We’ve got Pai

Whilst Songkran was still on Peach & I decided to escape to the hills for a few days of rancho relaxo. We got to the bus station nice and early before the water onslaught started for the day. However just as our bus was leaving some kids through a couple of buckets of water through the open doors and it landed right on us. Point to them for stealth I’ve gotta say.

The doors on most public buses are always open in Thailand. This allows people to get on and off quickly and also provides natural air conditioning. Every now and again throughout the 3 or 4 hour bus ride water would come splashing though the door. Eventually the doors were closed but still some would get in.

Originally Peach was going to go to Pai by herself but I ended up tagging along. We have a deal when travelling that one person can go off and do their own thing when ever they like. That way no one has to compromise much on places we go. Early in the trip I was off by myself while the girls were on the Thai Gold Coast. Then at one point later on we were all in different places at once. This time I thought I’d give Peach some space so we stayed at different places. It didn’t really work out as planned though since we ended up spending most of the time together anyway.

In Pai I found a lovely place to stay – a set of very basic bamboo bungalows on the river bank. Just a matress, a mozzie net and a light are supplied. I had a hammock on my porch too which is always a winner. After a quick trip to a local store to buy some supplies I spent the rest of the day chilling out in my hammock or down by the river bank.

First impressions of Pai were very positive. It’s kind of a groovy little town with just a couple of main roads. There’s a very relaxed vibe. It’s the kind of place I can imagine Westerners would drop out and come to live.

On the first evening in Pai I bumped into Peach at an Indian restaurant. She’d scored a great place to stay, similar to mine but much more uber. She even had a computer in her bungalow with free internet access.

The next day we hired a motorbike and headed towards some natural springs nearby. Unfortunately the admission price was a rip off so we found a resort up the road that charged 90% less and had pumped the same spring water into several pools in their grounds. The pools were bloody hot though so after a few minutes we had to sit with most of our bodies out of the water.

After a nice lunch at the resort we headed back into town to the tourist office and got directions to some waterfalls we’d heard about. Songkran was still on although not with as much force as it was in Chiang Mai. Still every few hundred metres we’d get water thrown at us and we progressively got wetter and wetter. It wasn’t a particularly warm day so with the wind from riding the motorbike and our wet clothes we were pretty cold as we zoomed along the road.

Peach was trying her hardest to put on a brave face eventually it got too much, she was freezing cold. We turned around and headed back to the bungalow to a hot shower – coping several more doses of cold water on the way. By this stage I was getting a bit over all the water throwing too but still gave a laugh whenever we got hit – after all it’s an important national festival and who am I to poo-poo the fun.

The next day was supposed to be the last day of Songkran and although most people went back to their normal routine there were still a few people getting into it. In response we slipped into a relaxing routine for the next couple of days. We’d potter around in the mornings doing our own thing then in the afternoon we’d head up to a local pool/gym/bar which had seen better days but was a fun place to hang out. It was run by an stunning English girl and her Thai husband. Peach loved the girl’s accent and declared her intentions to develop the same one once we got to the UK.

I decided to do a work out at the gym. It reminded me of the kind of place someone would train at in the movies – you know the kind: where some guy’s family gets killed so he goes off, finds a master to train him, lives in some remote place and buffs up before coming back at the end and taking revenge. Or did I just watch too many crap movies as a kid? Hmmm…

After 4 nights in Pai it was time to head back to Chiang Mai. The original plan was to head back to Chiang Mai, stay the night then head off on a 3 day bus/boat trip to Laos. When I called our travel agent mate, Tom, he couldn’t get us on to the boat until the day after meaning we’d have to spend another day in Chiang Mai. Not the best scenario since we’d already spent so much time there but it did give us a chance to knock a few things off the to-do list.