spent alot of time sleeping yesterday and my stomach still felt pretty rough this morning. still , determined to get the most out of this holiday we got on the road by around 10am and after picking up more imodium, headed off to Obluang. the roads were alot easier and the views much less spectacular. until we reached Obluang at around midday.
it was 200 baht for me on entry, 40 baht for Boon. it is a visually stunning place and i may well go back for a camping holiday in the future. unfortunately the resort right at the entrance is apparently no loger operating. so after spending time relaxing in the beauty of the park next to the mountain river, we headed off again in search of our next place to stay. The road on from Obluang follows the river for quite some way and the road is reasonably flat, making for a very pleasant journey. we considered finding a place for a swim in the river but , as lovely as it looked it also had a very obvious strong current and the complete lack of any locals swimming anywhere put me off the idea.
after checking out one resort just down from Obluang and deciding it was to dead looking, we decided to carry on to the Doi Inthanon area.
we are now booked into a quiet Thai resort 7km out of a town called Chom Tong ( i think, will correct tomorrow).
the town is pretty non-discript but does ahave a very beautiful temple, a bustling food stall area in the centre and a home where you can get Thai massage from blind practioners in the day time.

fridays costs
room 500 baht
bike repair..80 +20 tip
food and drink......350
medicine ..56
internet..10
total 1016

saturdays costs.
breakfast...200
fuel..200
room 400
dinner .. 240
national park..240
extra food and drinks and cigarettes..200
total..1480

in the end we were so worn out by the days travel that once i finished in the internet shop we returned to our room and had an early night.
i was up at around 8am this morning and after getting Boon up we left our guest house in search of breakfast before heading of to Mae Hong Song.
we selected a lovely looking place which appeared to be called Forestry 33rd.
Comments on this place...well first of all , don't go there if you are in a hurry to get anywhere, the service was extremely slow, and we were the only customers.
Also maybe an idea to spend time being very specific with your order. i ordered fried tofu with mushroom and chilli. i got fried tofu and veg but not a mushroom in sight, but that said i have to say that the food was delicious and portion wise, very good value.
we said goodbye to Pai at around 10am and headed out toward Mae Hong Song.
the roads were even more twisting than up to Pai and steeper, resulting in use of 2nd and 1st gear occassionally. made a few stops to rest the bike, catch the ever more stunning views and one food stop.
we nearly didnt get to the food stop when we came round a corner to be met by a line of traffic , stuck due to a truck load of long concrete posts having become dislodged on a hairpin, almost completely blocking the road.
luckily there was enough room for bikes to squeeze past and go under the posts that were bridging the hairpin.
shortly after passing that hazard we stopped at a motorbike workshop for a much needed oil change and then on a little further to a large rest stop with cafe stalls and a park where they have a stream and cave full of some amazing big blue fish.
after eating there and feeding the fish we finished the journey to Mae Hong Song getting here at around 4pm.
Mae Hong Song is also a beautiful place with a lake and lakeside Temple. we have a guesthouse room on the lakeside road next to the Temple, again very basic , but clean, tidy , own shower room and even tv in the room.
theres lots of food stalls round the lake so we'll probably spend time there this evening, im about to go find Boon now.
additional costs yesterday
snack food.... 40 baht.

todays expenses
coffee...20 ; breakfast ..130......bike oil change..220....lunch...240....coffee..90
guest house room.....300 ....snacks and drinks 110.
total 1110

so, at long last we have our guest house license. before we open we have decided to take a much needed holiday to recharge our batteries before cracking on with the guest house.
so , after much flaffing around this morning, we finally left Chiang Mai at midday, on my JRD 150cc chopper.
it took us about an hour and a half to get onto the road to Pai, a left turn at Mae Tang. not far up that road we stopped at a nice little Thai cafe, next to a small stream, and had Kanna Muu Krop(fried kale and pork with rice, and a couple of Birdy tinned coffees. it was a lovely little spot with a cool breeze running up the stream, as good as any fan, and we sat watching several large butterflies frolicking in the sunlight that broke through the trees along the stream. we had considered renting a more powerful bike for this trip but after realizing that it would cost us about 3000 baht, changed our minds. glad about that as the road to Pai has turned out to be not so bad, steepness wise. it is how ever extremely twisty. great fun tho. we made several rest stops along the way, taking in some of the stunning mountain views.
arrived in Pai at just after 5.30pm.
Pai turns out to be a beautiful little town on a delightful river. how long it stays that way is anyones guess as tourism is here in a big way. clearly very popular with tourists of all kinds, the town is packed with guest houses, small and large riversaide resorts, eateries of every sort you could imagine, and bars , bars and more bars, a couple of which with excellent live music and even one where you can go and join in a live jam.
its still bearable right now and if i wasnt so tired from our journey right now, im sure id be out enjoying the night atmosphere some more. its got a bit of a festival feeling to it. sadly, its popularity is likely to lead to being less bearable by the year, so i'd say get here while its still fun.
after checking a couple of riverside places out and getting prices around the 5-600 baht mark for anything decent , we settled for The Tonga Guest house just off what appears to be the main Bar Street leading down to the river.
our stuff dumped in the very pleasant, clean room,(lovely ensuite shower room), that set us back 300 baht, we took a walk into town, went for pizza and more thai food at Baan Pai restaurant; more walk around, ginger tea at the Tick cafe, bought a couple of second hand books from the shop opposite The Tick and are debating whther to take a massage before bed.
todays costs;
fuel ....tank filled for 300baht.
food and drinks on the way ...118+95+40
food and drinks here.....80+285+20+50
books....... 630
room.........300
total...............1918

photos will be addeed when we get back.