Pai
After leaving Chiang Mai we ventured on a 3 hour bus journey
to the north of Thailand to a small village called Pai, which has become
something of a retreat for western tourists in Thailand and where we had
planned to stay for 2-3 days but ended up staying for 6. If the journey had
been a straight line from A-B it would have taken no more than an hour. However
in order for us to get there we had to travel around one of the mountains which
overlooked the north, which meant a lot of winding roads going up and around,
up and around, up and around. This obviously didn’t sit well with the local
child sitting in the back of the bus who vomited most of the way there.
On arrival we walked a short way down the main street of Pai,
towards the hut where we had booked for the next few nights. When we got there
we had the most rickety bridge that you could imagine in front of us and I was
certain that it couldn’t take the weight of us and our backpacks, thankfully I
was wrong and we made it to the hut unscathed. The hut itself was very basic as
you can see but it did come with a hammock (which certain people didn’t like to
share). We found quite quickly that we could hear entire conversations from the
huts around us as if they were in the room with us, however the fact that we
were surrounded by French and German people meant that we weren’t able to use
our eavesdropping skills to full effect.
We spent the first few days in Pai either sunbathing at the
nearby swimming pool, or dealing with sunburn (poor Jane spent her birthday in
full recovery mode from the heat). After a few days we hired a scooter and set
off to find the local hot springs and waterfall which were a few kilometres outside
the centre of the town. I have no problem saying that this was one of the most
enjoyable and exciting days of my life. With Jane sat on the back and me acting
chauffer, we drove around the outskirts of Pai dealing with the rough terrain
as it came. The first sight we came across whilst travelling was a set of
elephants from the local “sanctuary” (used loosely) which were giving rides to
some tourists on the same road that we were heading down. We pulled over to the
side of the road and just gawped as these beautiful, huge animals passed us by,
led by their owners.
After some navigation we arrived not long after at the natural
hot springs, where we took a soak and relaxed for a short period and also
watched as some locals were cooking eggs in one of the pools. On the way to the
waterfall we passed a tourist place which revolved around strawberries. It was
called something like ‘strawberry town’ or ‘strawberry world’. It was weird. I
assume that Pai is known for their production of the strawberries, or the owner
has an unhealthy relationship with them, I haven’t actually looked into it so
please feel free. Either way they make a lovely strawberry brownie. Our bellies
full, we set off and after some time driving on some roads which I can’t be
very complimentary about, we eventually got to the waterfall…and I decided to
crash the scooter into the side of it. As much as I would like to go into a
full defence of what happened, the short story is that (with neither of us on
the bike) I lost control while trying to push the bike up a short verge and it
careered off through the trees and down the side of a hill, almost hitting the bottom
where the water ran through. Thankfully there were people around to help,
although I wished that they had shown up after the incident. (For legal reasons
I have to mention that if anyone from Ava Scooter Hire based in Pai is reading
this, the previous comment was entirely fictional) My pride shaken but not
broken, we retrieved the scooter and set off around the side of the mountain to
the head of the waterfall where we found a truly beautiful and serene setting,
which you really can’t appreciate through a photograph.
Following the waterfall we set off again along the dodgy
roads and stopped off near a local lake which again provided us with the most
beautiful views of Pai. Despite the incident at the waterfall, I was absolutely
loving the feeling of driving around the middle of nowhere on a scooter whilst
we both watched the world go by and the day reminded me of the reasons why we
decided to do this all those months ago. Also whilst we were riding, 2 things happened
in the space of around 3 seconds. I saw my first wild snake up close and then I
promptly killed it as I ran it over. Sorry snakey, I’m sure you lived a full
and happy life.
We arrived some time later at the viewpoint of Pai which
gave the most incredible views of the area. I say some time later as
unfortunately we had to walk up a rather steep hill as our scooter didn’t seem
to have the power to complete the journey (This of course had nothing to do with
the alleged incident at the waterfall). We assumed that everyone left their
bikes at the bottom until when we got there, to our surprise, everyone had
parked their bikes at the top. Nevertheless, the views from the top were
totally worth the walk and we were greeted by a lovely Thai man who gave us
some green tea on arrival. After a period of taking in the sights around us we
headed back to the bike and attempted to set off back to town. But then the scooter
wouldn’t start. F***. I won’t lie, maybe I panicked a little bit. Jane maybe
panicked a little bit more. Thankfully, the reason it wouldn’t start had
nothing to do with the (supposed) crash and was merely to do with the fact that
I’d left the pedal down which prevented the scooter from starting. I think at
this point we knew it was time to head back into town and we did so, taking in
the beautiful sights and thinking about the crazy day we’d had along the way.
The following day was exciting but for different reasons as
we were both booked in for tattoos which we had decided would be our birthday presents
to one another. Jane’s took an hour and a half and mine took around 3 hours so
by the end of the day we were exhausted.
So far in the journey that we’ve had, Pai has been my most
treasured memory already and I know it is somewhere I will definitely see
again.
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