Pai April 2013
Day 1
After a couple days in Chiang Mai I decided to go further up north to a cool hippie town I had been hearing a lot about called Pai. Pai is a 3 hour journey from Chiang Mai, a minibus picked me up at 10:30, picked up 5 more people then we headed up to Pai. Once we had left central Chiang Mai we got onto several winding roads, for about 2 1/2 hours it was all winding road uphill and I started to feel carsick which wasn't pleasurable in the least. We stopped for a break about half way through the journey and I couldn't get out of the minivan quick enough. After about 20 minutes we continued with the turning hell. I was so happy to arrive in Pai at 2pm and proceeded to a restaurant straight away to sit down. Funnily enough I felt as if I needed food, so after some water I ordered some fresh pineapple and pork fried rice.
After I lunch I proceeded to find accommodation. My friend had told me directions to where several bungalows are but I somehow got lost and couldn't find that area. I knew of another place a little out of town but knew they had cheap accommodation. I followed a map I had and to my utter disappointment and dismay I realised to get to Mountain View I had to walk uphill with a 20kg backpack weighing me down in the afternoon beaming heat, 33 degrees to be exact. After what seemed like an eternity and a few stops, one lady was nice enough to invite me into her home and offer me a glass of water.
Eventually I made it to Mountain View and luckily snagged the last room, 10 minutes later someone else came looking for a room but they left empty handed. I would have been devastated if I had walked all that way to be told there were no rooms. The bungalows aren't anything special, well at least mine wasn't but its a bed with a bathroom and its all mine. The room was 200 baht/£4.50/$7 a night and the married couple running it seemed very nice and helpful. The lady said I can stay for as long as I liked and I pay when I leave. There is also access to a swimming pool on the other side of town and wifi in the reception area.
After using the wifi for a bit, I put my luggage in the room and got a ride back into the city to explore a bit more. Pai is a perfect place to rent scooters and motorbikes as everything is easily accessible that way. Prices start from around 50 baht/£1.10/$1.70 for 24 hours and I must admit if I could drive a scooter I would definitely give it a go but alas my feet will have to do all the work.
After I got back into the town I got lost again, but just wandered around. There are several restaurants, bars, cafes, clothes stores, tour agencies, cooking schools, accommodation and street food. I also wanted to get back to Bangkok before the Thai new year on Saturday which is a big water festival where people shower each other with water. Accommodation and travel gets booked up quickly during this time, and I wanted to make sure I was in Bangkok a few days before my impending transatlantic flight. I also didn't want to be travelling with my backpack etc during the festival and get soaked. Therefore I booked a bus back to Bangkok the day before the festival starts.
I got some dinner and had Massman curry which was surprisingly and disappointingly underwhelming but you can't win them all I guess. I have decided that for the rest of the week I will only order things off the menu that I have never had before I broaden my horizons with regards to Thai food. After dinner I headed back to Mountain View, chilled at reception then headed to my room and watched films on my iPad until I fell asleep.
After a couple days in Chiang Mai I decided to go further up north to a cool hippie town I had been hearing a lot about called Pai. Pai is a 3 hour journey from Chiang Mai, a minibus picked me up at 10:30, picked up 5 more people then we headed up to Pai. Once we had left central Chiang Mai we got onto several winding roads, for about 2 1/2 hours it was all winding road uphill and I started to feel carsick which wasn't pleasurable in the least. We stopped for a break about half way through the journey and I couldn't get out of the minivan quick enough. After about 20 minutes we continued with the turning hell. I was so happy to arrive in Pai at 2pm and proceeded to a restaurant straight away to sit down. Funnily enough I felt as if I needed food, so after some water I ordered some fresh pineapple and pork fried rice.
After I lunch I proceeded to find accommodation. My friend had told me directions to where several bungalows are but I somehow got lost and couldn't find that area. I knew of another place a little out of town but knew they had cheap accommodation. I followed a map I had and to my utter disappointment and dismay I realised to get to Mountain View I had to walk uphill with a 20kg backpack weighing me down in the afternoon beaming heat, 33 degrees to be exact. After what seemed like an eternity and a few stops, one lady was nice enough to invite me into her home and offer me a glass of water.
Eventually I made it to Mountain View and luckily snagged the last room, 10 minutes later someone else came looking for a room but they left empty handed. I would have been devastated if I had walked all that way to be told there were no rooms. The bungalows aren't anything special, well at least mine wasn't but its a bed with a bathroom and its all mine. The room was 200 baht/£4.50/$7 a night and the married couple running it seemed very nice and helpful. The lady said I can stay for as long as I liked and I pay when I leave. There is also access to a swimming pool on the other side of town and wifi in the reception area.
After using the wifi for a bit, I put my luggage in the room and got a ride back into the city to explore a bit more. Pai is a perfect place to rent scooters and motorbikes as everything is easily accessible that way. Prices start from around 50 baht/£1.10/$1.70 for 24 hours and I must admit if I could drive a scooter I would definitely give it a go but alas my feet will have to do all the work.
After I got back into the town I got lost again, but just wandered around. There are several restaurants, bars, cafes, clothes stores, tour agencies, cooking schools, accommodation and street food. I also wanted to get back to Bangkok before the Thai new year on Saturday which is a big water festival where people shower each other with water. Accommodation and travel gets booked up quickly during this time, and I wanted to make sure I was in Bangkok a few days before my impending transatlantic flight. I also didn't want to be travelling with my backpack etc during the festival and get soaked. Therefore I booked a bus back to Bangkok the day before the festival starts.
I got some dinner and had Massman curry which was surprisingly and disappointingly underwhelming but you can't win them all I guess. I have decided that for the rest of the week I will only order things off the menu that I have never had before I broaden my horizons with regards to Thai food. After dinner I headed back to Mountain View, chilled at reception then headed to my room and watched films on my iPad until I fell asleep.
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