Welcome to Pai

After one night in Chiang Mai, I continued to the north of Thailand, to Pai. I had heard from many backpackers over the course of my Asia trip how great Pai was and that I definitely had to go there. So my expectations of Pai were of course very high.

From the bus stop in Chiang Mai, my bus left to Pai at 12 pm. I had previously heard that the drive was very winding and that I should definitely take travel tablets. Of course I did this. In fact, the trip wasn’t quite as bad as expected. It was quite curvy but the bus driver drove slowly enough so that no one got sick.

I arrived in Pai in the afternoon. It was another 800 meters walk from the bus stop to the hostel. Since I wanted to save money on a taxi, I walked to the hostel. I arrived there a quarter of an hour later, pretty exhausted. I was shown my room straight away. Since it was already late afternoon, it was no longer worth renting a scooter to explore the surrounding area. Instead, I went to the gym.

When I finished training I went back to the hostel. There was a free dinner there that evening. There was a buffet with spring rolls, chicken, Pad Thai and melons. The nice thing about free dinners like this is that everyone always comes together, everyone eats together and it’s easy to meet people. So it happened that I talked to a few people that evening and played games with them.

Exploring the Pai Canyon

The next morning I went to the gym before breakfast. Then I started the morning slowly, so I didn’t rent a scooter for the day until 12 pm. Since there isn’t that much to do in Pai anyway, I had all the time in the world.

As soon as I had my scooter, I made my way to the Pai Canyon. The Pai Canyon was just a few kilometers outside the city center. From the parking lot there was a small path uphill that led to the canyon. The route wasn’t long, but due to the intense heat, I was so exhausted after just a few meters that I was bathed in sweat after just a few minutes. When I reached the top, I was rewarded with a breathtaking view of nature and the canyon. The canyon wasn’t big but still pretty impressive.

I then started my exploration tour through the canyon. At one point or another I had to climb through narrow ledges, which was a bit slippery. You couldn’t go very far through the canyon. At one point it just became far too steep and dangerous to continue climbing. In total I spent an hour at the canyon in the blazing heat. Then I thought about what I should do next. I then decided to drive back to the hostel first as the sky was already getting quite cloudy. I was hoping that the weather would be better in the afternoon and I could go to Two Huts Café to watch the sunset.

Watching the sunset at Two Huts

Actually I made the right decision. As soon as I arrived at the hostel it started to rain. Luckily it didn’t rain for long and in the afternoon around 4:30 p.m. the sun slowly came out again. I then set off on my scooter to Two Huts Café. This is a well-known café outside of Pai, in the middle of the countryside. A lot of people come there especially at sunset.

I then ordered a coconut fruit shake there, which was a bit pricey, but as it is, you pay for the view. I then stayed until sunset. It was a bit cloudy, but you can’t expect a cloud-free sky during the rain season.

The café has a really unique vibe, which is why I can understand why a lot of people come there every day. I really liked it there too. The view is breathtaking, there is a large lawn where you can play football or something similar and it is a quiet place outside of Pai.

After sunset I made my way back. In the meantime it was getting darker and I know now why it’s not wise to ride a scooter in the dark. As soon as sun sets, all the mosquitoes come out. All of these hit me in the face, mouth and eyes while driving. Of course, I couldn’t put on sunglasses to protect my eyes, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see anything. So I drove back to Pai pretty slowly.

Unfortunately there was no free dinner in the hostel that evening. So I went to 7/11 and bought something to eat there.

On the way to the bamboo bridge

The next morning I got up early again. The only activity I could do in Pai was to visit the Bamboo Bridge. Since I had rented my scooter for 24 hours, so until 12.30 .m., and I didn’t want to pay another 150 Bath for another day, it made more sense to visit the Bamboo Bridge in the morning.

So I left at nine o’clock. The sun was actually shining. First I had to drive a few kilometers out of Pai and finally turn onto a small road. From now on it was another 6 kilometers to the Bamboo Bridge. Unfortunately the road wasn’t the best again. It wasn’t mud that I had to drive through. However, the road was quite old and therefore full of cracks and potholes. There were also sections where the road was so bumpy that I only made very slow progress. But I didn’t want to give up.

After 20 minutes I finally arrived at the Bamboo Bridge. I paid 30 Bath and then entered the bridge. The Bamboo Bridge is a bridge of several hundred meters that runs through the rice fields. You can walk along there, enjoy the view and sit down in one of the many huts that are along the way. There is also a café where you can buy something to eat or drink.

I spent a total of an hour at the Bamboo Bridge. Every now and then the sun came out and I was lucky that it didn’t start to rain. Even if the sky sometimes said otherwise.

A chilled day in the hostel

So I made my way back to Pai via the terrible road. The way back didn’t feel quite so bad since I now knew the route. But when it went down a bit very steeply, I turned off the engine and rolled down the hill, keeping my hand on the brakes the whole time. After 30 minutes I was back on the main street.

Before I brought the scooter back, I filled the scooter with gas again. Normally in Asia you always get scooters with an empty tank. If you fill up with more gas than you use, you’re out of luck and the owners of the rental shop will get the gas from the scooter. But this time I got a scooter that was full. I just had to bring it back full. This system is much better because you only pay for what you actually use.

After filling up the scooter, I made my way back to the hostel. I then spent the rest of the afternoon there. I had done so much in the last few days that I thought it made sense to give my head and body a break from the constant traveling. In the afternoon I went to the gym. Just as I finished my workout, it started to rain. Luckily I made it to the hostel just in time before the thunderstorms started.

Pai result

Since everyone was so enthusiastic about Pai and advised me to go there, my expectations were high. On the other hand, I also had in the back of my mind that my expectations might be so high that I would be disappointed by Pai. I really liked Pai, especially the landscape is very impressive. However, I wasn’t so impressed with the place that I would advise someone to definitely travel to Pai. But I’m actually more of a fan of non-tourist places.

And I went to a non-touristy place after my three nights in Pai. If you would like to know what I experienced during my time in Sukhothai, please read my next blog post. Coming soon.