Another slice of Pai

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Pai has offered something different, made up of many little parts that I've enjoyed in the lush valley. A fruity, spongy, sweet, nutty slice held simply in one's hand. It's not a town of Thailand culture in the main part, the real villages that are not built on laidback backpacks exist a bike ride away. Over time Pai has developed from a remote stop off from Chiang Mai to a cute mountain smudge with new age vibe, characterised by its walking street of indie stalls and the live music and hammock decorated bars parallel to the bamboo bridged river.

It has the forever winding road-made remoteness; the hilly northern thai landscape; a gleaming little river you can engage with; simple guesthouses and sit out and lay spots; and international cuisine offered along the stalls, Mexican to French (I largely stuck to my fave, thai, though). Whilst its best gems lay pedal and throttle moves away.


Some little bites of Pai from my week here -


- Meeting a motorbike arriver at a Thai food stall late one evening, and agreeing to meet up for a trip the next morning (me as passenger on the bike that had come up from Chiang Mai). Martyn was a great trip buddy..

- starting our trip by revving up to the white Buddha that i'd missed the day before; it was impressive indeed and interestingly a piece of the headpiece had seemed to have fallen, a giant white acorn in the corner

- finding the 'Land Split' farm where the land was ripped apart in aftershocks following the 2008 Tsunami. The farm owner was great, telling us the science as we walked up to see the cracks; and sharing so much food and drink with us as we ended up touring his farm - hibiscus, peanuts, passionfruit, copper bananas and papaya. Delicious, the roselle juice in particular staining my taste buds happy. The farm actually took on volunteer workers at times which I made a note of - a beautiful spot.

- swimming in a small lake just down the road from the farm, the water so cool, green and open. Swimming to the middle felt daring, the huge ripples about us.

- in our catching of the last of the light we zoomed over to the Chinese town - to see spice stalls closing up and crazy wooden children's swings on hill platforms - and the map's named viewpoints to the north west. Great sights.

- meandering up and through the local towns was really enjoyable. We also got off and chatted to a lovely family on the way up the hill roads who were collecting up the corn harvest. It was hard to believe they'd been up and down the surrounding hills that much over the past few weeks to have the van full of corn they did. The kids were sweet, playful and also really strong with the corn bags!

- grabbing dinner and beer on the way back down at a full Thai stall restaurant. 2 dishes was all they did, so very well, with an eat all you like from the salad sack feature. So yummy and spicey.




- I then returned the favour of being a trip motorbike rider for a new person, Dorien, who I met over a nice thai tea stop. Later in the bar we'd make a deal on doing our motorbike firsts the next day. This was my first time with passenger, her first as a passenger here; and it was really fine, phew! We set off in the afternoon for the biggest waterfall, and went over to the canyon for sunset.

- Driving back in the dark we caught the end of the hotsprings resort pools, such a top way to end a day of riding around, the water relaxing and the night quiet around.

Plus..

- finding a lovely yoga class. So good. I realised how much I missed it. A similar routine but vastly different surroundings to my last class in my old offices.

- the evening in the Easy Garden outdoor bar with live music through the genres up to rock and roll, they ran out of beer so became a byob! The artists were very good.

- Spirit bar and the following on parties - a good spot to meet new people, probably get passed down a shot, have a laugh, gain know how on the late bars and to have a group to go to the party up in the hills with. I met some really lovely and fun people here.

- realising I was becoming a 2monther. Speaking with new people and going through some of the common first questions, it started to feel about right, that I'd gotten a bit of experience under my khaki belt!

- the Pai treehouse stop off whilst riding, it was well positioned for a fruit shake pit stop and threw in some brilliant views as well.

One thing i wasnt so keen on? The bare feet walking through the streets. Sure, I walk along the grassy river banks baring my souls, I think its so nice to get the toes out on the land. But walking along concrete roads to prove a point? Just no!

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