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Published: February 14th 2011
Pretty as a picture
but shouldn't she be in school?Well, here I am writing this edition of our blog whilst sitting outside our bamboo hut, overlooking a fishing lake surrounded by lush green mountains and a bright turquoise sky and seriously contemplating the merits of lying in our hammock. Such is the torture of staying in Pai!
But first to Chiang Mai, the kingdom’s second biggest city, which has a completely different atmosphere to the chaotic, bustling Bangkok we just left. Firstly, the laid back lifestyle and pace of life in the north impacts not only on those who are lucky enough to visit but also the locals who are chilled out and friendly. Secondly, its layout lacks the high rise city feel and in the moated old quarter the buildings are limited to four storeys. This, combined with the small alleyways leading to traditional wooden houses set in small courtyards or gardens burgeoning with colour, sets the scene for lazy walks to delightful coffee shops where you can sit and wile away the time – ah. Needless to say rushing around here is not on the itinerary, instead we opted for a few days of aimlessly walking around inside the old quarter and when a bit more strenuous
Doi Suthep
Golden summit exercise was called for an hour’s brisk walk would take us full circle around the moated old city.
Obviously this kind of luxury can only be sustained for so long before the need to get out and about rears its ugly head and so we hired a moto for a day to visit Doi Suthep, Wat Umong and Wat Suan Dork. Another nice fact about Chiang Mai is that, in visiting its holy places, you are actually visiting a living and working community and not something manufactured for the sole purpose of relieving the eager visitor of their hard earned cash; that’s just a bonus. Our first stop was the imposing mountain of Doi Suthep, which dominates the western edge of Chiang Mai, and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep which perches on its summit and is the north’s holiest shrine. Legend has it (yes another legend) that the chedi on the mountain was built by King Ku Na to enshrine a clone of the relic from Wat Suan Dork. Miraculously the relic had self- multiplied (!!!!!!) so a suitable resting place had to be found for it – obvious really. The clone was put into a travelling shrine and
Shhhhhhh
peace & quiet reigns (until we arrived) placed on a sacred white elephant which then proceeded to wander around until it found somewhere suitable. The poor creature, probably after wandering aimlessly for miles, eventually found its way to the top of Doi Suthep and dropped down dead. Well, this was seen as a good sign (though probably not for the elephant) and the chedi was constructed to be the relic’s resting place. After a relatively scary ride up the mountain, it is all too easy to see why the poor creature dropped down dead after getting there! Joking aside, the trip was well worth the effort from the poor scooter. First thing which caught our attention on the steps up to the upper terrace and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep was a lovely little Hmong girl, with a dazzling smile, in traditional dress posing for photos – quite beautiful. Thailand’s most important place of pilgrimage is a beautiful structure; the enormous gold-plated chedi sparkles as it reflects the burning sun, ceremonial gold umbrellas are adorned with the most intricate lacework design, tiny gold bells emit a soft tinkling sound in the breeze and murals of reds and greens all mix with the heady sounds and smells of
Over the top
Chris might be taking the weight loss thing a bit far!!! incense and prayer. Even though well on the tourist map, and full of happy snappers, the overwhelming feeling here is of quiet respect and reverence.
After a rather less scary ride down the mountain we made our way to Wat Umong. A strange place. Not really a temple as such, but a place to walk or linger. Legend, yes legend, has it that this wat was erected for a mad monk called Jan, who liked to wander off into the forest to meditate. Well obviously this would be terribly annoying for the king King Ku Na (yes him of Doi Suthep fame) so he had it built to try and inspire the mad monk to stay in one place. There are tunnels under the chedi which he had decorated in forest like scenery to help keep the potty monk here. We had a quick walk around to see the chedi, and the rather unattractive fasting Buddha – bit ghastly really. Apparently the fasting Buddha depicts him before he realised he should avoid extremes on his way to enlightenment – thank goodness everyone now knows that crash diets don’t work!!!!!!! A young monk was there, no doubt trying to teach
Spoiling the view
us obviously, not the lovely temple some young Thai schoolchildren about the history and benefits of Buddhism, but as with children the world over – they were more interested in pulling pigtails and flicking boogers rather than anything else.
Our whistle stop tour ended with Wat Suan Dork, home of the original part of the relic whose other bit now sits on Doi Suthep. Unlike the gold of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Wat Suan Dork is white and sits adjacent to a small garden filled with smaller white chedis which contain the ashes of some members of the Chiang Mai royal family. We only had a brief look but the ones we saw appeared to be minor royals and concubines!
Our other planned excursion in a week of laziness was a day cooking class. Matthew and I did this last year, with differing amounts of success, so Chris and I decided to do the same one day class with Thai Farm and see if we fared any better. It was again a very well organised and informative class; not stuffy or serious though, but just really good fun with a nice group of amateur/complete novice Thai cooks such as ourselves. We decided to
Gordon Blue
and before you comment note the large knife cook different things to each other to maximise our knowledge – how sensible is that – and both managed to create some rather nice tasting dishes. My curry was to die for and even when we go out to dinner now Chris compares every Pad Thai or Chicken with Cashew Nuts to his culinary masterpieces. It was a really good day out, learning something new in a fun environment. Watch out when we get back as we shall be trying out some of our new found culinary skills on our unsuspecting friends and families.
Although we would be heading back to Chiang Mai again, that was it for our first stop here and we were soon heading off to Pai. We had some concerns about the journey to Pai; mainly consisting of scary Thai driving along winding and weaving mountain roads – recipe for disaster. After some research Chris found that the best form of transport there was a mini-bus, not a mini-van, which was basically a normal bus cut in half. Apparently the drivers of these forms of transport have something to live for! So we managed to book the mini-bus at the bus station in Chiang Mai
Stuffed
Our fellow Thai trainees enjoy our efforts and with some trepidation we headed off on our journey to Pai. For once the advice was right, the mini-bus was comfortable with lots of leg room and joy of joys a driver who wanted to live past the journey to Pai.
Pai, well what can we say! It has marketed itself very successfully as a haven for hippies, new age travellers and those who like to sport dreadlocks. Everything in the town seems to have “love” in the title, whether it is coffee you are buying or something infinitely more interesting. It is a great place, even for us slightly more reserved travellers. It is set in a valley, comfortably guarded by gently sloping forest clad mountains and hills, giving the whole place a feeling of protected seclusion. Early in the mornings (not that we were ever up that early you understand) the valley is shrouded in a cool mist that eventually evaporates in favour of a turquoise blue sky and a warm, warm sun. The warm balmy days eventually give into cool, clear, star-filled nights, requiring the wearing of some warm clothing and an extra blanket on the bed. A little bit about our accommodation here, Bueng
Bonny Bueng
Our tranquil home Pai Farm. A few minor negative points; it says in its information that it is 10 minute walk out of town, well make that 25 and that would be accurate and secondly, it doesn’t provide an evening meal. On the positive side though it is like a little piece of heaven. The individual bamboo huts overlook the small fishing lake, with the mountains dominating the background, which you can gaze upon from your hammock. The food is some of the best we have tasted in Asia, all cooked from home grown organic produce, which is why it is a shame they don’t do an evening meal. Everyone is extremely friendly, even the pet pooches that lounge lethargically under the sun shades. A great choice if you want to be away from it all.
The main thing on the itinerary here would be trekking. First priority though was a haircut and with all the love in the town this would be the perfect place for a lovingly undertaken shearing of the curly locks!!!!! Well, two lessons I have learned since the event; firstly, DO NOT have a haircut from someone you cannot converse with at all and secondly, not everyone
looks good sporting a scarf. From that it wouldn’t take a genius to realise that all did not go well, without going into it in great detail (which I assure you I could) it was the most catastrophic haircut I have ever had the misfortune of having. Luckily though, after much shouting and not a lot of love emanating from Chris or myself, the hairdresser (if that’s what she was) decided that she had better not charge me! Now sporting some bald patches, long patches and uneven edges I am destined to spend my time in Pai wearing either my sun hat or a badly tied scarf!!!!
Our first moto trip and we headed out to see the World War II Memorial Bridge which has been marketed as a piece of history, having been constructed in 1942 by the Japanese. It certainly does look similar to that well-known and recently visited bridge over the River Kwai. But the powers that be have recently had to come clean about its origins stating now that it is not WWII but that the bridge spans come from the old Nawarat Bridge in Chiang Mai. There is other evidence, however, which suggests that
The WWII Bridge
not unless the war ended in 1976 when the steel was made!! it was neither of these are correct, but that it was constructed in 1976 by the Thai Government – a nice little tourist ploy we think! After briefly stopping for some photos of the infamous bridge, it was on to the much older, and real, Pai Canyon, which was surprisingly lovely and a mini version of Bryce’s Canyon in the USA. A nice place to climb up and down some eroded cliffs, set amidst pine forests, for an hour or so. We then moved on to Pam Bok Waterfall, which is probably rather lovely in the rainy season, but bearing in mind it is now the dry season, is less spectacular. En route back to the farm we decided to detour via Tha Pai Hotspring but, because there was a charge to partake of some hot baths and all the information available hadn’t been that complementary, we decided to take a cold shower back at the farm instead. What we did find though was a very nice chap selling fruit which he allowed us to taste. We are still not sure what they were, but they were absolutely delicious so we purchased a load which we took no time in
Baby Bryce
a compact and bijou version eating. We were then invited to stop and have a cup of something to relax us, but as the only one likely to enjoy partaking was also driving we politely declined. Unperturbed by our obvious reluctance to relax our friendly host continued to chat about the surrounding area and wish us a lovely stay and long health –we were definitely feeling the “love”. On our way back to our little piece of heaven we passed a number of Elephant camps which left us a bit depressed by the sight of these magnificent chained creatures waiting for a chance to carry holidaymakers on an hour’s trek in the baking heat.
After another day of rest and relaxation we booked on a day’s trek through the jungle to the nearby Lisu village and Mor Paeng Waterfall. We set off with 5 other intrepid explorers and our guide. When I say intrepid, Chris and I were the only ones who had obviously taken the whole trekking thing seriously turning up in walking boots and carrying our walking poles, whilst the others felt they would be just fine wearing sandals or crocks and looking decidedly glamorous – we felt we might have overdone
Jungle Tea
should have brought a calor stove!! it a bit! After about 2 hours of what seemed like mainly walking uphill through rice and garlic fields and then into the forest, our guide decided it was time for a cup of tea. How English and civilised we thought. Out came the machete and down came some bamboo – maybe not so English after all. With seven cups skilfully hacked out of a bamboo cane we were almost ready to go. The fire was started with someone’s lighter as our guide claimed there was not enough dry bamboo to demonstrate his fire starting skills! With tea boiling away in kettles hacked out of bamboo cane we had lunch and finished up with some very nice green tea. The rest of the trek was through miles and miles of garlic fields – never seen so much in our lives before, no wonder everything here is laced in the stuff. After another couple of hours we found ourselves in the Lisu village, which was to be quite truthful a bit depressing, but had obviously not been tarted up for happy snapping tourists so at least it was authentic. A swift van drive and we were at the waterfall, which again
Happy Hikers
3 ladies from Chile and a German couple made great companions for the day would probably be lovely in the rainy season but now was nothing more than an interesting dribble. So we spent an hour basking on the steep rocks wondering how the hell we were going to get down again when the time came to leave without embarrassing ourselves or even worse, breaking something. It seemed that quite a number of locals gathered here to picnic and take photos of the ridiculous westerners who felt the need to take their lives in their hands and climb the rocks and then make a hasty, and more often than not, not too glamorous decent. Luckily we managed it okay and with a brief smile of relief, and wave to the locals who were cross we didn’t embarrass ourselves, we were on our way back to town. A good day, although at 800 baht a person it was probably a bit overpriced.
In between our sudden bursts of activity we basically either chilled around the resort which included serious hammock time or every now and again we would venture into town and find a nice café with good coffee and cakes and partake of some people watching. Our next burst of energy took the
French Fantasy
garlic, as far as the eye can see form of a trek to Mae Yen Waterfall; a 14km round trip, no guide required, and would take us about 6 hours. The walk was great, meandering alongside the river on a track which was sometimes well-trodden and others barely visible at all. What we hadn’t expected were the number of times we would have to traverse the raging river (okay babbling brook) to follow the path. Not sure whether the trek would even be possible in the rainy season! As we had been sensible and worn all the right trekking gear (again!!) soon our shoes and trousers were soaked – well particularly mine as I seemed to have a bit of trouble staying upright while crossing the slippery rocks. One thing we felt that trekkers should be warned of about this trek is that it is actually quite difficult, not because of steep hills or anything like that but because of the need to cross the river and the problems with footwear this creates. So anyone thinking about it – think of your footwear first. It did take us about 3 hours to get to the foot of the waterfall which then required some wading across the river and
A beauty spot
"Is this far enough away to hide the haircut?" a bit of a climb to the top, on some very slippery looking rocks. Well to be quite truthful the whole wading across river thing had really started to hack me off at this point and we decided that the foot of the waterfall would be enough for us. Nevertheless, it was a really good trek and with another 3 hours until we made it back to the safety of our hammock we were beginning to feel the old leg muscles complain. Ooh were we going to ache the following day – and yes we did!
Our last trip around the Pai area on our trusty moto, took us to the Chinese Village and Yun Lai View Point. The latter, as you would probably expect, was up a rather steep road which deteriorated into track meaning one of us (namely me) had to get off and walk a bit so the sorry old moto could make it to the top. It is not publicised that much which is a shame as it really is a lovely view of the valley nestled amongst the mountains. Probably a beautiful photographic opportunity first thing in the morning with the valley shrouded in
The Pai Eye
not too many takers methinks mist and the mountain peaks basking in the first warm rays of the sun. No-one else here but us, so a nice quiet moment.
Down the hill and we were at the Chinese Village, Shandicun. It is located 4.5 kilometers from Pai town and has a population of about 2,000, including hill tribe people, immigrants from Yunnan and a number of nationalist Chinese soldiers. The tourist part of the village, which is what most people see, consists of an area of tourist shops, cafes and rides to tempt the money from your pockets. These are housed in buildings built out of mud and straw and surround an expanse of green on which sits a wooden ferris wheel type ride. We pondered on how it worked, as there is no visible mechanism, but apparently a group of about three men use their body weight to spin the wheel. As I am not that happy on a proper ferris wheel (as Mum and Dad can confirm) I thought it best not to try this one. Also tethered waiting to give rides was a sweet little pony and we just had to take a photo to record his strange attire, which he
Poor Pony
we shouldn't encourage it but PMSL!! wasn’t even embarrassed about!
All in all, Pai has been a great place to relax and chill out and we have enjoyed every moment. It is totally understandable how people come here intending to stay for a few days and end up spending months. Now for the bus ride back to Chiang Mai ………
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mum
non-member comment
haircut
I am sure that the hair cut will add to the beauty of the place for everyone else if not for you lisa , sounds much too relaxing to be your holiday , quite amazing beauty and people love mum and dad