Tom’s Adventure Through Southeast Asia Part 3 — Pai, Thailand
One of the benefits of being a solo backpacker in Southeast Asia is that you usually get to ride shotgun when riding the minivan buses. This makes a huge difference since the twisty, turny roads from Chiang Mai to Pai are enough to make anyone carsick. If you have experience with motorbikes it’s supposed to be a fun trip, but since I had never driven one before it’s not exactly the best place to start.
By the time I reached Pai it was already dark out. The bus station was right off of the walking street which felt like I was on a smaller version of Khao San Road back in Bangkok. There were lots of food and souvenirs stalls and the street was filled with backpackers.
I checked into my hostel which was totally different from anywhere I’d stayed so far. The entire hostel had a wood and bamboo style with common areas that were totally open air. The rooms had no air conditioning but you didn’t need it as the mountains made it really cool at night.
After I checked in I headed back into town for some dinner. I stumbled upon Nong Beer restaurant which became my favourite spot for food in Pai. As I ate my dinner I listened to a man with dreads playing guitar outside a 7–11 across the street. He was playing an acoustic cover of “Gimme the Loot” by Notorious B.I.G., and it was in that moment I knew that I was going to love this place.
The next morning I woke up to this:
I remember waking up around seven and heading to the main common area which looks out onto this view. There was an older man there already taking pictures of the sunrise. He taught me a trick of getting the leaf of the coconut tree in front of the sun so the photo doesn’t turn out overexposed.
So that’s how my first full day in Pai started. For the rest of the day, I experienced what some backpackers at my hostel referred to as “Pai time.” In Pai, everything moves at a slow, leisurely place, which totally messed with my concept of time. I spent the “morning” hanging out in a hammock in the outdoor common area until I felt like grabbing some lunch. This would’ve been around four in the afternoon.
For lunch I had my first massaman curry of the trip. If you’ve never had massaman curry you’re really missing out! It was so good I didn’t even need rice, I just ate it like a soup. I also had the best iced cappucino I’ve ever had in my life. Since it was one lady running the entire café, I was there for almost an hour before they even took my food order. Again, I didn’t mind. I didn’t have anywhere to be!
After that I met up with the couple I had met at the elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai. They had also made their way to Pai and were staying in a hostel on the other side of town. Even though I liked the layout of my hostel more, theirs had a built in restaurant and bar, so that was pretty sweet. After having a few beers and meeting some more backpackers at their hostel, we headed to a bar called Yellow Sun and drank some more! Maybe a little too much, knowing I had booked a full day trip the next day.
The Pai day trip was one of the best days of my entire time in Southeast Asia, but I’ll start with the bad. If you’ve ever been in the back of a pickup truck taxi, known as a songthaew, it’s enough to make the strongest of stomachs a little queasy. You sit on each side of the trunk facing each other while the truck moves forward, which messes with your brain and gives you motion sickness. Add to this the fact that I was hungover, and it wasn’t the best start to the day.
First up was Tham Lod Cave. The pictures I got are nice but don’t really do it justice. I wish I had a GoPro at the time, you should watch a video on YouTube to get a better idea of the experience. As you enter the cave you are assigned a local guide with a lantern who walks with you through the cave. If there were no lanterns, it would be completely dark!
After pointing out some suggestively shaped rocks, the guide leads you to the water and you get on a raft where you are rowed back out of the cave. There are tons of big fish swimming in the water, and they’re known for jumping out of the water and even onto the raft sometimes. Since I have a bit of a fear of fish, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
Next up was the Sai Ngam hot spring. It wasn’t hot like a hot tub like I was expecting, but the water was clean and it was a cool spot to hang out for a bit. After that we headed to the White Buddha, a giant buddha statue at the top of a very long set of stairs. It’s definitely worth the trek though.
The best was saved for last: watching the beautiful sunset at Pai Canyon. As you can tell from the pictures, this place is pretty wild and I’m surprised they allow people to walk on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if people have fallen and died off of this thing! Even though it’s pretty freaky, it’s one of the things you have to do in Pai, especially for the sunrise or sunset.
I can’t remember exactly when it was during the day, but at one point when I was in the songthaew, chatting with the awesome people I’d just met that day, heading to our next stop with the wind blowing through my hair, hungover and carsick at the same time, I had a revelation: I love travelling. Everything from the spontaneity of it all, to meeting new people that change your view of the world, to getting out of your comfort zone and doing things you’d never thought you’d do before. I knew in that moment that I was going to make travelling a priority for the rest of my life.
After the sunset we headed back into town and grabbed some falafel. It was the most fresh and delicious falafel I’ve ever had! With some dinner in our stomachs it was time to grab some beer. While everyone settled down at the bar, I noticed there was another bar called Jikko Beer two doors down that was serving craft beer. While I paid the same amount you’d pay for a domestic beer in a bar back home, it was totally worth it. And since the two bars were owned by the same people, I was able to take it back over to the other bar.
After that I was invited to hang out at a hostel where some of the day trip people were staying at. I can’t find the name of it on Google Maps but it was right along the river, you actually had to walk along a bamboo bridge to get there. It was even more open concept than the hostel I was at, with a huge common area featuring bamboo mats and comfy bean bag chairs. There was a French girl playing awesome music on guitar, from Velvet Underground to Elliott Smith, it was like she knew me!
As we were all pretty tired it wasn’t a late night. The next day I had to take a bus back to Chiang Mai as it was time to hit the airport and head to the second country of my trip. I loved Thailand, and I knew I’d be back soon, but it was time for a new country and a new adventure. Off to Laos!
Next: Luang Prabang, Laos
Last: Chiang Mai, Thailand
