The
restaurants have not reached the standards of other
tourist destinations in Thailand. We went to a steak
house that informed us that they did not have steak
today. The other restaurant, while tasty, was slow
and the service-people, while meaning, seemed a
bit overloaded. This is of course understandable
for a town that just experienced a tourist boom
and its infrastructure has not fully kept pace.
In my opinion, there is a big demand for restaurants
in Pai, particularly, Italian and vegetarian.
Reading
some deep thoughts
from a dead poet
Going a little outside of Thailand, you find the
hot springs. They bubble and gurgle with sulfurous
vapors at the top of a hill and then slowly feed
into a stream, cooling them down somewhat; the water
is hot - no joke. Many people soak their feet and
some, their whole bodies in the mineral water. For
fussy people, private camps have man-made pools
that pipe in the hot water and you can sit and boil
for a small fee. We checked out Thaipai Spa camping
and it looked clean, nicely landscaped and boasted
several different hot tubs around the premises.
However, when push came to shove, we soaked in the
actual hot springs in the public park that was free
of charge.
Massages, as with restaurants, were also highly
variable. We received some skilful massages at the
Ice House, which is across from Mr. Jan's. Mr. Jan's
has an herbal steam room, but only by appointment
and for a minimum of three people. The Ice House
masseurs-proprietors are Shan people. They speak
their own language, and in fact one of the unique
features of Pai is that you hear a number of rare
dialects such as Lisu, Shan and Karen. The people
at the Ice House seem to know what they were doing
and provided good affordable herbal massages.
Our
cabin has a fireplace
After our frustration with the restaurant in Pai,
we decided to cook for ourselves in our cottage
bungalows. There is an interesting market that opens
up in the town center at about three p.m. Interesting
items include goat cheese and milk, Shan tortillas
made out of yellow bean, Muslim bakery items, fresh
meats and assorted vegetables.
We
arrived back in our cottage after a brisk motorcycle
ride through Lisu Village and stoked up the fireplace.
Clearly overestimating the amount for time required
to cook our cornucopia of meats and vegetables,
the food color of the night was black and the taste
was charcoal-y.
index
To
post your comments, please email bangkokjoe2000@yahoo.com.
Pai
Mountain Lodge |
|
Sexpat
Factor : 1/5 |
|
Backpacker
Factor: 2/5 |
|
Thai
Style Rating : 3/5 |
|
Baht
meter: How Expensive?: 2/5 |
|
|
