Pai-radise!

 

Pai was the first place we really didn’t want to leave! For a small town, the number of bars and restaurants is phenomenal. Our hostel was also great and the pool provided us with a couple of chilled afternoons . We also met some great people at the hostel, so it’s easy to see why backpackers created the term - ‘pai hole’- when you never want to leave!

 

Like always, our first night involved a bit of exploring, some good food and an obligatory crepe .

 

On Tuesday we had a less chilled and more chaotic day, where we went tipsy tubing ! It’s hard to explain how mental that was, but to give an idea- 450 people float down the river in pai while of course getting tipsy. At the halfway point, we enjoyed some music from a DJ, met up with some people we’ve previously seen elsewhere and refuelled our beer supplies . Unfortunately the stop was longer than expected, so we had to refill our beers many times before actually leaving again! The whole experience took around 4 hours and went relatively smoothly, apart from Sam losing his phone within 30 seconds of getting in the river. Luckily he managed to find it when he went back to look the next day- not the ideal way to spend a hungover morning, but a fantastic outcome!

 

Wednesday became a recovery day and we really appreciated having a pool to chill by and cool down in, while all feeling rough as toast. Apart from Chloe who had a Mojito as soon as we got down to the pool!

 

On Thursday we booked a half day tour with a few others from the hostel. Being a small town, there isn’t really that much to see in Pai, so it was great being able to tick off all the attractions in one day. The best parts of the trip were the waterfall, white Buddha and the Grand Canyon- with some questionable other stops that seemed like they were only added to prolong the length of the trip.

 

On Friday we were up and out of the hostel by 8.30, in order to begin our travels to Chiang Rai at 9AM. Our first bus was fairly grim, as expected as it was the return journey back to Chiang Mai that we had already done. The second bus to Chiang Rai was a lot better, with better seats and straighter roads! It’s fair to say we were all a bit achy and jaded when we finally reached Chiang Rai after 9 hours total travelling!

 

Bye bye Pai!😢

 

Favourite moment of Pai: Sliding down the water slide at Tipsy Tubing.

 

Beer choice : Chang (330ml) 60THB (£1.50)