Since I've been in Chiang Mai (ps. I'm in Chiang Mai) I've had a huge hankering to do some shopping. I've been asking locals where the best place to thrift and find the hidden gems that make people ask "Where did you get that?".

On one of my afternoon wanders I came across a micro boutique called Norma. Norma is located in the heart of Chiang Mai near the Som Pet Market. The store has been open for only two months but while I was browsing there were many curious shoppers doing their shopping thang. 

I asked the owner, Nara, what inspired her to open up her shop. She told me that she had been living in Bangkok working in upper management in a hostel business. It was always a dream of hers to open up the store. When the rhythm of Bangkok started to wear on her she decided that she needed to move North and make some life changes. She found Chiang Mai to be the perfect place to recover from Bangkok life. Her new location was easy to adjust to. The charm of Chiang Mai made her feel loved. I can agree with that, it feels like home.

Norma is a team effort. It's not only a cute boutique but a tasty sandwich bar. Nara's best friend Mameaw owns the other half of the business. Norma Sandwich Bar is located only a few shops away from the store front. After hearing Nara's story, I had to know about her best pal. 

Mameaw left Bangkok for the same reasons, the city was stressful on her and her job wasn't feeding her. She was working for a successful coffee shop called Casa Lapin. She found that managing the shop was starting to fall into a boring routine and wanted to shake it up. Mameaw's family was supportive of her, she shares a passion of cooking with her father. It only seemed natural to share their gift. She spent some time in the UK, studying sandwich restaurants and perfectly creating what she wanted out of her own business.  After hard work, patience and some negotiations she is doing exactly what she wants with her life. 

I was getting hangry (when am I not hangry?). I decided to sit and have some lunch. I had a mug of the rosella juice, and the mixed salad. Delicious, refreshing and light for a hella hot day in Chiang Mai.

I deeply recommend that you check out these places when you're next in Chiang Mai. Nara and Mameaw are kind and inspiring young women, I know you'll enjoy hearing about their passions and seeing and tasting their amazing gifts.

Follow them on Instagram! @normachiangmai

   

Pai was a vacation from the vacation. We spent 8 days up in the lovely jungle (I am sure of this now). We did a lot of hanging out in hammocks, eating delicious street food, checking out live music cafes and finding Jenika real coffee. To sum up the rest of the Pai trip would be hard and I feel like my words would not give it justice. Read everything I write as if you're a kid whose parents just let them binge at the local candy store.

For a change of scenery we moved hostels from Darling View Point to Spicy Pai Backpackers. Spicy's dorms were open air, with bamboo walls and huge doorways. We slept under mosquito nets, or princess beds as Jenika called them.  Spicy was super clean for being open to the outdoors, there is also a great patio loft where you can find hungover backpackers sprawled across the floor eating free toast. The dorms were about a 10 minute walk from town, in a middle of a rice field with a gorgeous view of the mountains and the white Buddha.

Close to Spicy there is a bar called Sunset, the atmosphere has a 60's psychedelic neon vibe, the tables are low and laying on the ground is your best option to relax and take in the wicked artwork, wax piles of old candles and scenic view. We decided to head there one evening to get a little wavy, when we met a new crew of people.

We call ourselves the 7-11 crew. Compiled of Juliette, Elise, Marit, Fabio, Rense, Jenika and I. We all shared a mutual love for the shop and how if you're lost, scared or just need a feeling of warmth you can find it at 7-11. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long long time. We tried to write a short story about green flies with nose rings, we hid a creepy Thai gnome around the bar, we shared wasbi peas and took some hilarious photos. 

Now that I think of it we did quite a bit of partying in the last few days. One night we found a flyer for a wear-house party, promising deep house, techno and funk. When I saw the word funk, my response was "take my money, let's go!". The gathering was at an art filled bar called Overhear. The great thing about this extra fun dancey time was that there were locals there too. Meeting local people is one of the best ways to hear about fun things happening in the area. We heard a fantastic local DJ and I met a few artists and shop owners. It was really great to talk to someone without a tourist perspective. 

For our parents sake, I will let it be known that we did not party around the clock. During the day we were lovely young women shopping for thrifted pieces, we spent our afternoons in writing in cafes, chatting and I even made business cards (let's get this blog dream rollin'!).  To answer your question parents, no we're not partying our faces off. Yes, we are being well behaved and keeping our family names clean. Now on to the next party story...

We ran into the 7-11 crew again minus a few and plus a few new people.  We were convinced to change our evening plans of YouTube documentaries and chilling to heading to an jungle party. The party played a mix of reggae, house and techno. There were fire poi spinners and a bunch of drunk hippies. The whole night was memorable but the most fun was the ride home, we piled too many people to actually be legal into a taxi and "sang" ( I'm using that word very loosely) our own slurred rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody.

We've had the best experiences in Pai. The locals are so friendly, helpful and kind. I can see why, they have a beautiful place to call home. We met lovely people and spent our days doing exactly what we wanted to. Thats what life is all about isn't it? 

If you're ever in Thailand, go to Pai. Spend a week, you will not regret it!

    

We've been in Pai for 3 days. Wait, maybe it's been 4 days? Actually I have no idea how long we've been here. I'm taking that as a good sign. Our days consist of waking up when ever the hell we feel like it. And doing whatever the hell we feel like. I do know that we are in the jungle heaven of Pai for 8 days. We've  been taking our time with adventures. Sometimes we want to hang by a pool and chase the sunshine, other days we are shopping. But yesterday.. Yesterday was the BEST DAY EVER. I know I say that a lot. It's only because I am having the best time EVER!

We were staying in a hostel called Darling View Point. It's ran by a wild couple. A Thai woman named Darling and her German spouse, Peter. Half the time I had no idea what they were saying to me. Peter would start a conversation, walk away, then come back five minutes later to continue. I'll be honest the hostel rooms weren't the best we have stayed in. Our dorm had 14 beds lined up in a row; it had a very Orphan Annie feel (it's a hard knock life). The rooms were a little on the dirty side and we had some ant friends. We were never in our room long enough to let it bother us. The exterior of the hostel was stunning. Hammocks everywhere, a pool and a view of the mountain ranges that makes all the awkward conversations and insects worth it. We met amazing new friends so easily; we became a family and a bad ass crew.

Introducing the bad ass crew members: Tash and Dan are the cutest and most loving couple I've ever met. Jenika and I have a running joke that there is no love allowed on this trip. If we see a couple being lovey we whisper to each other sassy remarks. "How dare you be in love. Like, do you even know are gross you're being right now?" Sad girls are the new bad girls. Tash and Dan are this exception. We have fun mocking their English accents and they mock our Canadian accents. We've also befriended a chill, half-English, half-Thai fellow named Sean. The locals always think he's a native Thai and when they find out he's not they ask, "But face same same Thai?". Which I think is hilarious. We had an awesome crew at Darling View Point.

Yesterday, aka the THE BEST DAY EVER, we rented scooters. In Pai scooting the main way to get to the beautiful temples, trail heads, and waterfalls. Our Ride or Die Scoot Crew took an adventure to Mor Paeng waterfall. The ride there was breathtaking, I had to take some one handed driving photos to capture the rice fields and mountainous scenery. When we got to our destination we jumped into the chilly pools to cool down and watch some people attempt to cliff jump. The local kids were schooling the tourists, and the tourists backed out.

The ride back was an scenic adventure in itself. We explored the highway to get most out of our rental. We stopped at Sunset Bar to watch the, well...sun set. We ended the evening with having a mini hostel party with a slow burning fire started by Dan.  I was known as DJ Nat, I provided sick beats from Chromeo, David Bowie, The Cults and the infamous Alt-J. Jenika was the spilling bartender, serving up foamy Chang with a striking smile.  After everyone went to bed, Jenika and I realized that we had the 14 bed dorm to ourselves. We shut the lights off, turned up some funky beats, put on our dorky head lamps and pushed the beds together to jump on and our practice summersaults. We quickly tuckered out like 4 year olds passed their bed time, and had a wonderful sleep.

Now I challenge you to tell me that isn't the best day ever. CHYEAH. 

           

                                                           That Darling Viewpoint tho..

  

   

The first day in Lop Buri was spent chillin'. We sat on the shaded patio with fans oscillating around us. We drank smoothies, wrote In our journals, talked to other backpackers and I was nose deep in a great book. I'm reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plack.

Lop Buri is another city with ancient ruins. Like Ayutthaya the ruins are preserved all around the city. The best ruin is Wat Phra Prang Sam Yod. Which has completely been taken over by MONKEYS!!!!  

I won't lie, at first I was a little scared of them. I had seen them go ape shit (pun intended) over a bag of chips,  although I could relate to that feeling I didn't want that to happen to me. Once we walked in the gates and paid our 50 baht entrance fee, we were introduced to the monkeys by a guide. The monkeys loved him, you could tell he was their pal and an honorary monkey himself. He assured us that they wouldn't do us any harm and we trusted him. At first we watched and took photos from afar, but after a few minutes we were joining in the fun.

I had a monkey sit calmly in my hand, and before I knew it I had monkeys all over me. Climbing up my legs, crawling over my shoulders and pulling at my ankle bracelets. My face hurt from smiling, their energy and silliness was so up-lifting. 

The next day we had booked a train to Chiang Mai later in the evening so we thought we would head father out of the downtown area of Lop Buri to check out Wat Phra Buddhabat. This shrine is said to house the footprint of Buddha. It was discovered during 1610-1628. The king of Thailand at that time, King Song Tham, ordered officials to search for the footprint. Monks had told him that their might be a print in Thailand.  A hunter stumbled across it while trailing a wounded deer- which was miraculously healed from its injury.

The shrine was beautiful, painted white and  intricately decorated with blue, green and gold pieces of glass. Inside the shrine was the footprint. The whole shrine was shining brightly with gold and white stones. The footprint itself was covered in gold leaf, bills and coins that were left by people paying their respects. It's starting to become difficult to be a spectator. These shrines are carefully respected and admired by the Thai people, it's easy to feel foolish trying to tour these areas without knowing anything about their faith. Jenika and I are making a conscious effort to learn a little more about it.

On our way home, we ran into rain. I would say "some rain" but that doesn't give this torrential down pour justice. Yes, Vancouver is a rainy city, and I've been stuck in one of its showers. These do not compare to what we experienced. In less then 5 minutes, I was soaked. Like some one pushed me into a pool soaked. We caught our bus back to the Lop Buri city centre, to pleasantly find that we out drove the rain. We were on our way back to the hostel when it happened again. We were drenched and laughing the whole way. 

I wrote this on a sleeper train on the way to Chiang Mai, which was a crazy experience in its self. I am excited to get to a city, to go hiking, to eat delicious northern food, to see elephants, and to read till my eye balls fall out. 

                                                                     Monkey snack time. 
    
                                                               LIKE STOP IT. SO CUTE.
                                                                           Camera shy.
                                                                 To Buddha's footprint.
                                                           Our third shower of the day.