’ve been a wrap! Anyway…once we drove in to Pai the first thing you notice are the massive mountains surrounding the town. The scenery would cause even the most stubborn soul to stop in their tracks and submit to it’s awesomeness.

We were dropped off in the middle of nowhere at a travel agents office by the ig-nint-azz rude driver who seemed to vanish into thin air after he threw our bags off the bus. I tried to contact the hotel several times to arrange pickup to no avail. With the phone number not working coupled with the fact that the girl that I was traveling with growing more and more antsy and impatient I just knew it was going to be a long three days. We took a high price “taxi” (and by taxi I mean some random dude with a van that the lady at the travel agency called)  to the guesthouse.

Upon arrival we were bum rushed greeted by two huge dogs, Noi and Monty, who ran the joint. Since there seem to be more dogs than people roaming the streets in Southeast Asia you kind of get used to foreign dogs but when you have a 100+ pound dog running toward you the first immediate reaction would be to RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!! Which is exactly what I did. Both backpacks strapped on and all.

Monty a nap. Being a dog is such hard work.

Noi A.K.A. THE BOSS. Doing her hypnotizing stare so I can give her a piece of my toast.

The owners of the 3 house hotel were on holiday back in England and former guests, Angelo and Kirstie, who were also from England were running the place while they were away. They came out and assured us that the dogs were harmless and just being bossy and nosy.

The dining and common area

We sat down with the couple and got the low down on the place and the area and since the 2 bedroom house was vacant they allowed us to stay in one of the rooms which had two twin beds. Perfect!

We didn’t waste any time trying out the saltwater pool. *Please excuse the fact that I look like a motherless child in this picture. I had a hat on and two pig tails before this*

After dropping our bags Angelo took us in to town to grab some scooters so we could hit the ground running.

I think the leopard bag and the pink toenail polish take away from my attempt to look like a bad a** biker chick. *FAIL*

I’m not sure yet but….I think I already love this place!