One of our favorite ways to find places to go is to ask other people we meet along the way. And Pai was easily the most recommended places. We heard it was beautiful, chill and a bit of a hippie heaven. Luckily it was much easier to get there than Chiang Mai. (Our hotel helped us book a minibus – aka minivan.) But let me tell you, that ride was ROUGH. There are 763 – I repeat 763 – curves between Chiang Mai and Pai.
After that dicey and nauseating ride, we arrived in Pai vomit free (yay!) and made our way to our hostel: Spicy Pai. It was a bit outside of the town center, but we have had some luck with those. It was a very cool multi-level bungalow and we really liked it. If we went back we would probably stay closer to town, but the atmosphere was great. (This excludes of course the one guy who started blasting music at 1:30AM, saying it was a part of hostel life. If we wanted sleep we should have stayed at a hotel. *sigh* We may or may not have found him sleeping under his bed the next morning. Ahhh, hostel life.)
One of our bunk mates told us about a nice, easy hike to a nearby waterfall she had heard about (two hours in, two hours out) so we decided to tackle it the next day. Bet you can guess that it was not quite that simple – though the hike was beautiful. The trail was easy to find, but also easy to lose as it broke off in to river crossings quite a few times. We often had to search for where it picked up again and later found out that we missed it a few times. There were no trail markings until we hit a set of stairs. It said the waterfall was an hour away, when we had already been walking 2 hours. *face palm* This was around the time we realized we may have gotten a bit lost.
Until this point we had only seen 2 other people (locals) on the path. But here we started seeing more people – presumably because we were actually on the correct trail again. Eventually we found the waterfall and it was quite a lovely spot. (We’d been told the waterfall was a bit of a letdown, but we liked it.)
If we were to do it again, we would pack snacks or a picnic so we could hang out and enjoy the area longer. On the way out we started chatting with another couple from the US and ended up spending the rest of the day with them around Pai starting with “lunch”.
Let me paint a picture: Spicy Pai had free breakfast (the usual toast, tea and coffee). We expected a medium effort hike and to be back in time for a late lunch. By the time we found our way to and from the waterfall and got back to town it was more like an early dinner. (You know Devon was verging on hangry!) And since it was an odd hour, we went to 4 different restaurants before finding one that was actually open. Luckily, we made it there in time and no one was harmed in a hangry rage.
Finally fed, we enjoyed some of the local rum buckets with a few rounds of pool before hitting up the night market for more food. (As the number of buckets went up, our pool skills went down. Significantly.)
The next day, a group from the hostel was planning to hit up the same sights as us, so we became “The Wet Scooter Gang.” (Oh did I mention that it was chilly and rainy?) But we didn’t let the rain stop us, That day we saw Pai Canyon, another waterfall that would have been fun to swim in if it were warmer out, a place called the Land Split, and some hot springs. Pi Canyon is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon, but smaller and in North Thailand. Also, you can climb and walk anywhere you want, one wrong step would be a long fall….The Land Split was probably the most unique thing we saw. Two earthquakes over the past few years left a farmer’s land decimated with giant cracks and ravines. He could no longer farm it, so he made it a free tourist attraction! They only ask for donations and always offer free hibiscus juice and wine, nuts, fruit and other snacks. We recommend stopping by if for no other reason than to support a generous local family.
The last stop of the day was what we were all most looking forward to given the chilly rain: the natural hot springs. Getting to the park was easy, but we were channeling Thomas the Tank Engine to get up and down some of the park hills on our scooter. (I think I can! I think I can!) And though the hot springs were nice, we would have liked them a bit warmer with the chilly weather. Also – getting out and driving back was extra chilly!
On the way back we grabbed our tickets to Soppong for our stay at the Cave Lodge – another recommendation from the woman we met at Chabad in Chiang Mai. For us 2 days in Pai was perfect, but others stayed a month or more. Either way, it is worth a visit if you are ever in Thailand.
Brandon & Devon (BaD) Journey 