We arrived back at Chiang Mai at 5pm and after a well needed shower and a lie-down we went to Utopia for a buffet dinner, where you got to cook your own meat.

Wednesday 31st January
I caught a minibus from Chiang Mai to Pai which took 4 hours (270baht VIP).
Pai is a small village so I walked down to Breeze of Pai as I had seen an ad on our lunch stop from Chiang Mai 300baht for a nice quiet private room with a hot shower towels and toilet paper included. I walked around town for a while and across the river then had a look at their small night market.
It’s February – almost home time!
Apple Pai
Slice of Pai
Pai in the sky
Utopai
Some interesting shop names!
I spent some time on the internet at 1baht/minute had chicken and potato “pie” for breakfast. Went to a nice restaurant called Duang for lunch and had fried rice, pineapple pork which was amazingly great and a lovely banana shake. I found a second hand Thailand book so I can try and figure out where I’m going next.
The next morning I walked up to the nearby Temple for a view over the countryside and Pai. It sounds strange but I had deep fried doughnuts for breakfast which is quite common here (would normally be a bit heavy but since I’d already been walking a while was quite good). I showered and checked out of my hostel and spent some time hanging out at Duang again, I had a spicy coconut chicken soup and they meant spicy! Caught the 1:30pm bus to Chiang Mai. And picked up a bag of sticky rice and spicy green chicken for tea before boarding the overnight bus to BKK at 8:30pm arriving at 6am on the 3rd. I caught a taxi to the Southern Bus Terminal and caught the next bus to Puachuap Kiri Khan at 8am after finding food and water (which was cheaper at the 7/11 across the road than in the station shops). Once at Kiri Khan I found a hotel then walked along the waterfront and saw my first Thai monkeys. I had wanted to go to the caves that the book claimed were nearby but it would have been too expensive by tuk tuk and it was too windy to visit the nearby beach. So I just looked at the day market, had a shower, then found my dinner at the night market where I had seafood on a stick and deep fried battered fish pieces (very puffy). While there I met James, an American who has been travelling a lot in India Thailand and Malaysia. He was very interested in my trip to South America and recommended an island of the coast of Ranong for a nice beach and a quiet atmosphere. We talked for a few hours then I was ready for bed.
This morning I climbed the steps up a nearby hill to the Temple there, there were a lot of monkeys. Locals were selling peanuts and bananas to feed them. There was a family walking ahead of me with a huge bag of bananas so the monkeys were all over the steps, I had a scary moment or two when one lunged at me with bared teeth on the 1.5m wide staircase. No way was I feeding the buggers! I also visited the Temple at the bottom of the hill but got scared off by the barking dogs. I checked out of my hostel and spent some time on the internet before getting a tuk tuk out to the main road to catch the bus to Ranong (which lucky for me was late as I had been told the wrong time!). Stayed at Sin Tawee (160baht) after a ride on a motorbike taxi from the bus station. Found a little restaurant for dinner after checking out the poor options at the market. My shower dripped all night . . . . .
At Pon’s Place the next morning I organised a bungalow on Koh Payam and had pancakes and bananas for breakfast. Then caught the 9:30am boat to the island (arrived 12:30) then a motorbike taxi to Baan Suan Kayoo at Ao Yai which is right at the end of the 3km long beach.

My Bungalow at Baan Suan Kayoo



The open air restaurant very nice, with a book swap. I had Phad Thai for lunch then walked down the beach to Hornbill Bungalows to use their internet.