Day 33 – 35

I’m up nice and early to make sure I’m all set for my bus.

Pok and Tam two of the staff have organised for me to take my breakfast with me, I asked for a banana and some mango. What I got was, a banana, a whole unpeeled mango, a boiled egg and a pork sandwich! 😬😂 I took the banana and left the rest with Tam! 

I got myself a Grab cab to the bus station. Then found my bus, it’s actually more like a little minivan. I had time to go and buy my return ticket for Monday. 

I managed to snag the front passenger seat when I booked, which is great and should give me the best views. 

The journey to Pai takes around 3 hours, with a short stop halfway. I left at 10.30 so should be in Pai by 1.30ish. 

The minivan is full of young backpackers, as are the other 2 minivans that left before and after us! 

It takes a while to get out of Chiang Mai its suburbs and outlying areas. It’s fabulous watching the landscape subtly change, we pass large new fancy housing developments first, then smaller less crowded areas, also quite a few college & university campuses and a couple of Army battalion bases, one which has lots of horses! 

After this is a slow, steady and winding climb through the mountains. 

Apparently there are 762 turns on the route! 

It’s beautiful and verdant. I did attempt a few pics but it’s difficult to capture anything when you’re moving! 

There isn’t a lot of traffic but our driver is an expert at knowing when and where to overtake. He drove a a fair pace but I didn’t feel unsafe at all. 

Pai is in a valley and it was a pretty steep very winding descent down. 

I know that my hotel is a short walk from the bus station so I disembark and head straight there. 

The hotel looks lovely! My room is great, big and light looking over the gorgeous pool. 

I leave my bags and go straight out for an iced coffee, I need the ice and the caffeine! Luckily there is a cute place just over the road. Once I’m caffeinated I go back to the hotel for a nice long refreshing swim. The pool is much longer than I’m used to so I do what I think is equivalent to 16 lengths, might be more might be less 🤷‍♀️ 

I then go out to have a look around. It doesn’t feel particularly busy, it’s quite nice, lots of little shops, places to eat, bars, cannabis shops! 

There are a few places I’d like to see around Pai, my thinking was to cycle or get a Grab, unfortunately Grab doesn’t work here and the things I want to see are too far to cycle. The done thing is to hire a moped/scooter judging by the number of hire places hiring them and the number of people riding around! I just don’t fancy this. 

With this in mind I book myself an afternoon trip which looks like it covers everything, for the bargain price of 300bht (£6-7) 

I like the fact you can see the hills from everywhere and it feels greener than Chiang Mai but It is also full of young backpackers! Every 2nd person is a visitor, and the majority of them are British, Irish or European. There are fewer Asian tourists here. It does have the reputation as a bit of a laid back bohemian Mecca! I think it would have been amazing to visit years ago, before it became so popular. It feels a little too western for me.

The night market is just by the hotel and I wander through it pretty early, around 6.30 things are still getting set up. I suspect that things get going around 9. – 10 when all the bars get full! 

The night market is OK but I prefer Chiang Mais  ‘Walking Street’ 

I find a place for dinner, I’m bloody starving. I order the Khao Soi and it’s delicious, much more authentic than Kats, it’s also a smaller more manageable portion! Yummy! 

I’ve managed to walk over 10,000 steps in the last couple of hours so I head back to the hotel to bed!

The Bed! OMG the pillows! They are amazing, so soft and comfy, literally Heaven! This is making me ridiculously happy! 😍☺️😍

I relax on my beautiful pillows reading The Secret History, which is taking ages, but is excellent. 

Then with my head resting of a cloud of joy I drift off to sleep! 

I slept very well! 🥰

I thought I’d just chill at the hotel before my trip later.

I had high hopes for my breakfast at this hotel, but was sadly disappointed. It’s buffet style, but everything looks like it’s been out for ages. On a positive note they did have butter and marmalade, so I had toast, with water as I couldn’t get the coffee machine to work and the hot water was luke warm so my tea was blah! (Jesus, this makes me sound so bloody English!! 😂)

No biggy, I pop across the road afterwards and grab an iced caramel latte. 

I’m being picked up from the hotel at 12.45. I forget to pick up a leaflet so I’m not sure exactly where we are going, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.

My lift arrives, I have to try and hoik myself into the back of an old pick up truck, which I managed to do with some help from another passenger, I then wacked my head on the roll bars! 😂 Not the best or most elegant start!

We stop shortly after and change vehicles and I get to sit in a seat behind the driver! Praise the lord! 

I’m sitting with An Irish couple, Dami & Paul, who are lovely and friendly. 

Our first stop is the White Buddha. This big Buddha can be seen from most places in Pai. It sits quite high on a hill. Apparently it has stunning views from the top. The catch is that there are 357 steps to reach the top! I’d already made the decision to not climb to the top, it’s too hot, my knees would kill me on the way down and it’s just not worth crippling myself. I’m happy with this decision, especially when I see that a few others, much younger than me also didn’t go up!

We have been joined in the front of the truck by another Irish girl, called Sarah. Paul Dami and Sarah are all from Dublin. Sarah is also lovely and chatty. 

From here we go across the valley and up the other side to a beautiful lookout spot. Which has stunning views without the steps!! 😂👍

It’s a chance to chat to some of the others in the group. Another Irish lady, Aoife,.  A couple of English girls, Hannah and Christina. A Spanish couple, whose names I didn’t get unfortunately. A lovely girl called Miriam. A couple, Renne from Florida and her fella from Canada who are quite interesting (more on them later! ) everyone seems really friendly. 

The views from the lookout are breathtaking.

After this we head down the mountain and stop at a Chinese Village, nobody is really sure, why or what the significance of the village is! 

Our Driver isn’t acting as a guide, he simply drives us from one location to the next says how long we’re staying then puts his seat back and has a nap! 😂

The village is pleasant, lots of flowers and butterflies and a chance to chat to everyone some more. 

After the Chinese village we drive to a great Coffee place, which has more amazing views and a lush Iced Caramel Latte! Hannah and I are very happy about this. 😋 

More Chatting. It’s so brilliant finding out about other people’s journeys and travels. Inspiring to see so many young woman travelling alone and not just in Thailand but across Asia and Christina also traveled alone in South America. Such a wonderful group. 😍

After our refreshing Coffee our next stop is Pam Bok Waterfall. 

The waterfall isn’t too busy, and luckily there is a deep enough pool for dipping! Hannah has been really looking forward to getting in the water! She’s a happy bunny. 

I go up to the waterfall but not down onto the rocks. As some of you are aware I have the ability to fall from a stationary position, fall over muffins, off chairs, on drains! And alcohol isn’t always involved 😂 

So I feel slippery rocks might be a health & safety issue for me! I also have another 6 weeks traveling to do and feel I’d like working limbs for the duration! 

Instructions I act as bag monitor while the guys have a lovely time in the water. I enjoy watching and being visited by a beautiful bright yellow butterfly. 💛

It’s during the visit to the waterfall that Renne says something interesting. Apparently she’s feeling a little homesick, missing her family. I ask what family she has, a 19 year old and a 6 year old, I ask who is looking after them, she says her husband, not ex husband, or the kids dad but her husband! Not quite sure how this tracks with her being on holiday for 3 weeks with Canada Boy??  

Anyway! 

As a little aside, on the way up to the waterfall we pass a couple sitting on a sarong, on a rock strewn with flowers, he is wafting an incense stick all around her it all looks very romantic. On our way down they are still there and he is now reading to her! 

Although this is romantic it’s nothing on our Spanish Couple who got engaged the day before! Unfortunately they had a scooter accident and on returning from the hospital all bashed and bandaged, she proposed to him! She had been carrying the ring with her and waiting for the right time and a near death experience seemed to be perfect ❤️❤️

After the waterfall everyone is feeling refreshed and we head to our last stop which is Pai Canyon. 

The Canyon is a great place to watch the sunset, if the clouds oblige. 

It’s also pretty scary! The walkways are extremely narrow with sheer, high drops either side! I’m not great with heights and edges of things, but I stayed on the first section you come to thus avoiding walking across the really narrow path😬

The views were awesome, sadly the cloud’s didn’t oblige but it was a fantastic place to end our day. 

On the way back a decision was made for us all to meet up later for a drink. So after being dropped off and grabbing a quick shower I went out again to the spot we’d chosen, which I couldn’t find! Luckily I bumped into Aoife and Christina, who were also a bit lost, so we found another bar and messaged everyone to meet there. 

It ended up being an absolutely brilliant night! Lots of cocktails and Rum and then Hannah and Paul hijacked the music and we had an impromptu Karaoke session, which seemed to involve Hannah and I performing quite a few songs 😬😂 Our group managed to get the bar packed and pumping, so much so that the staff gave us free shots! 

I left at around 2am when the police came, flashing lights and all and said the Bar had to close. 🤣🤪😂 an epic night Out Out! 

I was a little hungover when I woke up 😵‍💫 but didn’t feel as bad as I should have! 

I met up with the lovely Hannah and her friend Beth for Breakfast/Brunch. They are getting set to leave Pai tomorrow for Bangkok, before Hannah goes back home to Leeds and Beth goes to Australia for a year! It’s been such a pleasure meeting all these guys. Thank you for making my time in Pai so much fun! See you  September for my Birthday! 🎉

Then it was time to get the bus back to Chiang Mai. Can’t say I was looking forward to the twisty turny road through the mountains. Although, to be fair the smoothie I had for Breakfast and the vitamin C drink on the bus seemed to have sorted me out. 

The journey wasn’t great, mainly because I was sat towards the back and it was really, really hot 🥵 But it was doable. I got back to a rainy Chiang Mai, a hot shower, Vegetable Fried Rice at Kats then home to bed! 

Pai was Fabulous.

Books Read 15 (still)

I’m really slacking as I’m still reading A Secret History!