Octie Appetie

13 December 2021

Pai Night Market

Previously:

Pai city that I'd known, never be this quite and empty. Pandemic knocked this city awfully and terribly. So many resorts and shops closed either temporary or even for good. Some tourist destinations left unattended and abandoned. The night walking street that used to be lively and jammed with people and food stalls, are now so doomed. Cars and motorcycles can now drive pass these streets freely. Passer by need to be careful while browsing and shopping. There are hardly any food stalls in the middle of the streets no more. Most likely only few shops that are surviving.

Here are some of photos I'd taken from Pai walking street and judge it for yourself.

This delicious grilled pork is a thing you cannot miss here. The meat are tender with a great amount of spice and a kick of pepper.

This Banh Mi shop is always busy with customers come and go. Surely, it's because of huge serving portion, cheap price yet taste delicious.

Take a closer of Bahn mi that we got. Thick slab of grilled pork pieces, some fresh salad and a great amout of sauces are sandwiched in between a big soft bun. However, a bit more vegetables will make them 10 out of 10 dish.

Patongko or deep fried Chinese stick dough

So cheap, 10 pieces of this freshly cook fried bread dough is only 20Baht.

You definitely need to try the local noodle and snack from this stall. We missed it in the first day, as we came a little too late and she just sold out. But, we came back the next day.

Stay tuned for the next blog still in Pai:

Pai City

03 December 2021

Rim Pai Cottage, Pai

Previously:

Tham Pum Tham Pla Cave and Ban Jabo, Mae Hong Son

Pai is a small valley town that lies on the banks of Pai River. Due to its captiviting charms, beautiful mountainscape and cool breeze nearly all seasons, this town easily gained its domestic as well as internatonal recognition in the early millennium. I had been here both on their prime time and also on their very downtime after the pandemic. In my next post, I will show how far that Covid-19 had effected this little town. For now, I just share you some photos of Rim Pai Cottage, where we stayed for two nights.

Rim Pai Cottage is a bungalow-like resort. Individual bungalow is placed apart from each other, so every room has the sense of peaceful and serenity. It also facilitates with outdoor swimming pool too. The room itself was spacious and clean. The next best thing was that our room set right by the river, we got to enjoy the nice view day and night from our own room and terrace. Over and above, their services were superb and friendly.

Rim Pai Cottage

On Chai Songkhram Road toward Pai Bamboo bridge

Ph: +66 53 699 133

Stay tuned for the next blog still in Pai:

Pai Night Market

01 December 2021

Thum Pum Tham Pla Cave and Ban Jabo, Mae Hong Son

Today, we were going to make our way to Pai. We made a few stops along the journey as well. Tham Pum Tham Pla or Fish cave, Ban Jabo to have 2-dollars noodles with million dollars view and a short break at Doi Kew Lom.

This fish cave is one of the popular tourist destinations in the area. You will find a pond of freshwater fish by a hallow limestone cave. You can feed the fish or otherwise just do a short hiking trail in this hilly forests. It made a good brief recreation stop for young children.

Look at those snake roads ahead us. Mae Hong Son is claimed as one of the most beautiful province in Thailand, but is also known for their hell curves. But it is all worth it to make one's way.

Just before arriving at Pai, we went up to a small village called Ban Jabo. It is the house of Black Lahu community. There are several noodle shops and simple homestays in the area. The best thing out of here is the view and landscape. Their houses sit in the crest of mountain ranges overlooking a thrilling panorama. Each house has the best sight, it would be amazing to wake up everyday looking at that wonderful view.

As we went there when country borders still close, we had no problem at all with crowded tourists. We had the place for our own. We also had some cheap noodles from local restaurants while submerging our eyes with a magnificent landscape. The noodle itself tastes mediocre. However, the scene is PRICELESS!!!

What a view!!!!

Noodle soup from Ban Jabo village

Viewpoint at Doi Kew Lom

From Jabo village, we continued our road trip toward the next destination, Pai. We made a brief stop again at Doi Kew Lom, the view point of a stunning mountanious scenery. At that time, the mist just came by and covered this resting spot, turned everything white. We stayed for awhile until it gone then we're able to catch the beautiful mountainscape.

Stay tuned for the next blog in Pai:

Rim Pai Cottage

16 November 2021

Ban Rak Thai Village

Previously:

Mae Hong Son

Ban Rak Thai village is a small mountainous town with a beautiful lake sat in the middle of the valley. It is only 40 kilometers away from Mae Hong Son city. This village is one of the several Yunnanese communities can be found in Thailand. It retains their oriental looks of buildings and signs. This place used to be very peaceful and serene. However, in the past recent years, this town has been growing significant numbers of tourists. Especially on the weekend or holiday seasons, the city packs with visitors.

Lee Wine Yunnan restaurant or commonly known as Lee Wine Ruk Thai is hands down the most popular and one of the early restaurant in this village. As you can easily guess, of course they serve Chinese Yunnan food here and tea as well as wine testing. Back then 12 years ago, when I was there, there was only one main restaurant and a couple small souvenirs shops in the area but now more and more others are kinda competing and selling similar products to accomodate increased demands in the market.

Lee Wine Yunnan restaurant has the most strategic location of all, right at the door of Rak Thai village and the dining area is facing a calm lake along with beautiful layered ornate houses and mountain on the backdrop. Next door is a coffee shop where you can buy ticket and board the boat to enjoy the village on the water view point. On top of it, they also serve delicious food here. So, what's not to like?

Braised pork leg served with steamed plain bun 390฿

And a well-known to try is their signature Kha moo mor fai or braised pork leg served on hot pot. It comes with 5 pieces of mantou (Chinese steamed plain bun). The leg was humongous and very meaty. The skin had been fried first before they braised again in the aromatic soup for hours. So it's kinda chewy in texture yet melt-in-your-mouth at the same time. This dish is succulent and delighful. You have to sunk the plain bun into the soup too, it will absorb all the juices and flavour. Totally divine.

Yunnan style fried noodle 190฿

Deep fried pork with sweet plum sauce 180฿ and stir fried chayote leaves 90฿

Mantou tod or deep fried mantou served with condensed milk 100฿

This sweet is absolutely the winner dish for me. Although what we had for our main dishes were all heavy and full of carbs but we didn't want to miss this hefty dessert either. It was great in all aspects, texture and taste wise. The soft plain white mantou that had been deep fried into a golden brown color, very crispy and slightly oily on the outer skin, however, inside still maintains its softness and somewhat drier than the steam version. Once you dip that into condensed milk, BOOM... really really yummm...

They also give free hot tea for customers who dine in. Their tea is so fragrant (one is oolong tea and another one I couldn't recall the name). If you want to buy some souvenirs back home, you can use your receipt after dining to claim another 10% discount of your purchase (may not applied on some special promotion products)