Thailand – Pai

I took a shuttle bus from Chiang Mai to Pai, which takes roughly 3.5 hours. The drive up consists of windy roads through mountains and many complain about getting carsick, but I was lucky to get a passenger seat. To preface, Pai has a laid back vibe, which I really appreciated after spending a week in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. It’s is a small hippie town in the mountains of northern Thailand and it is by far one of the coolest places I’ve visited. In addition to all the great restaurants, nightlife, and shops, there are beautiful natural sites worth visiting that are truly one of a kind. The best part about Pai is that almost everything is within 30 minutes of the town. You can rent a scooter for around 300 Baht per day ($9 USD) and see everything Pai has to offer at your own pace. 

Once I arrived in Pai, I checked into my hostel Buzzas @ Pai Chan. The hostel is just outside of the town on farmland with great views of the mountains. I spent the first couple of days doing absolutely nothing, soaking up the beautiful views and calming atmosphere. 

After some R&R, my main objective was to rent a scooter. I noticed a significant amount of people with bandages on and was skeptical about renting a scooter because of this, but am so glad I did. I got an old 115cc Yamaha Mio Fino. The scooter made loud noises when shifting gears and I had to rev the engine to start it, but it was great for practicing. I ended up falling over during a turn and broke the side mirror lol. It was only 200 baht ($6 USD) to fix it.

We’ll get to my scooter adventures in a bit, but on my third day, I randomly ran in to Erin while walking in the town. I met Erin at the hostel I was staying at in Chiang Mai. She had travelled up with her friend Hillary and was staying in Pai for another day before heading back to The States. During Erin’s last day, we went to Tha Pai Hot Spring. Tha Pai Hot Spring consists of multiple hot and cold springs surrounded by greenery providing shade. I’ve been to a hot spring in Costa Rica and these springs were significantly hotter. The cold springs were also nice to jump into to cool down. There is also a hot spring with boiling water and people were boiling eggs in it! Since my scooter had a broken mirror, I rode on the back of Hillary’s scooter, which I think I needed before getting back on my own scooter lol. After Tha Pai Hot Spring, we went back to the hostel Erin and Hillary were staying at to see the capybara farm they had on site. Supposedly, one of the capybaras bit another one, so they had to close the farm down. The hostel still let us go in and see the remaining free roaming capybara, Anna. 

After realizing that the Yamaha Mio Fino scooter that I rented is probably on its last limb, I traded it in for a newer 115cc Honda Scoopy. This scooter has definitely been through it too, but was a lot more reliable.

With some more scooter experience under my belt, I was ready to go out and see some of the sites on my own. I visited the Kho Ku So Bamboo Bridge and Pam Bok Waterfall, which is about 15-20 minutes away by scooter. This was my first time driving up and down hills and uneven roads and at first it was really sketchy, but I got the hang of it. 

Kho Ku So Bamboo Bridge is a bamboo walkway with rice fields and a small temple. The walkway takes about 15 minutes to walk down and along the way, there is an archery range, a pond with catfish that you can feed after making a donation for local schooling, and free roaming cattle. While I was there, there were also farmers working on irrigation systems. Being out in these rice fields was serene and provided a taste of the rural areas of Thailand.

I also visited the Pai Canyon, a canyon with multiple viewpoints of the mountains that you can walk out to. The walkways to the viewpoints are very narrow and hilly and are quite high up, so it may not be for those who are afraid of heights. It was my go to spot for the sunset. The orange hue of the sun illuminates the sky and mountains, providing for a sublime sunset.

There are caves near by Pai and I visited the Tham Lot Cave. The cave is roughly 1.5 hours away from the town and although my scooter driving skills had improved, I opted to visit the cave with a group tour by shuttle. I am so glad I did because it rained heavily during the drive back lol. The Tham Lot Cave is roughly a mile long with the highest areas reaching 65 ft. During the 2 hour tour, a tour guide takes you to the 3 elevated caverns within the cave. There is a stair system and bridges that are built into the cave, allowing for easy accessibility to the caverns. A river flows through the cave and a short raft ride is provided to get to the opposite end of the cave. The water is crystal clear and there were fish jumping out of the water around the raft.  There are also bats that fly around in the cave. They are difficult to see, but you can hear them and they can be spotted out with the help of the natural light from the cave entrances. 

In addition to all the amazing sites, the food in Pai is also great. Pai Walking Street is open every night and they have traditional thai food and cuisines from all across the world. I went to Pai Walking Street multiple nights and the highlights are gyozas, a Vietnamese fried chicken sandwich, a chicken shawarma gyro, and a thai noodle soup. 

During my last couple of days in Pai, I met Anna from the Netherlands and Theresa from Germany in my dorm room. We went out to Spirit Bar and Jewelry for drinks the night they arrived. It had a really cool vibe with floor seating and lounge chairs. Anna and Theresa were interested in getting scooters, so I let them take a test ride on my scooter in the parking lot of the hostel, and they were ready to rent their own scooters! We went to the Big Buddha statue and Yun Lai Viewpoint for a view of the town from the mountains and Two Huts Pai for the sunset. Two Huts Pai is a cafe with hammocks and a sitting area that overlooks a large pasture and mountains. It’s a great spot to hangout, have drinks, and watch the sunset.  They had live music and a fire show the night we went. 

I spent 7 days in Pai and although there is only so much to see, I wouldn’t have complained about staying longer. My next stop is Laos. I booked a shuttle bus to the border of Thailand and Laos and will be taking a sleeper bus to Luang Prabang from the border. I enjoyed my time in Thailand and plan on revisiting the south in a few weeks!