A Piece of Pai, Northern Thailand

Flying from Hanoi, Vietnam to Bangkok, Thailand we had a bit of a bumpy flight as I experienced my first mild turbulence. The last half hour before landing in Thailand I gripped the seat tightly not letting go for anything. During the landing I let out a big yelp as it felt we were landed wrong, but we made it! Later that day we had a second flight  from Bangkok to Chiang Mai which was a breeze! It felt so nice to finally be done with flying for a few weeks!

We landed in Thailand 9 days ago (can’t believe its already been that long!) and we are ready to take on ALL the adventures the country has to offer. First up is Pai, Thailand!

After spending a few days in Chiang Mai and meeting back up with some friends we had made in Vietnam (Fin and Emily from England). We all hopped on a mini bus to the highly talked about town of Pai. The seats cost us 150 baht each (around $5 usd) and it took the curves much nicer than a big commercial bus, plus it got us there a lot faster too. When we arrived, the small town welcomed us with…. A BIG RAIN STORM! Quickly reminding us that we have landed with rainy season upon us, but of course we did not let that ruin our day!

As the rain let up a bit we walked down the street from the bus station, settled into our cute hostel/hotel (Hommy Camping Room) and began walking around town scouting out some eateries. We found a nice small local shop, ordered some curry and Pad Thai and chatted the rest of the day away. This was our first real Thai food that we had ordered since arriving in Thailand, and boy was it amazing!! After spending 5 weeks in Vietnam, the thought of Thai food made our mouths water, we sure were ready for some new dishes to try. For just 40 baht each (around $1.21 usd) our taste buds were thanking us!

Our second day in Pai, we woke up, enjoyed a nice cup of coffee and complimentary breakfast from our hotel. Our plan was to rent a motorbike for the day and visit Lod Cave and Sai Ngam Hot Springs. Lod cave was a bit of a drive from Pai, about an hour one way so we headed there first. Lucas, Emily and Fin all went into the cave, but I sat out as my fear of caves got the best of me. There are entrance fees to go into the caves (three caves total) You can just go into the first cave with a guide for 150 baht for up to 3 people. If you want to do the first and second caves with the guide it is 200 baht for up to 3 people. And lastly if you desire to do all 3 caves with a ride on the bamboo raft coming out of the caves it is 450 baht for up to 3 people.

 

 

On the way back down from the cave we took a pit stop at Sai Ngam Hot Springs. Again an entrance fee is needed to go to the Hot Springs. When you first turn on the road you will be stopped and asked to pay 20 baht for each foreigner and 20 baht per motorbike to enter into the Park, when you arrive at the hot springs further down the road you will then be asked again to pay another 20 baht to actually get in the hot springs. So for 40 baht each person, plus the motorbike fee its a nice cheap way to spend some time relaxing together.

Pai has tons of activities to do, so instead of spending just a couple days like we had initially planned, we ended up staying a total of one week 🙂 Our favorite thing to do was to take the scooters out and to go up and down the backroads finding villages and sights we would not normally see in walking distance of the town. We spent two days just driving around the outskirts of the town taking in all the beautiful scenery.

Another thing great about the town of Pai is the waterfalls! There are multiple waterfalls to keep you busy although some do have admission fees. We hiked to a beautiful waterfall called Hua Chang (Free). The road getting here was absolutely beautiful and the 1 hour hike after parking the scooters was unforgettable! Don’t miss out on Pam Bok waterfall, it is also Free and is just a short 5 min hike or so once you park.

A couple other main attractions are Pai canyon and the “Land Split”. The canyon was free  and had great views of the mountains. The “Land Split” on the other hand was a great find not because the big crack that was caused by seismic activity but because of the fresh fruit, tea, wine, and other snacks that were brought out by the owners of the land! It was on a donation basis and throughly enjoyed it, especially the Roselle tea!!!

We had planned to go the other Hot spring in Pai called Tha Pai Hot Springs, but when we arrived we quickly turned away after seeing the price for foreigners to enter, a whopping 300 baht per person ($9 usd)! Thai locals can get in for just 50 baht but the huge price seemed outrageous so we decided to spend our money elsewhere.

On our way back we stopped by Thom’s Elephant Camp and fed the elephants that were outside. Our first time being so close to an Elephant we were in awe of how huge, strong and beautiful they were!

Since we started planning the Thailand portion of our trip months ago we were dying to get a Thai massage which we did later that day. The four of us were walking around main street in Pai when we noticed a little massage place offering a one hour massage for only 150 baht (about $5 usd)! They happened to have four beds available at that time so we all opted for the traditional thai massage which was excellent and very relaxing.

Our time in Pai has gone by so quickly, we would definitely recommend a trip over here if you are planning to go to Thailand. There are several foreigners and there is a huge night life/party scene if you are into that sort of thing. Most locals seem to know some english which is nice! The population of Pai is only approximately 4,000 with a big percentage being Expats (foreigners residing in an area). The town has so many creative shops, amazing food and cafes, and a great street market each night. I am sure your time in Pai will be wonderful as was ours!