Pai

Pai is a town located about 3 1/2 hours from Chiang Mai, via some very windy roads, and could be classified as a small hippie town situated in a lush valley of green.  It’s a very small town, with only one or two main streets – you can easily walk the entirety of “downtown”.  The views are great, and the people/ambiance greater.  It’s recently been discovered by tourists and starting to become a popular destination for backpackers.  It’s by far my favorite town so far.

First, a bit more on Chiang Mai.

Before going to bed in Chiang Mai, I decided it was time for a Thai massage.  There is a place I walked by most nights that sparked my curiosity, so I decided to give it a go.  The sign out front read: “Women’s thai massage, by ex-prisoners.”

I laughed when I first saw the sign (and you probably did too), but after chatting with the people running my hostel, I was talked into it.  The women that are sent to prison (about 80% of them for drug dealing/possession) at some point have served their sentence and/or are on parole, but it is very difficult for them to find a job.  So, a company was started to train these women in Thai massage, and give them back a purpose, while still keeping an eye on them.  In choosing to go to them for a massage, you are supporting them and their families, and helping them stay out of trouble.  The massage was good, not too rough, and I am still alive!  Not to mention, it only cost 180 Baht (about 6 dollars) for an hour!

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The Israeli I met (Daria) had left a day ahead of me for Pai, and messaged me that the road was very bad, and that she threw up from all the turns – yet apparently the drivers don’t stop.  So I had to be prepared for that.  I got up earlier, had a simple breakfast so it will settle, and then took the 12 person van there.  No problems for me!

Just as we arrived in Pai it started pouring rain – so I ended up waiting under cover for a half hour or so for it to pass.  The weather here is quite interesting. It is very warm (90s) and very humid (60-100%), with scalding sun.  But within minutes you can be stuck in a torrential downpour that lasts for 30 minutes and then the sun comes back out.  20 minutes later this could happen all over again, as did in my case.  So I went to get some food with some people I was on the van with, and we waited out the second rain.  Then it was on to find accommodation.  I wanted to try something outside of town for the first night at least – more out in nature.  Daria had a place recommended to her, but ended up staying in town.  So I went to check it out, up a big hill, through some rice fields and found the guesthouse owner laying in a hammock between the bungalows.  She went on to show me the “room” which was a bamboo hut on stilts with a bed, and a shared outdoor shower/bathroom with no roof.  I thought long and hard about staying there, but decided against it.

 

So I walked down the road to the next place, called Sabai Gardens – “peace and love”.  There was a guest sitting on the porch they had so I asked her how the rooms were and landed on staying there.  It was a step up from the other place, but still outside of my “comfort zone”.  The ambiance of the place was great though.  People sitting on a raised bamboo porch, playing guitar, chatting over tea, and looking out at the fields – so serene.

I met up with Daria at her place and she was staying with another girl she had met on a train earlier on her travels, Stephanie, from Germany, but she had been living in Australia for a year, on her way home by way of Asia.  We went to have dinner at the street market and then went to a poetry reading event at a Chai cafe.  This is when I knew it was a hippie town.  Lots of tie-dye, Tibetan flags, floor sitting, and people reading poems while sipping chai.  The ambiance of the place was great.

We were a group of 7 or 8 of us now, and we moved on to a place called the Spirit Bar.  More spiritual than spirits being served, but that also 🙂  This ambiance was great too… We were on an upper perch of the bar, with open sky above us, able to look at the moon & stars.  Live guitarist/singer duet playing feel good Bob Marley-esk songs beneath us, sitting around a low table playing Jenga, having Chang beers and chatting with each other.  That’s my kind of bar.  We stayed there until that bar closed, and then Stephanie and I went on to the next open bar down the road, until that one closed, and then after that bar closed, on to the next reggae bar just outside of “town”.  Before too long it was 3am and we called it a night, walking Stephanie back to her place and then back to mine.  On the way back to mine some stray dogs started barking at me, and more came and joined at barking at me and chasing me, which was quite frightening, but I tried to play it cool and walk away.

The next morning I experienced my first “Chang-over” – not fun.

Stephanie, Daria and I got a late start in, but ventured out on scooters to see all the sights, and saw quite a bit.  We saw the Memorial bridge from WW2 in which Stephanie and I got an ironic picture – the German next to the American.

And then a view point lookout:

Then up to the canyon to do a precarious scramble around a raised loop:

After that we ventured off to find a place called Land Split that serves you food from their organic farm and you give them a donation of your choosing afterwards.  The people were very nice, hammocks relaxing, and great scenery.  The place is called Land Split because in 2011 there was an earthquake or something that caused the land to split and created large cracks in the ground.

At the top of their farm, more great views.

 

At the end of that road, there was a waterfall we hiked up to:

Which I of course had the impulse to swim in:

After hiking back down from the waterfall it unexpectedly started to pour – so we cautiously rode our scooters back to our guesthouse (I had moved in to the same place they were staying – it was much nicer).  By the time we got back, of course, the rain had stopped, but it was shower time and then massage time anyways.

The next morning we went up to see the White Buddah (no pictures, sorry) and had breakfast at the Sunset Bar atop the hill:

Then, Stephanie and I took a bus back to Chaing Mai together and we parted ways, and at that point it was time for another ex-prisoner massage. 🙂

The next morning, I hopped on a flight to Bangkok, chanced a 25 minute layover to Surat Thani (and made it), then caught a bus to the ferry terminal, and took a 2 1/2 hour slow ferry to the island Ko Phangan.  Ko Phangan was chosen as a place that is the best to see the full moon – I think because you can see the sunset and moonrise from the same place, with no obstructions on the horizon.  So, naturally, there are full moon parties on said beach, and I hear they are pretty wild – some 30,000 people.  I also randomly found out that we may be able see the lunar eclipse on the same day (October 8th).  It’s more visible to you people back home if you’re interested, but I think you have to get up pretty early.

5 days in Ko Phangan and then I’ll probably hop over to another island and see where it takes me.

Pictures for Pai can be found here.

Sawatdee!