Sarah, Hari, and I got on our 125cc Honda Dreams and got going, but not before a quick stop at 7-11 to pick up some supplies. A quick side-note about 7-11s in Thailand, they are everywhere, I have never seen so many 7-11s in my life. They are almost like Starbucks in the US, if you stand at one point on a street you can see at least two 7-11s on the same street. Anyway, I bring up our stop at the 7-11 because another hilarious incident occurred right outside - among the 3 of us Hari is the expert motorbike rider, he never passes up the opportunity to get on a bike and always has a huge smile plastered across his face when he is riding. Hari exited the 7-11, strapped on his helmet, put his freshly purchased water bottle in his backpack, started his engine, and pulled out onto the road. Well, not exactly onto the road. More like into a car. A parked car. He accelerated a little too quickly while looking at the oncoming cars to find a place to pull in and boom, right into a parked car. Sarah and I laughed so hard that we drew a crowd of several Thai ladies who just shook their heads at the inexperienced tourists trying to motorbike. Classic. No damage to the car or to Hari so thankfully it was just another hilarious incident to add to our list.
After we caught our breathe we actually got onto the road and began our journey. We stopped at a tiger sanctuary along the way that we had heard and read about. We got to play with 2 year old tigers, they were the cutest, sweetest things. Their fur was incredibly soft and thick, they were really like playing with German Shepherd sized cats. One liked Sarah so much that he cuddled up in her lap and licked her hands just like a regular house cat would do. Perhaps the reason they were so relaxed and tame is not only that they were born and raised at the sanctuary and have thus never been in the wild, but we think that they must have been sedated. I can't imagine that they were not and was disappointed that this is likely the case. I do not support them being drugged in captivity, but in retrospect I know that we could have protested and skipped out on seeing them. At least it did appear (hopefully) that they are treated extremely well, the people who worked there were very friendly and loving to the tigers.
Some fun facts about tigers that we learned: cubs are born blind and eventually develop vision 6x better than that of humans; in the wild tigers live for about 15 years, in captivity, 20 years; cubs eat only 2kg/day, matured tigers eat 6kg/day (I would have thought it would be significantly more, but keep in mind they are in captivity so they do not have as much space to run and work up an appetite the same way that wild tigers do). Despite my qualms with the sanctuary, it was still really cool to see them up close, they are incredible animals.
Back on the road we had an awesome drive to Pai. The tarmac was properly paved (unlike a lot of the roads in Cambodia and Lao) so we were able to drive at higher speeds. The roads were hilly and curvy and surrounded by gorgeous landscape. We stopped about every 20-30 minutes at lookout points to take photos and just have a look around, such a great drive. We made it to Pai and immediately loved the feel of this tiny town - it is extremely laid-back and quiet, the town itself is made up of only 2 major streets that are lined with small shops and restaurants. Lucky for us we were in town for the night market, so we strolled up and down the streets that were closed off to traffic and enjoyed many delicious treats - everything from kebabs to grilled corn on the cob to street pad thai. We had finally entered authentic pad thai territory, I was obsessed and would eat it nearly everyday for our month stay in Thailand.
We only spent one night in Pai but would recommend to anyone who is thinking of exploring northern Thailand to spend a few nights there, it is just really cute and quaint and the scenery along the way is gorgeous. We had great weather for our drive back to Changmai and got to take in the beautiful sites of the drive one more time. And no one drove into any parked cars again.
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