Thailand 2015 Part 2: Spicy Villa

Leaving the city behind was both hard and a relief. Ditching the comforts and friendliness of Tamarind Village just as we were getting acclimated to Thailand was a bit daunting, especially not knowing exactly what we were in for, but we were game.



Heading into the mountains was an exciting proposition. And they did not disappoint.

The highest point in Thailand was only about 30km from where we were, as the crow flies.

These mountains were lush with banana trees and banyan trees and all manner of bush and bamboo, rivers and creeks flowing through villages and rice fields and jungles, steep and winding roads used by foot and scooter and pickup alike.

Spicy Villa was quite an amazing place, a set of bungalows perched on a steep hillside overlooking a waterfall and an organic farm, with forested mountains rising on all sides. Rice fields, cattle, water buffalo, so many types of birds and small mammals that the silence of nighttime was cacophonous.




And elephants! It took me a couple days just to get used to them being there, in plain site, hanging out and eating and bathing and trumpeting as if they just belong on this earth. Crazy.





Our first day we spent just hanging around. Most other people were off on day trips, so that meant we had the lodge largely to ourselves, which was great.






Our guides, Pan and Chang, took great care of us. We had a few outings--trekking to a waterfall, visiting a local village and school, eating lunch with a local family, elephant riding, bamboo rafting--but the pace was never rushed, the schedule never too full.

Theo got to feed the pigs and gather eggs a few times, thanks to Ploy, one of the wonderful ladies who worked there. 

And the food at this place was remarkable. All meals were prepared in teh common area, with all guests encouraged to pitch in, so I did. Chopping herbs and pumpkins and chilis, pounding curry pastes, all of it was really fun and I learned a good bit.

We were in Spicy Villa for the big festival of lanterns, so we got to participate and set lanterns loose into the sky from our jungle hut, which was fantastic.

Our huts were modest and comfortable with solar light and mosquito nets.

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Theo's visit to a local school was pretty interesting. On the way in, he said "This school is more boring than mine." But on the way out, after playing with the kids and sitting through lunch and seeing the roosters and dogs roaming the grounds he said "My school is more boring than this school."

We took a few great day trips with Pan and Chang. Visiting waterfalls, stopping in at local schools, having lunch in a village home of a friend of Pan's.

During one of our day trips, to a waterfall, we lucked into the after school ceremony where all the kids let lanterns go. Talk about the right place at the right time. Theo got in there and did one, too. What a cool thing to see.



To Theo, riding in the back of the pickup trucks was definitely a highlight again and again.










In all, Spicy Villa was a fantastic experience. We relaxed, and we exercised. We sat around and we did stuff. We socialized and we spent many silent hours together.

We ate well, I drank a good amount of Chang beer, and we read and relaxed and played and walked and sat. This was the calm, mindful state I was after. A great second week.

Thailand 2015 Pt. 1: Chiang Mai

We just spent 3 weeks in Thailand and had one of the best trips and funnest adventures ever. From the food to the people to the temples and mountains and rivers, we explored and relaxed and really got close to each other. Cathy, Theo, and I have done some traveling together, but this would be the biggest trip yet.

A good part of a trip's success comes from the planning. In this respect, Cathy earned a smashing success with this trip. She planned it in 3 parts of 1 week each.

Part 1: Chiang Mai.
Part 2: Spicy Villa Ecolodge in Mae Wang, a mountainous region outside of Chiang Mai.
Part 3: Koh Mak, a sleepy island in the Gulf of Thailand, nearer to Camobia than Bangkok.

Part 1: Chiang Mai

We started off our trip in style at Tamarind Village. It's a gorgeous resport int he middle of the old city,   the  type of place that's usually beyond our means whetrn aveling. But boy are we glad we staed there.

The food was fantastic, thepool a delightful retreat from the heat, and the staff one of the biggest pleasures of the trip. To say they took good care of us and Theo is a huge understatement. They pretty much adopted Theo. The boy fell hard for these lovely Thai ladies, and who can blame him?

We explored the city from this base at a relaxed pace, save the unprecedented early morning pre-sunrise trips brought on by Theo's jetlag. But, every problem is an opportunity, and we made the most of this one, taking trips to temples or wats outside the city to watch them come alive with the sunrise. Some of our best experiences were in the predawn hours--not lease of which because it was by far the coolest time of day.

Wat Humong was our favorite, a lovely place with ponds and hills and a really humane approach to domesticated animals, especially dogs.

I got to do some meditating here, as well as in a couple wats in town, and this, pond-side, with the birds waking up and the fish feeding off the surface, was certainly the best.

Chiang Mai was where we spent time seeing temples, or wats. And we saw many many beautiful ones of all levels of grandiosity and gaud.

And we also did a zipline trip!

This was pretty incredible. I was suspect, but totally enjoyed it, as did Cathy. And needless to say Theo flipped out over it.

The food in Chiang Mai was pretty amazing. So simple and so amazingly delicious, from spicy curries to rich slippery noodles to soup and satay and sticky rice and GOD I miss the food. 

Our stay at Tamarind Village was enjoyable beyond words. The rooms and grounds were beautiful, the staff even moreso, the food was amazing, and the pool was absolutely the thing for cooling off in the Chiang Mai heat, keeping Theo happy and tired, and relaxing our butts off.

The art exhibit opening they hosted, featuring amazing tapestries by Thai artist Kachama, was both a fantastic event and an eye-opening for me on the quality and value of this sort of art. Really amazing stuff, both artisanally/artistically and as cultural comment and reference. 

We were very sad to be leaving Tamarind Village--especially Theo--but we were excited to get into the mountains and the jungle for the next part of the adventure.