1.6.16-1.8.16
While Phetchabun was a lovely lovely place, leaving was not. We decided to take an overnight bus to Chiang Mai, the bus takes about 8 hours so we opted for the evening bus to avoid wasting a day traveling. This ended up backfiring a bit…. our last day in Phetchabun we cruised around, did some shopping, got our visas in order for Cambodia & Vietnam, leisurely walked around, did some reading, essentially we went into relax mode. Around 8pm we headed to the Phetchabun bus station, from here we had to go about an hour away to Lom Sak where we could catch the 11:45pm bus. Ann checked for us in Phetchabun and the lady at the bus station said you don’t need to buy tickets in advance and we could hop on no problem. Unfortunately it was a different story when we showed up to Lom Sak. Our bus was sold out. As was the 1am option. We thought the agent was messing with us (sometimes this happens), but no, sure enough the 11:45pm and 1am were sold out and we were now in a new place where no one spoke english. Luckily we called Ann and she spoke to the agents who helped us get a hotel and arranged for a tuk tuk driver to drop us off and pick us up in the am. We went to bed grumpy – unable to find dinner or drinks…we can now laugh about Lom Sak.
The morning of the 7th we ended up on the 8am bus to Chiang Mai, it took 9 and a half hours but we made it and luckily we had a smiling face waiting for us. Kwan and Chelerm from Spicy Villa grabbed our stuff and put us in a truck. Spicy Villa is an incredible eco-lodge in the mountains about 2-3 hours outside of Chiang Mai. This remote gem is an organic farm that is operated by solar power and love. No wifi. The last 45 minutes of the drive to the lodge is up a very bumpy dirt road. It was quite terrifying arriving in the dark, but we got to our little bungalow where we had a very cold nights sleep. Waking up was incredible. We popped open our window and saw we were surrounded by mountains and elephants.
We enjoyed a family style breakfast with the rest of the guests – a sweet German/Australia family with two kids who spent the whole meal stumping us with brain teasers, 3 Canadian girls and 2 American brothers from DC (Sam and Josh). After breakfast we went trekking with Sam & Josh. Our first stop was the organic farm where we learned about the growing seasons (currently growing Bok Choy) and organic farming. From there we walked to a school in a Karen Village and then trekked to a waterfall. Our guides Kwan, Cherlerm and Boon made a fire while we explored the area. After stuffing our faces with pad thai and sticky rice we headed back to the villa. From there we went to meet and bathe some elephants. So sweet.
Spicy Villa is pretty magical, the scenery is incredible, the bungalows charming, the decor very fun and the community/meal time all inclusive. It felt quite a bit like Neverland, with the hodgepodge of guides filling the role of lost boys. All of the guides contribute to meal prep and all guests eat it (family style). We took a cooking class this evening which was definitely a highlight – it was very casual and fun. We cut and prepped various bowls of veggies, not really sure what we were doing until one of the guys handed us a peeler/knife/cutting board and told us what to do. We ended up making 6 delicious dishes, so many yummy curries!! One literally almost burned the roof down, it was quite exciting.
The following morning we woke up for the sunrise and an early bike ride. The ride was around a local Karen village. The path we took was pretty wild. The roads are all dirt with rocks, massive ditches and little canals from monsoon season. It wasn’t too hilly but full of obstacles. We stopped in a few little towns and a waterfall. After our ride we had breakfast at camp, a little relaxation time in the hammock and then headed into Chiang Mai.
We met some interesting people, made some new friends and packed a lot of fun into our time at Spicy Villa. It is a special place which made it hard to leave.
How Sasha Got Her Groove Back 