Chiangmai – Pai
Day 1
The road from Chiangmai to Pai covers an extensive winding path of mountains and valleys. The road in total has an impressive and nauseating 762 turns. Spanning only 2 hours until you reach the city of Pai, the landscape is lush with an aura of green and hearty welcoming.
Once you reach the mountain village of Pai, the first thing you will see if the amount of tourists that have come stockpiled from around the world to experience this mountainous experience. The next feeling you will perceive is the amount of resemblance the city has to a beach resort getaway, with the farangs (Thai word for foreigners), dressed in casual summer attire as if surrounding them was a sparkling ocean.
As Honey and I made our way in the van along our 2 hour ride to Pai, the bombastic driving of the van operator was as incredible on these steep mountains and curving valley roads as we reached typically 50km an hour around the bends. Because of this, thankfully for planning in advance, I popped some nausea pills that we had picked up from a pharmacy before we starting our venture. At this point in time I was gobbling water like it was my life source, with my skin feeling hot. I had the air blasting right in my face to remain as calm as possible until the pills set in. After about 30 minutes, my heart pace relaxed and I was actually able to fall asleep for a period of time until finally, when I opened my eyes, I saw the entrance to the beautiful green scenery that surrounded me.
The faces of the Thai people were happy and enthusiastic. I guess one can’t be too mad to live in such an oasis. However, with the amount of tourists, I could only have imagined that the experience was 100% catered to tourists. As usually is the case.
Honey and I checked into our hotel, and the second item on the itinerary of course, was to rent a motorcycle. We had checked around and just a small distance up the road did we find an easily affordable motorbike rental shop with a great 150CC scooter big enough for both of us.
With our new wheels, we took off into exploring the landscape around us. Viewing shops on the Main Street, the business of tourists entering and exiting Pai at the same time seemed more like an airport with backpackers carrying their travel bags, shopping bags, souvenirs, food, and anything else they could fit in their hands. At this point in my trip I have become aware that you can tell a tourist in Thailand by their extensive use of elephant pants that have become popularized by travelers all over Thailand. I regret to inform you, that no, I never did manage to pick up my own pair.
We continued on our adventure until off in the distance, upon the radiant green was a pearly white reflection from the hills in the distance. Upon further inspection, we noticed that it was the Big Buddha of Pai. This amazing statue that stayed looming over the city gave a peaceful resonance of those that wished to see it up close, but it also looked over the valley of Pai and into the wandering minds of travelers looking to see explore in person. We rode our motorcycle up to the top, and there we had a full view of what was below. A beautiful mountainous sight that enraptured peace between us as we stopped to give our thanks, say a prayer, and take in the view.
Once we stopped the sightseeing, we stopped in for a spell until we waited for nightfall. The expectation was the see exactly what the night life was like in Pai, and to plan our next day out accordingly before we had to make our trip back to Chiangmai. Realistically, we only stayed in Pai for 2 days, as a previous agreement between Honey and I was for her return to Chonburi before school started again.
That being said, it was our opportunity to have some fun. That night, we were out bar hopping after finishing some laundry and getting a quick Thai meal from a local vendor. It wasn’t as busy as I believe it could have been during the Fall months for us in America, but there were still enough travelers to enjoy the raves of people looking for a decompression from the city life. I honestly don’t believe there is anything quite like Pai.
We went to a few bars and got some incredibly expensive drinks from the counter, and we danced away for a small bit of time, until we wanted to explore some more. As we were walking down the street, we turned a corner, and there sat a Thai man, as hippy as one could be, shredding away on his guitar and singing the blues. This captured my attention. We managed to be sat directly next to this cat, and we listened to him jam out in all types off classic rock. Honey and I ordered some more drinks but she told me she was going to grab some food, and left for a quick spell while I stayed awe-inspired by this musician.
While he was playing, there was an older Thai woman – about 45 years old dancing on the floor to his music. Being my outgoing self, I got up and started dancing with her. I offered my hand and we began twirling around like we had been rehearsing this for ages. She really loved the outgoing personality as everyone else was enjoying the show, laughing and clapping their hands. It wasn’t until Honey came back that we found out that she works there, and she was drunk as hell.
That lady gave us shots and a good time of conversation as the musician closed out for the night and left us to banter. These perfect moments of human connection are plights of enjoyment for all those involved. All it takes is a little courage from yourself to make the night, week, year, or life of someone that might not have been better off without you, even if you are just in passing.
Honey and I drifted down the road for a spell further into the night until we came across a karaoke bar, and let me tell you I busted out “Just The Two of Us” by Grover Washington, and killed it. At this point I’m a few beers in and was just enjoying myself with the newfound company of the Europeans in the bar. Honey sang a K-Pop song, and had the whole crowd of girls hollering and rooting for her. The guys were playing pool and everyone was just off enjoying themselves.
We finished off the night strong, talking to some of the people from the bar after the karaoke bar closed. We all rendezvoused at the 7/11 where we got cheeseburgers and toasties. At this point all of us were so drunk we began calling the cutest 7/11 dog over and was offering him 7/11 cheeseburger heaven. While everyone went on their way, it was time to retire to the hotel in preparation of the following morning with plans to explore.
Day 2
The next day was on a time constraint. With a bus needed to be caught at 4pm, so the morning was a valuable asset for us. Within the time that we had woken up, we needed to catch some breakfast at a local restaurant renown for its massive buzz of tourists and delectable foods. When in Pai, do not neglect to visit The Blue Ox, or Taste of Pai, a local restaurant and Thai cooking school. Just a few minutes walk down the road from the hostel we stayed at, called “Pai in the Sky”, the accessibility of the streets, coupled with the convenience of the motorcycle gave us the flexibility to explore much of the city on the free will of our own decisions. It took a moment or two to figure out exactly what we were looking to get into at the time, but after doing a quick search on Google Maps, we found in interest in pursuing adventures just south of the city.
At this point in time, I had unfortunately broken the face of my phone while in Chiangmai, when a lock fell out of the zipper of my bag and landed dead flat onto the face of my iPhone, perfectly missing the small space between that which was covered from the screen protector, and that which was not. This space just so happened to be my front facing camera and facial recognition device. With that misfortune, I had looked for iPhone repair shops in this small getaway town. Most of the reviews did not seem promising, and with the fear of non-quality products I found myself in the predicament of fixing my phone or dealing with it for the meantime.
I made the wary decision to take Honey, myself, and the motorcycle down to a “repair shop” about 8km south of the city of Pai. Not a bad drive, but glaringly hot against the reflection of black asphalt in the roads. Even when reaching speeds up to 50km an hour, the wind could only do so much against the scorched earth that surrounded us. As we made our way to the iPhone repair shop, We came across beautiful sceneries such as the “Love Strawberry Pai” strawberry fields overlooking the valley below it. The colors and scenery were incredible as we took our winding roads to find us deeper into the Thai heartland.
There were places we stopped along the way to take photos, and give us a sense of peace. It wasn’t completely serene; however, as I was stressed about the timing and not having a working phone. So as we sped down the twisting dirt paths leading into the iPhone “repair shop” we pulled up to a residential house, far, far away from the rest of civilization with locals not used to seeing Farangs head to their part of Pai. As I saw this “house” my jaw dropped. There I was on my bike looking at a makeshift “I Fix Mac” sign outside of a 2 story elongated house that was black in color and seemingly completely out of place. I called the number on the website and didn’t have anyone pick up- twice. With my moments of frustration at having been let down once again, and with no shot of me passing my $1,000 phone to a guy with no certificates, we decided to finally head to the rediscover our motives and find more local attractions in Pai. It was then, that I realized that there was a cool, burning sensation that was on the bottom of my shirt. I asked Honey about this, and the reality was that her cooling and numbing oil had spilt inside of her bag, and seeped through the bag and into my shirt. For the longest time, I believed that it was just the ice water bottles, but it wasn’t until she pulled out her leaking bottle of oil that I had gotten upset about it ruining my shirt. Bless her heart, she reassured me my new shirt would be fine, and we would wash it, and if it didn’t wash out, she would buy me a new one. I couldn’t agree to this, but I was appreciative of her gesture.
We finally made our way back out of the area, and a local place for tourists to get some outside excitement brought them to Pai Canyon. This hikers dream surrounded the valley with high peaking canyon walkways, with some areas only wide enough to step one foot at a time as you made your way across the scenery. You can tell my the weathered look of the canyon that nature has been working for magic at eroding the sides of the canyons for millions of years.
There was a sudden dawning upon me. The weather in Thailand is often uncertain, as during the rainy seasons, the weather may change within an instant, causing flash floods and heavy torrential rains to fall without warning. During this period of time, I had already traversed the crevices, painting my hands white with powder from the stones and dirt as I made my way across the canyons with a fellow traveler I encountered and Honey. I looked at the difficulty of getting back out of the canyon hard enough without the rain, but if it started, it was sure to be an impossible task escaping from the slippery and unsettled rock and dirt once it turned into mud and run-off.
So with that feeling of worry, the instincts set in to get out of the canyon, as not only are there no safety measures in case an non cautious traveler were to have slipped to their untimely demise towards the base of the immediate fall towards thick trees and hardened rock, but no one would come to help us. We were essentially alone. With that instinct alone, we made our way up and out after some difficulty, and returned to our motorbike to find some solace in another activity.
Waterfalls
Checking Google Maps, We found ourselves along a desirable route climbing the mountains until we reached PamBok Waterfall. This beautiful out of the way craft of nature was designed perfectly in the cutaway of a mountain, leading down far into the wilderness. It wasn’t; however, an unknown place. Many tourists found their retreat from the grueling sun by basking in cooler waters of PamBok, and I just happened to be one of them. I was fortunate enough to bring my swim shorts, but Honey unfortunately mistaken her inventory in thinking she brought them with her. She was quite upset about the ordeal as it was incredibly hot. I had changed quicker than her and already jumped into the water, but when I hadn’t seen her for a while, I left to ask,
“What happened? Why haven’t you changed?”
With a glum look in her eyes she explained that she mistakenly did not pack it, which was surprising even to me because she always had her swim clothes ready at a whim for spontaneously water adventures. I could tell she was upset. After spending a few moments down at the water, she started walking away, and after my moments in the water, I followed her. I was trying to convince her to say, “Screw it.” And just jump in with the pants she had on, but she wouldn’t budge. So her and I went further down the stream of flowing water until we found a nice place to perch. She sat upon the rocks with her feet in the water and I laid back in cool refreshing waters still trying to persuade her. She decided against it.
So, after a few photos, the time was drawing near for us to head back into town to prepare for our upcoming van back to Chiangmai, because Honey needed to catch a flight from the airport to go to Chonburi. I would go back to Chiangmai that night and leave the day after once we returned to the city.
Right before we boarded the van, I made a sudden and impromptu decision to get a much desired custom made and vintage sailors shirt most likely from the 1950’s from a local salesman who custom designs old military uniforms for stylish and daily wear. I spent a good bit of money of that shirt, but I was content in my purchase because it was something I desired as my own unique souvenir from Pai- no other like it.
Back to Chiangmai
Honey had left shortly after we came back to Chiangmai from Pai so that she could catch her flight. I bid her farewell at the airport and told her I would see her very soon.
That night, I stopped at Revolution Hostel in Chiangmai, known for its party atmosphere and travelers filled to the brim with livelihoods from all over the world. Within the rooms were Scots, Brits, Aussies, Canadians, Arabs, and many others that flocked to get a taste of what it’s like to party.
That night, I participated in an array of activities hosted by Revolution Hostel, including a trivia game with a twist. The runner-ups of the winning teams also had to perform acts for points in order to get ahead of the others. Every person from every team at one point or another had to stand up and participate in some event that provided that added boost to eventually winning. From picking up cardboard boxes with only using their mouth, to finding hidden beers around the hostel and chugging them as fast as they could, or in my instance, getting up and awaiting a soon to be talent show judged by all players.
For my “talent” the mic was handed to me and was asked, “So, Taylor, from the DILF Team, what is your special talent.” At this point I had an idea, but I needed to make it interesting, so I told a joke that I KNEW was going to bomb. It went something like this:
“A snake walks into a bar, and the bartender says,
‘Hey!
…How’d you do that?’”
It took a moment for everyone to catch the joke, and there were some stale laughs from the stupid joke, but they weren’t ready for my trump card.
“I’m just kidding!” I reassured everyone, “Actually, my real talent is this…”
And with that, I shocked everyone in the room and even a bit of myself when I yodeled in front of the entire audience. They were NOT expecting that. Once I finished, even the judges were a bit dumbfounded, not having expected to be yodeled to. Yes, it is a unique talent, but a fun one nonetheless.
After winning the talent show, our group came second to a group that had just 6 more points than us- coming from the beer finding and chug contest.
By then, the preparations were in place for a TukTuk (A diabolical truck-like taxi that whips individuals every which way because of the lack of concern of the passengers in back- with no seatbelt I might add) to take us downtown to the farang clubs to dance and party the night away. For my last night, I was going all out with alcohol and hanging with the combined 15 of us. The experience was a great send-off to the adventures that lie ahead, and the turn around for the part of my adventure in Thailand as I made my way back to Chonburi the next day.