Advertisement
High up in the mountains of Northern Thailand, along a twisting road that has more hairpins than a Winehouse beehive, there is a paradise called Pai. As our bus pulls onto the main street, I spot a group of old hippies with beaded beards deep in conversation outside a cake shop, and know this is going to be a very different ex-pat scene. The sleepy, pretty streets radiating off the river are filled with art galleries, restaurants and bars carrying adverts for parties and also Muay Thai training and yoga retreats. Whilst the numerous massage parlours and treatment rooms are of the not-naughty variety. We check into a bamboo hut on the riverbank, and go to celebrate our happy arrival with an amazing lunch of spicy beef salad and ice cold Singha beer at a place called Home. I think we're gonna like it here.
Everyone we meet in Pai is friendly...our fellow backpackers are of the smiley ilk and the business owners all quickly make us feel like locals, from the rock'n'roll Thais hanging out at the tattoo parlours to the Thai muslim ladies running the best bakery in town. If Pai is pretty in the daytime, then it's
a beauty queen after dark when lanterns light up the river and the fairy lit bars fill the lanes with live music. For the inevitable set including renditions of Redemption Song and Wish You Were Here, there are some really talented solo musicians in Pai and an wicked band who make more honky tonk noise than the Muppet Show (and much better, obviously!) There's a great bar with an excellent iPod and friendly barmaid mixing up their signature Mojitos as quickly as she can, which quickly becomes a favorite. And for a later night, the outdoor riverside venue Don't Cry, run by a man called Monkey, comes complete with Thai rastas juggling fire and is far better than it may sound! We catch our breath, and let out a deep sigh....mmm Pai...it's like being back in Laos, but with more of an edge.
We get some huge rainstorms to relieve the heat, and those hours (along with a few sunny ones!) are spent on our riverside porch, reading and writing and enjoying the peace in our garden of wild flowers and huge blue lizards. There's a public outdoor pool a short walk across the bridge, and it should come
as no surprise that Thai lidos are much better than most English ones. Again, arriving off season is doing us no harm...it's wonderfully peaceful here, with still enough people to create some nightlife, but nowhere near full capacity, which suits us just fine. We scout out the local treks on offer and this is the only way that low season works against us; when there's not loads of people around, the prices for guided treks rise steeply. We discuss our options over an amazing prawn green curry and peanuty beef penang at Nar's, a restaurant we know we'll be going back to. It turns out all the 'debate' is a charade, when Ritch reveals a pass for two at Joy's Elephant Camp! I am a very spoiled and very lucky girl 😊
Except for our brief meeting with an elephant at Tadlo, this will be our first close encounter with an Asian elephant. She looks as excited as we are as we arrive at camp, hopping about on her huge feet in anticipation. Her name is Bhun-ma, and as I stand on the 12' high wooden platform ready to get on, I realise just how big she is. She's
also very opinionated and naughty...rarely wanting to follow the instructions of her smiley handler...she likes to go her own way. Her own way usually consists of where edible plants grow and fresh water flows, so we inevitably end up in the river where she really comes into her own. Clearly well drilled and trained, at a whisper from her handler she dramatically rears up on her back legs and dumps us in the river, before rolling over in the opposite direction and hosing us with water from her trunk.
Our own laughter is match by her hysterical handler, who we later discover picking what he describes as 'funny' mushrooms from a pile of elephant poo. This may go some way to explain his enthusiasm for a river routine he's doubtless experienced hundreds of times. He encourages us to clamber back on again and again, as she repeatedly dunks us in the water. Surfing an elephant whilst simultaneously sharing a bath and a waterfight is exhilerating to say the least. Bhun-ma is a lovely elephant; spirited but so gentle, and it was an honour to spend the morning with her.
Our other form of transport in Pai gives us
our first moped experience since our teens...don't worry Dad, it was only a little 'ped and we wore our helmets 😊 The quiet roads through the countryside around Pai are perfect for exploring by bike, making visits to otherwise inaccessible waterfalls and beautyspots possible. A countryside lunch of fish cakes and chilli prawn glass noodle salad and we're once again blown away by the quality and variety of Thai cooking. It is also really cheap; many travellers had warned of high prices in Thailand, especially for rooms, but so far we've found it easy to stay on budget and not feel like we're denying ourselves...must be the off-season rates starting to kick in.
Amazing and cheap food is available everywhere, in the city or out here in the countryside. A couple of pounds each will buy you a feast of dishes to share, and for about 50p, some pad thai or tom yum soup is an amazingly fresh street snack for a pittance. We are impressed. The presence of an excellent bakery in town and a man who makes peanut butter pancakes with ice cream, helps us in the difficult decision that we really must take advantage of a
good thing. So whilst in Thailand we plan to eat everything in sight and fatten our travel-skinny selves up, before the inevitable Delhi-diet ahead of us.
Mmm Pai, I'll take an extra slice...but a short week on and we must head back to Chiang Mai. It feels too soon, but I guess it's always good to leave wanting more.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.174s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 51; dbt: 0.1063s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb