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Published: January 27th 2009
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Polly:
Once again we found ourselves leaving a city, and although Chiang Mai isn't the most hectic we've visited so far, it's still a bustling city, and we were looking forward to a relaxing few days in Pai. Pai (pronounced Bai) had been recommended to us by a couple of different friends, so although it seemed a bit out the way, we thought that we should pay it a visit. It's situated to the north-west of Chiang Mai, close to the Myanmar border. The four-hour drive isn't the most comfortable of rides, so we chose to take a minivan. After leaving the city & suburbs we started to climb small mountains, the foothills of the Himalayan mountain range, and 762 bends later we arrived...
Known as the 'hippie town', Pai is full of happy looking people wandering round in bright clothing, with dreads that Mr Marley would've been proud of. Even the many Thai tourists had eased into the hippie style for their vacation. Stepping out of the minivan was like walking into Glastonbury festival!
We called in at a few places to look for a room but nearly everywhere was full. Eventually we got the last available
room at Evergreen Guesthouse, down a back alley just one block away from the main street. For 300 Baht it was nice enough and seemed quite peaceful. We then took a stroll towards the river and saw the many riverside bamboo huts and tents, where the locals from Chiang Mai come for a cheap weekend break.
In need of a bit of pampering after feeling ill, we set out to find the 'Herbal Sauna & Massage' place recommended in our dated Lonely Planet. It was then that we realised that Pai has changed somewhat in the last 10 years or so, and this place no longer existed. The town has grown over recent years, but thankfully, kept it's hippie vibe alive.
Plan B: Could we get to one of the hot springs shown on the map and have a float around? At first we thought the answer was no, as everyone looked at us blankly and had no information, but eventually we found a guy willing to drive us 7km up the hill, find the best spa, wait for us, then take us back. A true legend!
There were a few spas to choose from, but the
best by far was 'Spa Exotica', a stunning hot pool, heated by water from the nearby thermal spring, hidden in a quiet hillside resort. We paid 100 baht each to go in, and practically had the place to ourselves. We wanted to get a massage, but the ladies had finished for the day, so we went back to town for one instead. At the massage parlour they took one look at Ross' 6ft frame and allocated him some buxom masseuse, who really put all her weight into it. After standing on his back and legs, and twisting him in all kinds of positions he felt a little bruised. I had a relaxing oil massage so couldn't really empathise.
We'd heard good things about the elephant trekking in Pai, so went to book a tour for the next day. The organised tours in Thailand have all been sooooo pricey, but this is something we really wanted to try so we went for it. We booked with 'Thom's Elephant Camp', one of the oldest of it's kind in Thailand. When they're not lugging tourists around on their backs, the jumbos are free to roam around the jungle, so they are happy
elephants.
That night we had an awesome dinner at a little eatery called 'Na's Kitchen'. We had a massaman curry, rice, whole fried fish & Thai salad. It was delicious, but unfortunately neither of us had a camera so you'll just have to imagine it.
By the time we were done eating, we realised that it was getting pretty cold. The temperature had dropped from a scorching 28ºC that afternoon to about 5ºC. Muggins here had sent all her warm clothes and sleeping bag on to Japan, to save on weight, and was starting to feel a little foolish! Sleeping in our hut was no warmer than sleeping in a tent. We were frrrreeeeezzzzzing. Ross kindly leant me his sleeping bag, knowing that I would probably moan a bit more if I was cold, and we spent the next nine hours drifting in and out of sleep, waking up only to submerge our icy noses under the covers.
When we awoke on Sunday morning, it hadn't warmed up that much, but it was still early. We wrapped up warm and went to Thom's reception, for our pick-up ride to the elephant camp. At first it was kind
of scary just being so close to the elephants, but they just wanted to play, and get some food off you. Ross perfected the technique of waving some sugar cane in front of their trunks, then running to their side so they had to wrap him up in a 'trunk hug' to get the tasty treat. I wasn't yet so brave. They were just soooooo big!
After a few pics, we were introduced to Phanom, our sixty year old female wellyfunk, and instructed to mount her. Hhhmmmm! It looked like a long way up and I had been hoping for a ladder. The mahout, Phut, said something to her in Thai, and Phanom offered Ross her front, bent leg, then he hoisted himself up, whilst grabbing onto her ears. Then it was my turn, but I was scared I might pull her ear off. I got up, but not without a lot of pushing from below, and pulling from Ross.
Riding bareback, we strolled through the forest atop Phanom, stopping only for the occasional elephant toilet break. Phut and Phanom seemed to communicate well, with Phut grunting commands in Thai and Phanom grunting back, swinging her trunk in
different positions, but generally obeying. For greater comfort, Phut told me to shuffle forward and sit on Phanom's neck. This was fun but also scary, particularly when going down steep hills.
After a while we had both forgotten our nervousness and were totally loving the ride. Just us, a guide and a magnificent grey giant with funny pink spotty ears. Then it was time for the river....
Phanom seemed to enjoy this bit as much, if not more than us. She squirted us with water and repeatedly chucked us off into the chilly flowing river.
It was such an enjoyable morning, and with no hordes of tourists in sight, made the experience that bit more special.
We then had a half hour dip in the elephant camp's hot tubs (again heated by the nearby spring), a quick lunch of Pad Thai, before a bamboo raft down the river. Again it was just us, some carefully crafted bamboo, and a guide. We didn't see anyone apart from a wading fisherman. It was a really peaceful few hours, the only action involved ducking for bridges.
That night we had a wander through the streets which had transformed
into a thriving night market, taking in some jazz, and having some carrot soup in a little cafe. Not filled up by soup, Ross proceeded to trawl the streets trying all weird and wonderful foods sold at the many hawker stalls. Before turning in we decided to have a quick night cap in a nearby bar. Unfortunately, whilst wandering back to our digs, we got drawn into a second bar by some old Nirvana song on the jukebox. This led to an impromptu round of darts, a game of pool and a pub crawl with a local girl called Ooi. We partied the night away at a few of the town's lesser-known haunts, got introduced to a number of the locals and saw a totally authentic side of Pai nightlife, including being introduced to Sangsom, the local Thai tipple.
The following morning was fuzzy, but we got up and caught our ride back to Chiang Mai and onwards to Chiang Rai....
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