Plan B

So normally we go to like 4 different places in town for some of the following reasons: they are fun, we know someone that works there, they have live music, and we only know like 4 places and keep going back to them. So Friday night, no one has any plans and we are trying to figure out something good to do. We ended up thinking up 2 plans. Plan A is to get some tents, some firewood and beer and camp by the river and just chill out. We have seen lots of people camping there so know it is accepted and a good place to do such things.

Plan B is to start at the Mango Tree House (where we came up with the plans) and walk to town stopping at any bar we have never been to and skipping those we already have. Then once in town we already knew a few places we needed to try that no one had been for one reason or another.

Because of worries that the logistics of getting camping gear together and the late notice we decided to try Plan B instead. So 5 of us set off down the road and told everyone else to call us and come meet up when they are ready. I had my scooter, but between all 5 of us that was not going to cut it so I just walked it / rode it really slow with one passenger so that the walkers could keep up and I could still get the scooter back to town. There were a few downhills where Weston decided to stand up on the back and pretend to fly but 3 to a scooter is tough to manage, let alone when one person is trying to fly. Fortunately he is coordinated and we were coasting really slow so there were no injuries. He was also on a 'No Shoes' kick so I was a bit worried about him already walking around all over town without shoes, let alone standing straight up on the back of a scooter without them.

We eventually made it to the first place which turned out to be a quiet guesthouse & restaurant right by the river. We sat on the patio overlooking the shore, and there was another picnic table down close to the shore, plus a little bamboo dock on the river (see pic). This was totally chilled out and a good way to start the night. Nice pleasant music and lighting so a round of beers and an order of french fries and we were back on the road looking for the next place. Oh yeah the other goal was to find a place with either Darts or Foosball, neither which we have actually seen anywhere around. So back to the story at hand, just before town was a toy store which happened to have a cheap dartboard for about 200 Baht (6-7$), so we made a mental note to come back for it to buy it for the house later on.

Once in town, the second place we happened upon didn't have a dartboard, but was full of locals unlike the more toursity old standby places we are used to. Perfect for tonight. So we piled around a picnic table and ordered a 'bucket'. A bucket is literally that, a bucket with one giant drink in it and 5 straws. We ended up with a Sang Som (Thai Whiskey) and Red Bull with some extra green stuff in it and a few other ingredients. It was pretty tasty and the place had a friendly vibe to it. Sang Som is actually is pretty good. I don't usually drink whiskey but this is much softer in taste and goes well with Coke, soda water or some combination there of. Our bucket contained an entire bottle of the stuff (just one of those little hip sized ones, don't worry).

Upon emptying the bucket we wandered down the street some more. This time an idea had already come to us of where to go next, so with about 5 different stops for various street food (spring rolls, chicken on a stick, sticky purple rice, roti (pancakes)) we were finally on our way there. There is one biker bar in town and Weston had been looking to by a motorcycle to drive to China and then India after the collective ends in April. So we wandered in there to hopefully find some leads. Decent place with friendly owners, we probably won't go back unless we are in need of more motorcycle knowledge or shopping. The guys there unfortunately only had a customized chopper for like 100,000+ baht where as we were more looking for a Honda Phantom 200 for like 40,000 baht. So on down the road we go...

The next place is called Ting Tong, seems like a big place but none of us had been there mostly because of their obnoxious ad campaign. They have signs all over Pai with mirrors on them that say 'Are you Ting Tong?' Since these are annoying no one ever bothered to go to the place. So ignoring that we wandered across the bamboo bridge that brings you inside the grounds. Ting Tong is rather large and all outdoors including a 1/2 basketball court, a pull up bar, some paralell bars and a pool table. Really not a bad place despite the ads. The pool table was a little worse for wear, (see pic) and very hard to play on but we did our best. The common issue with a few places around that have billards is that the pool tables are in bamboo huts so if you walk around the whole table moves up and down considerably and the balls move about which can make it tricky. Bamboo must be strong since pool tables are super heavy, but it is also very bendable it seems


After Ting Tong we headed to a later night place called the Bamboo something, I will have to check on the name. This place was really cool, nice bamboo outdoor decks with fire pits in the middle and good music. We liked this place a lot and saw some musicians we see all the time playing around town hanging out there after their gigs, so it must be good if the locals frequent it. Finally at 3am it was time to get to bed as a big day was planned for tomorrow, but more on that later!