Pai, Thailand

After a few days in Chiang Mai, we were trying to figure out where to go next. We got tons of recommendations at the hostel from different people who had gone to a town a few hours away called Pai. We heard it was a little hippie enclave with live music, great views of Thai farmland in the heart of a valley, and a pretty big arts scene.  We figured we could go there for a night and then come back to Chiang Mai to figure out the next step.

We didn't realize until we boarded our little minivan-bus that the road between Chiang Mai and Pai is notoriously miserable. All over Pai there are signs and shirts saying "Chiang Mai- Pai: 130 Km, 762 curves".  The bus swerves around these huge banking curves, during monsoon rains, all in the mountains, at the edge of cliffs. In the bus that followed us, they had to stop 3 separate times (in the 3 hour ride) for people who had gotten carsick.  We finally made it to Pai around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and the mellow vibe was apparent right away.  The place felt like a little beach town and their were funky skinny thai guys with long fu-man-chus, bell bottoms, and john lennon glasses everywhere. There was actually a bar where this seemed to be a uniform.  We were able to find a guesthouse with a private bungalo for 6 bucks a night!

We were off to a good start, and it felt great to be in such a small, relaxed place after Bangkok and Chiang Mai.  Meliss thought she could handle a scooter there, so we rented a pair of them and took off exploring the countryside.  Cue action-packed vid:

We rode around for the afternoon, and then went back into town to hit the local market and grab a few drinks, and crash early.

The next morning we woke up, went for breakfast in town and scoured the maps for cool places not too far from Pai where we could go on our bikes. We found some cool waterfalls about 45 km away, so we paid the bill and went to get on our way. Meliss was trying to turn around in the street, lost her balance, and then turned the throttle as she tried to grab the brake. Not a good idea. Luckily, she toppled over before hitting a wall, and escaped with only a few scrapes.... and a broken left brake and rear view mirror (insurance costs about $1 here and covered everything.... suckers).

After she toughed it out, and decided to ride on, we headed out of town to a local waterfall up in the hills through a village. Because it's monsoon season, the waterlevels are really high, and the falls were much more impressive than the ones we'd seen in pictures online.  We did some climbing around and then i jumped in for a swim to cool off. The pictures don't really do it justice, but the falls were set in dense jungle and they looked out over the whole valley. While i was swimming, a heavy rain started which made the whole thing much cooler.

After the falls, we stopped off at a little place where you can hang out and go fishing for catfish and piranhas.  A few expats opened this place about 10 kms out of town, and it was a really good way to spend the afternoon, have a few beers and go fishing. It was also nice because we were able to sit out the rain before our ride back into town.  Meliss wasn't too interested in the fishing, but luckily, there was a little lab puppy and a kitten that kept her pretty busy while I fished.

After the fishing outing we went back into town. Originally, when we planned to come to Pai, we had thought we would stay for one night and come back the next day. We left our big bags at the hostel in Chiang Mai and brought an extra t-shirt and pair of underwear. Everyone we talked to told us we wouldnt want to leave, and they were right. We decided to stay for an extra night which gave us an amazing 3 days there.







We found this place called the Curry Shack which made incredible curries for next to nothing. I got a coconut curry, served in a coconut with the top machete'd off, with a big pineapple shake.  After 10 days of fish, chips and Guinness in Ireland all this fresh produce and spice is doing me well.





After a full day, we hung out at the bungalo for a while reading and then went for drinks and some music. We met a family of Canadians from Victoria, with a girl hoping to go to McGill next year. When a Canadian runs into a Canadian travelling, there is aaaaaaalways something to talk about and some common ground. This time we didn't make it to all the way to mutual friends, but it was still good to have a taste of home (or close to it)

The next morning we were reluctant to leave, and even more hesitant to get back on that terrible bus. We had decided to take the 4 hour bus back to Chiang Mai, grab our bags and a meal at the hostel, and then get on an overnight bus that would take us to the border of Laos where we would connect with our 2 day boat down the Mekong River into Northern Laos. The thought of all those uncomfortable overnights, and connections seemed pretty daunting, but it was time to move on!