While our trip to Chiang Mai was restful and awesome, my boots got a bit wanderlusty and I wanted to check out this little town I had heard so much about- Pai Thailand. Tiffany was loving everything about Chiang Mai and wanted to stay in town so we decided to go our separate ways for a few days. I strapped my pack on my back and jumped in a bus and I was Pai bound!
The town of Pai is situated a bit northwest of Chiang Mai nestled in a beautiful verdant valley. Getting there requires overcoming the small hurdle of the 3 hour drive over an incredibly windy road. How windy you ask? Well, it has 762 turns (people actually have counted) and all the rest stops sell motion sickness pills – so be prepared. It’s a small price to pay for what awaits you in this quaint little town
Pai is unlike any other Thai city I’ve visited. It’s laid back and has tons of stuff to do ranging from trekking to biking to yoga to floating in an inner tube down its lazy river. A river cuts the city in two with little guesthouses, hostels and restaurants dotting each bank.
When I got to Pai the one thing I had my heart set on was….tubing! Ever since I was a little kid in Oregon I’ve LOVED floating down a river in an inner tube and Pai did not disappoint. My friend Sonya was in town and we paid one of the many outfits to drive us up the river and dump us into massive truck tire inner tubes. Even though it was February it was still stupid hot and I was able to grab one big bottle of beer Chang before we left which made the rest of the float down the river all the more awesome. Slowly floating down the river we passed all sorts of scenes from peaceful nature to little kids blasting each other with water guns to yoginis working on their practice on a sundeck overlooking the river. After 2 1/2 hours of this chilaxitude, we were ushered ashore by the sharp eyed inner tube wrangler and our voyage came to a close.
At night all the “action” in Pai happens on the main “walking” street. There countless food and merchant vendors vie for space with the throngs of tourists venturing here from every part of the globe. What blew my mind is that you can find everything from tacos to pizza to falafels being sold by some street vendor- and they’re all damn tasty too! At night the energy kicks up a few notches with most of the bars playing live music. Since Pai is a major backpacker magnet, you’ll see tons of elephant printed, harem pant wearing backpackers from all over the world sharing “bucket drinks” which are…basically buckets filled with Thai Whiskey and some ridiculously sweet mixer. With the sheer amount of friendly attitudes here, it’s easy to strike up a conversation with complete strangers and by the end of the chat, leaving as friends. Another interesting thing I wasn’t expecting from such a small town is the existence of an after hours scene. There are a whopping two nightclubs that go till the early morning selling tropical drinks to blacklight painted backpacking revelers- it’s a fun scene for sure but not one that’s anything remotely Thai.
The next day I wanted to investigate the rest of the valley which has its own “Grand Canyon” along with some incredible vistas and a pure-white Buddha watching over the town. Sonya and I rented mountain bikes from the shop downtown and made the ride over rolling hills to the famous “World War 2 Bridge” which was built by the Japanese during their occupation of Thailand. It’s a major tourist draw but not that spectacular to look at (beyond its storied past). Pai Canyon was pretty cool to look at with its badlands-like hills that you can explore on foot-but be careful, some of the cliffs are pretty sheer and the drop is ridiculous.
Finally I made the mad bike ride up the winding road to the Wat Phra That Mae Yen– Pai’s massive white Buddha. To get there you’ve got to go up a steep road outside of town and then climb a ton of stairs out in the open. The view – and the Buddha- is worth it, but I would only do it on a cool day or in the morning or sunset- its just too hot otherwise.
And just like that, my time in Pai came to a close. I would love to come back someday – there feels like there’s more to see and experience here. While I can heartily recommend checking out Pai- I do so with one caveat. As awesome as Pai is, it’s the least “Thai” place we visited during our month in Thailand. While the guest houses and restaurants are fantastic and quaint, they’re all mostly owned by expats and there customers are- unsurprisingly- other non Thai tourists. In a nutshell, visit Pai for the serene scene but just don’t expect to get an authentically Thai experience.
Some of our favorite place in Pai
You can get an easy to follow Google Maps list of my favorite Pai locations here.