Pai (10 - 13 November 2007)
As we arrived at the very confusing bus station in Chiang Mai, we decided to seize the opportunity and find out what times the bus leaves to Pai, our destination after Chiang Mai. The lady behind the counter looked at us with bewilderment and pointed to the crummy little bus behind us, saying: “bus leave now, quick, quick, get on bus!” So we decided just to jump onto the bus directly and go to Pai as we could always come back to Chiang Mai en route to Bangkok. And who thought that we could not be impulsive?!
The bus left Chiang Mai at 16:00 and we arrived in Pai at about 20:30. The bus journey was okay, except for the fact that all the windows were open and we had no warm clothes on us (we caught the bus at the last moment, remember?). Eon spoke to a couple of interesting hippy-looking people on the bus, one specifically weird guy actually said that he does not drink or smoke as he is high on life and mountains!!! Hahaha!
Pai is known as the hippy town of Thailand and for good reason. The town itself is set in the midst of mountains with a river flowing through it. It has thin streets with a magnitude of little shops and street vendors. Different from all other Thai locations, Pai is not overflowing with Wats. It is very similar to South Africa’s Clarens, attracting artists, musicians, and other weirdoes with tie-dye clothes and dreadlocks 
This in turn attracts many tourists and the town serves as a retreat from the rest of Thailand’s Thai-ness.
We did not know it at the time, but we arrived on the evening of a big rock concert and therefore struggled to find accommodation (again!) After walking around for a while with heavy back-packs and summer clothes on a winters evening in the North of Thailand, a Thai girl approached us, asking if we need accommodation to which we feverishly nodded in agreement.
So we had a bed and a roof over our heads and we set out to explore this busy little town. As soon as we heard about the rock-concert (22:30) we walked in the direction pointed out to us and got a little taste of Thai Rock. No, it was not great and we did not understand a word, but the just of it is very similar to going to a concert in South Africa, watching teenagers in the mosh-pit and drinking beer whilst not knowing what on earth the dude on stage is singing about. I must say, with me not being a great Violent Femmes fan, I found the Violent Femmes concert very similar Off course, Eon begs to differ.
The next morning we went looking for other accommodation. We were very thankful for the accommodation that came our way the previous night, but we were looking for something not exactly in the middle of the noisy town. We found a lovely little bungalow right next to the river about 200 meters out of town, called Nilla Naya. It was cheap, clean, with a miraculously soft mattress, a little porch overlooking the river and sunset and best of all, it had an open-roof hot shower
After our tiring search for accommodation, we went for a well deserved massage! Eon had the traditional Thai full body massage and I had a foot massage (I could not yet risk anyone touching my Gibbon Experience scars). On the way back, still in that massage-zombie-mode, we booked two courses for the following day: Eon was going to do a Thai massage course and I would do a Thai cooking course. We booked it at a place called Red Orchird, run by a lovely lady named Dao.
In the late afternoons, we sat on our little porch, reading and sharing a can of condensed milk and watching the sun set behind the mountains (I can see us doing the same thing when we are retired one day). Our evenings was spent wandering about the streets, window shopping (as my mom would say). We did not really buy much, but just looking at all the handicrafts was just as good.
I loved Eon’s massage course - Dao would demonstrate on me and Eon would have to repeat the manoeuvre. So I basically had a double massage free of charge! This course took half a day. Thereafter, Dao changed from massage instructor to chef, showing me the ins and outs of Thai cooking. I learnt how to make a proper red curry (without adding any curry powder, we used fresh ingredients only), spring rolls, sweet and sour chicken and veggies, steamed fish with ginger and bananas fried in fresh coconut.
Dao turned out to be such a sweetie! She even gave me a knitted beanie as a parting gift
On the last day in Pai, against my protesting, Eon rented a motorbike and we explored the Pai surrounding area. We set of in a northern direction, first stopping at Wat Phra That Mae Yen on top of a hill over looking the town. From there we drove through the stunning setting of mountains and jungle until we reached Tha Pai Spa Camp. I did not take a swim suite with and so I wasn’t fully prepared for this cheap, yet luxurious resort with multiple hot springs - I had to rent a swim suite from them. The swim suite was a traditional sarong (more something in the line of a hippie dress for the pregnant) - you have to look at this picture to appreciate the story! After bathing in the hot water, we took the bike out to a canyon. Eon’s description was: “this looks more like serious ground erosion than a canyon”
That last afternoon, sitting on the porch watching the sunset, two little boys were playing in the river - butt naked! It looked like they were having so much fun and I just couldn’t resist taking a couple (50+) photos of them
Pai was great, but we had to move south to Chiang Mai.
Click on photo to view gallery of Pai: