February 22nd - 23rd

Derek took up the owner of the coffee in love business, who loved her flight and treated us to coffee and pastries. She then offered a walk-through of her house--yeah-- love this place . ( took photos but camera has a virus and we can't download the pictures!) It's a great place , open style with artistic paintings through out. Offered us the house for a few nights, as she only uses it twice per month! Also has a resort in town, which we can stay at - we get to choose! WOW!!!!!
After visiting the resort, we decided to stay there for 2 nights, as this house has tourist roaming around through out the day, and is on the outskirts of town. Hard choice as this is my favourite house!!
Derek flying over the garden roofed coffee terraces. You can see how smoky it is in the mornings, this is about 8am, and it's hard to see the mountains in the background.
Derek landed beside the coffee in love sign, to the delight of the owner!
Over the rose Arbor, there are 40 gardeners to take care of the property.

This is the owners resort. The entrance has paved steps through a pond full of Koi.
This is the view from the dining room, where we were treated to a Western Breakfast. Path leads down to the Pai River.
We had a choice of staying at one of these units or we could stay in a "Tent" on the river.
The reading nook in the unit.
Cabana with hammocks for lazing around.
These are the "Tents" by the river. Not what we expected! They're huge!
Inside the tent. 2 king size beds. Jaccuzi ( big enough for 2!) with power jets. Air cond, TV, Inside shower.
Pebble stone shower. It'll be nice to take a shower inside for a change.
View from the deck.
Looking inside from the deck--I think we'll take the "Tent" Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Resort taken from the river.
In the afternoon, we were invited to dinner by another resort owner that we took up for a ride. This is really good, combining pilot lessons, with rides for resort owners. Dinner or breakfast is usually offered as a thank you. Opposite the resort ( Not as nice as our one, in fact 2 of their units have collapsed into the river, as the base was unstable, and couldn't hold the weight!! ) is the Memorial Bridge. The original bridge was built using local slave labour under Japanese Occupation---similar to the bridge over the River Kwai.
View of the bridge from one end.




Under the bridge was a herd of Water buffalo, standing around in a circle protecting the young.


At the resort we found this Hillman Sedan , 1940 era and a mini. The owner collects vintage English cars.
While we ate dinner, we were watched by this sad looking old dog. It's funny how the stray dogs just appear at restaurants and the owners and staff just walk around them, serving you your food, even though his nose was nearly resting on my lap!
In the evening, we walked down the walking street, and saw this policeman, singing and playing the guitar. Apparently, he does this for charity, most tourists find it a novelty and have their photo taken with him, then donate. We see him each morning directing the morning traffic.
Next morning, we flew over the coffee shop again, and landed across the road. Lots of waste ground to land on, and when we come into fields, the farmers dont mind us landing at all. The farmer and his family ( and all the relatives living in the compound) usually come out and help us pack up. This really is a great place to fly.
We flew the manager of the resort this morning, so we went back to the resort, for another western breakfast ( Bacon,sausage,eggs,and toms) . Had to take another shot of our Tents from across the river.
Yes, we are looking very smug!!