Blogs from Pai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 8

It’s been a long time since I wrote a blog on a bus. Proably since South America. We’re on a proper double decker bus like the ones we used to travel on in South America with comfy seats, snacks and a toilet that really smells and doesn’t have a locking door (obviously). We’ve just left a town called Sukhothai, Thailand and are bound for Bangkok. In South American bus styleee we have already sat through three movies in a variety of languages, none of which were played the entire way through. Fortunately though they have now put on a dvd that works, unfortunately it is literally the worst form of entertainment possible. If you are not familiar with what constitutes entertainment in Asia (and I’m not talking about what you’re thinking about) it is normally a ... read more

Well after my wonderful bus trip, i decided to spend two days in Chiang Mai before getting on a mini van to Pai. I spent the couple of days just hanging around visiting places that I had been too on my last trip out here. Followed by watching both the Poland match and the Dutch match in John's place. Which I am sure both Gordon and SJ will remember well. The roof terrace is still as lovely as ever, and I introduced the place to a couple of people that I met on the bus up. Both have been to Chiang Mai on several occasions and hadn't yet found this lovely retreat. Unfortunately he closes as soon as the first game of the night is over, so rather than trawl the streets for another bar I ... read more

Eating organic rice and beans is something I turn my nose up at normally in supermarkets, but now i think i know the true meaning! We have decided to splash out on accommodation and pay the astronomical price of 800 Baht (16 pounds) for our own mountain view bungalow, about 5 km outside of Pai. Why you ask? Cos it's sooooo nice. After staying in budget huts, this place is like a palace. It's not actually far off. There are 5 bungalows, but because it is low season we have it to ourselves. Pai Na Pai Ta Home is where we are at, and we liked it so much last night that we have agreed to stay another night, again alone on the complex. Kob - the lady who runs the guesthouse has been so good ... read more

Hello hello hello! I have finally got myself into gear and added some photos from the last few days in Pai and added them to some previous posts. I hope they give you a good feel of the place. Last night was a good-un, meeting some friends and then seeing more and more people we knew along the way until we were a huge multi-national group all chilling together. (There was even a girl from Tenby there!) It ended not with the usual cheesy chips we would get back home but with take away pad thai (noodles) which was an unusual but great way to finish the night. We still had one more waterfall to visit today but we were told it was a fair walk .. how long exactly no one seems to know. It ... read more

Well we had heard the hype, we'd read the reviews and we thought it was about time we had a 'slice' of the pai. So that is exactly what we did .. and we are so glad we bothered! We got a minibus up to Pai which is in Northern Thailand about 3 hours away from Chang Mai where we were last staying. We were warned about the 'bendy' journey but honestly it was the craziest journey i've ever been on, constant sharp bends for 3 hours straight!! poor Andy couldnt take the heat (literally) and spend the last hour unable to move his head for sickness. A distraction from the journey was listening to some american girls conversation about her mum putting her dog down, ever so dramatic. As we pulled into pai we noticed ... read more