Na-mastay in Ko Tao

Hello! Bryn here.

Last time we left you we were in Chang Dao in Northern Thailand. We are now on Ko Tao in the south. I’ll fill you in on the in between...

We made our way to Pai (pronounced ‘bye’ not ‘pie’) after 762 winding, narrow, terrifying, often hairpin turns. Mitch had a big grin on his face the whole time (he was driving) as I think he pictured himself as a mariocart character; I was just trying not to throw up. The booking.com app pulled through again and we settled into a very cute little bungalow just outside of town. [When we first started the trip we thought we would be using more hostels, however, it seems to work out about the same to get a private room or bungalow for two people]. Pai is small (about the size of the Bench for those Merrittonians), but has a very cool vibe with more restaurants and bars than one could possibly visit in one stay. 

Mitch’s favourite spot in Pai.

I had done some reading and one of the recommended things to do in Pai was to take a cooking class, which I had really been wanting to do. Mitch was somewhat impartial but I somehow convinced him it would be a great time (I really just didn’t want him to ask me to make Thai food all the time with the excuse that he didn’t know how 😉). Man are we glad we did it! It was long (14 hours) but so informative from start to finish. As a bonus our instructor, Thom, was hilariously sarcastic and blunt which speaks to me. She was often in the background yelling things like “You f&c$’ed it up. Try again. I’d like to eat today, get going. This your first time with knife? Good thing he cooks or you go hungry, girl.” Yes, Mitchell killed it and executed his dishes with great efficiency and they were delicious. He wins and can be in charge of cooking these dishes at home.  But I digress...

The day started with a visit to the market and a lesson on all the local, fresh ingredients. She gave each of us a shopping list and we headed back to learn how to make the basis of all Thai curries: the paste. Thom didn’t let us use our recipe books once we actually started cooking so we were given the basic steps, quizzed on it, and forced to really understand why you add things and when. Once we were stuffed from all the delicious curries and papaya salad, we had a two hour break and were back to make a stir fry and a soup. The night session included wine and it definitely improved my cooking skills. 

So much food to share with some great people (90% were from Germany).

A huge bonus to this class was that we were able to come the next night to practice and use our remaining ingredients to make dinner. I made a panang curry, however, my timing of the peanuts was off and it became more of a red curry with nuts. Mitch’s yellow curry was again, perfect. There seems to be a theme here... Anyways, the class just kept on giving as Thom invited a bunch of us to head down the street to her friend, Muk’s bar. While all of the ‘popular’ tourist bars were to the left, she lead us down a dark alley to the right. Picture a dirt dance floor, a very small bar top with one fridge, a fire pit, and some extremely chilled out locals (Pai is famous for the green stuff). We sat by the fire while Muk continued to flatter me with his compliments (I don’t think he was used to blondes), and his brother played some really good tunes including one of my favourites “Imagine” by John Lennon. After a few dances with Thom we said our goodbyes and started the trek home. About half way there we heard the honk of a scooter and there was Thom, taking her dog for a “walk.” She yelled at us to get on, and three adults and a dog road a tiny scooter up a narrow, steep hill to our bungalow. This day was what I always imagined travelling to be like. 

Muk’s Bar with Thom.

I think we would have stayed for another week, but alas we headed back to Chiang Mai for two more nights before booking a night train to Bangkok, and a further train to Chumphon. My brother, Bret, kept encouraging us to take the night train as he apparently loved it. I came to realize that I think he was mostly fascinated that the ‘toilets’ lead directly to the tracks... boys are weird. Besides the gross bathrooms, we managed to get an okay sleep and the trip went by quickly. 

Bunk beds on the night train to Bangkok.

After a sleep in Chumphon, we took a boat to the stunning island of Ko Tao. We initially booked three nights at our bungalow, but quickly changed it to seven as we fell in love (thank you for all the suggestions on which island to visit). My initial idea was to look for a yoga retreat but they turned out to not be in the budget, and generally they don’t allow you to drink as I guess it ruins the zen? Who knew. Instead I booked a place close by to Oceansound Yoga and got an unlimited week pass. On my way home I can either get a fresh mango smoothie or a few ciders from 7-11. Best home-made retreat ever! 

Now I know most people would think I’m crazy for coming to Ko Tao and not diving, but the last time I tried I felt claustrophobic and chickened out. I have decided to take this week to do things that make me less anxious, and help me to be ok with allowing myself to relax. For those that know me, I’m terrible at this and am always inside my head. My hardest challenge has been a 1.5 hour restorative class which is basically meditation. But I did it and it felt great. 

This isn’t to say that we didn’t get into the water, though. Yesterday we did a snorkelling tour around the island with 5 different stops. The highlight was definitely this turtle lounging with some free loaders on his back. The ‘lowlight’ was waiting 20 minutes for one picture on an 8 minute hike (see below).

No, neither of these people are us. The one on the right took approximately 43 photos for the perfect instagram, and the one on the left needed 14 just of this push up. But how about that view!

And finally that brings us to today. We thought it would be a good idea to rent pedal bikes to tour around the island. WRONG. This place is one giant hill. Mitchell is forever on a quest for more exercise, but I just couldn’t. Nope. Not in 30 degree heat with humidity that changes my straight hair to curly. This led to a (bit) of an argument, an hour of silence, and finally a walk of shame back to the rental place where we exchanged them for a scooter. Best decision yet. Exploring ensued, including a beautiful sunset with some fresh coconuts. 

He still loves me.

Thanks for checking in. We are off to the Queen’s Cabaret, another one of Bret’s suggestions... this should be interesting.

Namaste 🙏🏼