27. Pai (I): Nausea, Accommodation Issues and Hot Springs Visit Fail
20.11.2023
Let’s start with a little recap of the travel torture I endured on my way from Chiangmai to Pai and some general observations on the latter:
After staying in Chiangmai for over a month, I was excited to go to Pai, a small town in the mountainous region of Northern Thailand with a population of 3.500 residents and likely a much higher number of tourists. I had already been to Pai once in 2013 and thinking about that time brought back a lot of good memories.
Images below from November 2013:
Pai is located 130km north-west of Chiangmai, or in other words: a 3.5hours drive by car or motorbike. The reason for the rather long travel time are the 762! curves you need to survive without getting nauseous.
Pickup from my hotel by van was supposed to be between 10:00am and 10:45am. That's a pretty big time window. Of course I was ready at 10:00am sharp. After 45min of patient waiting I called the agency to enquire about the delay. I was told on the phone that she was only a middle man – or middle women for that matter – and would call the provider of the trip. Two more follow up calls with her ensued before my van finally arrived at 11:15am. I was the last one to get onto the already fully occupied vehicle. I had to take the middle seat at the front and my luggage was squeezed in the gap between sliding door and the first middle row seat.
Here is why the trip became the worst I had done in the last 3 months: The seat in the centre of the front row was higher than the driver and passenger seats with the effect that my head almost touched the ceiling. The front window was lower than my straight line of sight, meaning I couldn't even see the road in front of me without ducking down. Secondly, the centre console was restricting my leg space and my knees pushed unpleasantly against it. Thirdly, I didn’t have a three point seat belt. Under other circumstances that wouldn't have been a problem, but with hundreds of sharp curves it made a huge difference. My upper body was swaying left and right at every turn unless I used my leg muscles and core strength to stabilise myself. Alternatively, I could press with either hand against the ceiling to prevent my body bumping against the driver and co-driver. Whatever method I chose, it got exhausting pretty quickly. I was tired, wanted to relax and shut my eyes for a while and relax. Halfway we stopped for lunch. What a temporary relief that was! Nevertheless, after 20min I got restless and counted down the minutes until we got back on the road again. I only wanted to arrive in Pai, unpack at the hotel, take a shower and nap extensively.
Pictures below: Lunch stop at a restaurant
The rest of the journey was just as strenous as before and when we arrived at the city centre, I couldn’t wait to exit the van after 4 hours that felt like an eternity. To my delight, google maps showed that my hotel was located only 200m from the drop off point on Chai Songkhram Road, better known amongst travellers as Walking Street as it transforms into a pedestrian only zone with market stalls at night time.
The Sabaydee Guest House, a.k.a. Fatimah house, I had booked was run by a muslim woman who wore traditional clothing and a hijab while other women in the building went a step further putting on a niqab that covered their entire face except a small slit around the eye area. Later I found out that there is a mosque a few doors down and suddenly things started to make sense. Apparently, Pai has a large community of muslims and many live in the vicinity of the mosque. They seem to be well integrated into society and contribute to the nightmarket by selling baked goods, halal food and clothing.
Why do I even mention all of that? Because Pai is well-known as a stronghold for hippies, parties and people with an alternative/eco approach. For that reason it came to me as a surprise to encounter the strong presence of a very conservative demographic group in town. I am happy to report that despite contrasting moral values and lifestyle, everyone is getting along nicely - as far as I can tell.
When I was talking in a previous post about the ridiculous amount of cannabis shops in Chiangmai, I didn't know that Pai is the actual Mecca for travellers on a quest to get high. Some streets in the city centre consist 50% of shops that sell cannabis in various shapes and forms and and the other 50% are tattoo shops, the inevitable massage shops and a few nail salons that also offer hair braiding and dread locks for the ultimate Reggae style. The oversaturation of the town with weed is mind-blowing - for some people quite literally.
If you are in your 20s, a staunch practicioner of barefoot, flaunting an abundance of tattoos and/or the signature Bob Marley look, keen to chill out at shops named Space Bamboo Tattoo, 420 and Sweed time, you’ll fit right in with plenty of guys looking like a clone of you.
Another observation of mine: Since my arrival two days ago, I have seen already eight people tottering through town with bandaged lower legs, upper legs and knees. I may go out on a limb here, but I postulate that these bandages are the aftermath of scooter accidents - potentially related to drug abuse with a causality chain looking like this: Party/Club - Alcohol/Weed - Overconfidence/Reduced reaction time - Speeding/No sufficient scooter experience - CRASH.
Below: The Sabaydee Guest House
Circling back to my story about the Sabaydee House: My room was on the top floor which offered a lovely roof terrace with lots of plants. The room was small but not too bad. I shared my intention with the manager lady that if I slept on the mattress alright, I would like to extend my stay for several nights. She said “okay,” but the next morning I was informed that my room was already booked and not available anymore. I got downgraded to a room without aircon on a lower floor. The bedroom was a bit bigger with a tiny bathroom without window and proper ventilation as a trade off. A strong musky smell hung in the air. The ceiling fan functioned only on level 3, running at its maximum speed no matter which buttons I pushed. On my request I was provided with a pedestal fan instead. The moldy stench remained awful nonetheless and after talking to other guests I was hoping to relocate to their room as they had told me they would leave in two days.
The previous unfortunate miscommunication concerning the extension of my stay became the blueprint for what followed the next morning: Although I had clearly told the manager that I wanted to stay longer if the new room turned out to be okay, which she understood and agreed to, I was unapologetically notified that the guesthouse was fully booked when I rang the reception bill to pay for another night. That caught me off-guard. I wasn't pleased at all to receive such uncaring treatment. However, I stayed calm and made no fuss about it. I packed my stuff, left and checked in at Pravee’s House Resort with lovely huts 300m from the Sabaydee House.
The reason I hadn’t considered Pravee’s House Resort before was the lack of a desk in their rooms. It would have forced me to type my blog posts on the bed – which is exactly what I am doing right now. Not ideal, but of course it works. Anyway, in every other regard my new accommodation is an upgrade: bigger bathroom with skylight, bedroom with 3 windows, higher ceiling, no disturbing smell, a perfectly working fan, a beautiful garden and a private, covered porch. All of that for one dollar less per night than what I had to pay at the Sabaydee House.
Below: My new accommodation: Pravee’s House Resort
I just realised how much my mood has increased and how my recent, mainly negative perception of Pai has changed since I have settled down and decompressed in my new, comfy habitat. Yes, Pai still feels a size too small for me to consider a long-term stay, the weed shop density remains annoying and the town centre is way too touristy.
“Too much complaining, Chris! There must be something good to report as well.” Yepp, guilty as charged…I love complaining. It is part of my German heritage, I suppose. To counter that, here is a positive point that carries a lot of weight for me: The night market has plenty of food stalls that offer vegan delicacies: from muffins to donuts, popcorn, cakes, traditional thai dishes, buddha bowls, samosas, exotic salads...it is plant-based heaven and I am absolutely thrilled about it!
During daytime the selection is more limited and you have to walk a bit further, but there are more than half a dozen dedicated vegan restaurants and cafes within 1km distance from my guesthouse. Today I ate a hearty pumpkin soup and a raw chocolate cheesecake for lunch. Both were exquisitely delicious! I had a really good chat with Nin, one of the two co-owners of the Soul Cafe & Shop and asked her for sight-seeing recommendations - because locals know best, right? More about that in a bit.
Pictures below: Soul Cafe & Shop - a fantastic place to eat, chill and browse eco-friendly products, hand-made goods, crystals and whatnot.
After my scrumptious meal, I walked to a bike rental shop, a house on stilts with a graveyard of bicycles underneath and more in the front- and backyard. Old tyres everywhere and a dude sitting on the ground in front of the house being fully immersed in his work – fixing bikes. He barely spoke any English but he seemed to understand me well enough. What a sweet old man he was. He asked me where I was from and when I said: “Germany”, his eyes lit up and he showed me one of his wrenches with a Made in Germany engraving. I offered my passport and money as a safety deposit for the bike I intended to rent, but he wasn't interested in any of it. Instead he helped me to set up the bike. We changed the handle bar and saddle angle, saddle height, he tightened some screws and bolts, I paid him 100 Baht for two days and that was it. Evidently, he had no worries that I would bring back his bike. In a world in which we have to provide securities all the time for anything we want to loan or borrow, this guy is a bright beacon of trust and faith in humanity. It was apparent that repairing bikes was this man’s passion and renting them out just a side project for him.
I will stay in Pai for another three nights to have enough time to do every activitiy on my to do list and to see all the scenic places that potentially offer amazing photo opportunities. Start is tomorrow before sunrise unless I sleep so well that I prioritise a comforting mattress over a cold morning photo session. It will be a tough decision to make and you surely will hear from me how it went.
23.11.2023 - Morning Trip to Tha Pai Hot Springs
Upon recommendation of Nin from the Soul Cafe I (almost) visited the Tha Pai Hot Springs that are situated around 8km outside of Pai. I woke up at 5:30am without any alarm clock and decided that an early morning shoot would be a terrific idea. I left my guesthouse at 5:50am before sunrise on an overcast night. When the first glow of the sun lit up the horizon... it was no sight to write home about. Undeterred, at several spots along the way I set up my camera on a tripod but the results were underwhelming.
I didn't let the mediocre weather dampen my mood and soldiered on. The terrain made it quite a challenge on my bike that clearly wasn't designed for hill climbing. Close to my destination I discovered a hippie village that looked abandoned - on second thought my assumption might be wrong as the property didn’t look neglected enough.
At the entrance to the hot springs I came across a boom gate with cashier hut. It was at that point I ascertained that I entrance fees are a real thing. Actually, I had pondered about taking money with me, however, ultimately I ditched the idea as I was convinced my mission would be of purely photographic nature and I would be back home before getting hungry and in need to purchase anything.
As you can imagine, the hot springs weren’t the most frequented place in Thailand on a cloudy day at 7:00am, the official opening time. Nobody else than a young guy in the cashier hut were around. I greeted him and quickly explained that I had no money and turned turned around in shame before he even could say anything.
Argh, that was a dissatisfying and anticlimactic end of the first half of my trip, but what else could I have done?Begging for free entry? Nah, too embarrassing.
On my way back home I continued to take more images. Shortly before I arrived in Pai, the sun broke through the clouds. It was only for a few minutes and I scrambled to get as many images from different angles as possible. Literally one of my highlights on that morning. And that’s already it: in total two hours of cycling while snapping a bunch of pics. Even though it wasn't the most amazing mini adventure I’ve ever done, not even close, I enjoyed discovering the sleepy countryside of Pai. Another instance of a “Yeah, it was alright, no regrets.” activity.
