Survived the 762 turns en route to Pai in the back of a minivan. Honestly thought the trip was grand—some of the comments on 12go would have you believe it’s a completely treacherous trip! It did remind me a bit of the journey to Aguas Calientes before visiting Machu Picchu at some points, but felt far more relaxed.
After landing at the small bus station I got a taxi out to my lodgings for the next few days-Paipunthong Resort—about 10 minute drive outside of Pai.
This is a beautiful and peaceful place with lovely staff and nice big rooms. In retrospect however, it was a bit too far outside of the action for a gadabout like myself, especially given the lack of taxis in Pai and the fact that Grab doesn’t work either.
Like an evolved form of my Chiang Mai hut
Fortunately, scooters are the answer! Loads of places to rent them and for only 200ish Baht a day, along with a few thousand deposit in lieu of handing over your passport. Which—as noted elsewhere—you should never do!
I wanna be in the gang :(
I’m in the gang!
Living the Pai Life
Pai itself is a real gem of a place. Much smaller than anywhere else I’ve been so far yet still a lot going on. Each night on Walking Street there’s a vibrant market with fantastic food options and all manner of souvenirs. The town is conveniently laid and very easy to walk around with plenty of restaurants and bars along the way. Not to mention a hape of weed dispensaries—it’s a pure stoner town.
To my surprise, also a big Israeli spot. It must be nice to take a break in a haven like this and ignore what’s going on back in Palestine.
It’s giving Galway
During the day there’s plenty to see and do too. Just outside the town is the White Buddha which is well worth checking out. It’s up on the side of a hill with lovely views looking down onto Pai and beyond.
The White Buddha
Wanting to get the year off to a good start fitness-wise, I took the notion to run up to it. The sun and steps had me basically crawling to the top.
Paradise
On the way back from my run I spotted a sign for a Fire Show at Paradise Pai, which is on every Thursday and Sunday.
As a juggler of nearly 20 years, I absolutely love this kind of stuff. Delighted to have spotted the sign and since it was Thursday that was my evening sorted.
It’s about a 15 minute walk from the centre of Pai and I got up there around 9. 200 Baht entry—a bargain given the quality of performers. We were treated to some interpretive dance, fire poi, fire staff, juggling, and all tied together by a great MC. After the show ends the dance floor opens up for anyone to do their thing.
Some excellent performers
Managed to pick up a couple of juggling balls at a stall there and got chatting to a few sound heads—in particular a pair of English ladies who were travelling Thailand over the Christmas break. Absolutely class craic with them and grand plans to meet again the following day. Of course this is always easy to do when ya’ve few bottles of Chang in ya. Different story the next day when I was in total goblin mode.
Bye Pai
Booked an evening minivan back to Chiang Mai the following day so I made the most of the remaining time, including a scooter ride over to the Tha Pai Hot Springs. 300 Baht entry which seemed reasonable. Big fan of a hot bath and could have spent all day out there. Some mad yokes boiling eggs in the boiling water too!
Love a hot spring
Back in the town the GoPro was out for my TimeWarp lap, before dropping off the scooter and making my way to the station for the ~3hr ride back to Chiang Mai.
Overall, a great few days up here—including New Years—and I’m grateful to all the people who suggested it. I will definitely be back.
As a self-proclaimed punmeister, I was loving the Pai/Pie/Pi wordplay, and so it a devastating blow to discover the town is pronounced more like Bai. So on that note, Bye.
DavAI SummAIriser
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