For a couple weeks Joey and I kept on hearing about a little hippy town tucked away in the hills of Northern Thailand called Pai. Apparently it's where tie dye meets thai culture and everything in between. According to fellow travelers the road was a wicked one and motion sickness pills a necessity. HA! We were still fresh off the bus from Laos. We can handle anything now. We were still wimpy enough to pop some gravol anyways! In reality, the ride was for sissies. 762 curves on the road? Try being a bus with only one working gear that is in constant limbo of dodging oncoming traffic, water buffalo, massive meteor shaped potholes and old ladies.
After a relatively smooth 3 hour bus ride, we arrived in the land of Pai. The place where the thai word sanuk really comes to life. (Sanuk: fun). Pai is very much like an Asian version of Nelson BC or a Salt Spring Island. Westerners and Thai's alike have tattoos, dreadlocks, colourful clothes, and the familiar smell of patchouli and body odour. Along with the mountains in the horizon this was definitely starting to feel like the Kootenays!
We arrived just in time to see the night market starting to set up. Villagers and ex pats alike lined the streets with delectable treats and creative handicrafts to appeal to anyone. Pai is a very common weekend destination for Thai's. In every market on our travels so far, we have been a minority. It was nice to see local people checking out other local people's craftsmanship. For dinner that night with delighted ourselves with random goodies from different vendors. Pumpkin curry spring rolls, coconut banana biscuit thingy's, beef kebabs, sausages, corn on the cob, gyozas and last but not least black rice pancakes. If you ever come to Thailand this treat is an absolute must. I don't care if you have to go all the way to Pai to get one, it is NECESSARY. A purple little patty of rice is grilled over smouldering coals until it browns up and crisps. The lady then puts on sweetened condensed milk and oddly, ovaltine. It is simply divine.
The first night we stayed in a place called Lullaby Pai. I'm not sure what the guesthouse owners thought lullabies were, but this GH was incredibly load because of the street below, the paper thin walls and the fact the whole building shook if someone walked to the bathroom in their own room. Needless to say, we moved to somewhere different the next night.
In Pai we spent most of our days walking or biking in the villages and nature near by, but we also did our fair share of lazying around at internet cafes. Joey and I also met up with our friend Lisa (who we met on the Flight of the GIbbons trip) for some good late night conversations by the peaceful river. I loved the Pai was so quiet especially by the river. You could hear frogs, crickets and the odd bird call. What made it even more cool at night was the lanterns that people could buy at the markets. The lanterns are lit up with a lighter and then let go into the sky. They then float upwards for what seems like forever until eventually they die. They were a bit expensive to buy, so I took joy in watching others spend money and me watching their lanterns.
Joey and I were really falling in love with the peacefulness of Pai, but we knew good things have to come to an end. We only had a 14 day Visa in Thailand because we crossed over a land border. (If you fly into Thailand from another country you get a 30 day visa) We decided after 4 nights and 5 days it was time to head back to the city of Chiang Mai where we had signed up for a tour of an Elephant conservation centre!
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