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| Hills surrounding Pai |
The day after arriving in Chiang Mai, we took a minivan to Pai, a small town 150 km north-west. This is a mountainous road that is notoriously windy and causes many voyagers a bout of motion sickness (not us though!). The minivan driver put on his playlist including John Denver, America, and Dire Straits when another tourist requested party music.
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| Some of the locals |
Pai was once a sleepy town and a mountain hiker's paradise, but it has recently gained a chilled "hippy" vibe and becomes infested with tourists during the peak season. To escape the tourist centre, we stayed just out of town at Bannamhoo Bungalows for NZ $16 per night. This place was perfect! A cosy and clean private bungalow with an outdoor bathroom and shower. There was a hammock and deck chair on our front porch, but also three communal open-air lounge rooms to relax or eat food. Oh... and some very friendly cats and a dog called Ben. This was one of our favourite places to stay in Thailand!
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| Our bungalow |
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| Watching the sunrise on our porch |
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| Our bedroom at Bannamhoo Bungalows |
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| Ben the dog |
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| Dennis and Mon (the cat) |
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| Mangos are the best fruit known to man |
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| Some down time with coffee and a book |
Whilst in Pai, we decided to be brave and hire a scooter for three days. The scooter gave us the freedom to explore the natural attractions surrounding Pai without paying for a taxi or tuk-tuk (which seemed few and far between in the small town). Our scooter cost 150 baht per day (NZ $18.70 for three days) and we spent another 100 baht to fill it up twice (NZ $4.15). Hiring a scooter in Thailand is very popular and fairly dangerous due to the frantic, intense, and often reckless driving style that is very unfamiliar to westerners. However, we felt that the roads in Pai were quiet enough for us to safely navigate the countryside on a scooter, but we would not recommend hiring a scooter in a big city without a lot of experience in south-east Asian driving!
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| Our scooter in Pai |
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| Dennis did most of the driving |
Pai is beautiful, relaxed, fun, and cheap. There is little wonder why it has become such a hotspot for young tourists. We enjoyed visiting the Chinese village, as it felt like we had stepped into a quiet town in China. From almost anywhere in the valley, a giant white Buddha can be seen sitting on the hill. We went to watch the sunset at the white Buddha monument, along with 100 other tourists. There was also plenty of downtime for us to chill out and enjoy the surroundings.
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| View from Chinese Village |
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| We had a tea and dried fruit tasting at the Chinese village |
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| House at the Chinese village |
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| Central lake and square of shops |
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| Admiring the view |
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| The White Buddha |
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| Sunset in Pai |
Thanks to our scooter, we were able to explore the surrounding natural attractions of Pai. It was a shame that the land was so dry, as the waterfalls were small trickels, the rice fields were dry, and the mountains were brown. We still had a great time and loved seeing the scenery. One morning we drove our scooter to the Pai canyon.
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| Our scooter in the middle of nowhere |
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| Although the waterfalls were dry, the wildlife did not disappoint |
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| Safety first! |
We expected a nicely groomed trail to meander through the hills and valleys of Pai canyon, but instead, we found warning signs stating "DANGER: steep cliffs" and 30 cm wide dust paths with sheer 20 m drops on either side. We climbed up the white sandy hills and carefully followed the trails through the canyon. For our efforts, we were rewarded with 360˚ views of the Pai valley, as well as some very dusty clothes. We highly recommend going to Pai canyon! It was a great adventure!
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| Spot Dennis admiring the view at Pai canyon |
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| Pai Canyon |
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| Walking on a cliff's edge |
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| Thumbs up for not falling off a cliff! |
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| A standard path |
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| Erin's sandals post-adventuring (they are normally black) |
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| Bridge built by the Japanese in WWII in Pai |
The nightlife in Pai was great too! Each night we picked one of the quirky bars to enjoy a large Chang beer (750 mL for NZ $4.15) or a cocktail, and then wandered the night market to find some dinner; noodle soups, meat skewers, stir-fried green vegetables, mango sticky rice, and a bag of fresh strawberries were our favourites. It was a chilled out place to explore in the evenings, but we had the feeling that it became a party scene later in the night. Westerners who had taken up residence in Pai and became full-time hippies leapt at us from bars, saying "what are you doing tonight?!" and refusing to let us past them without taking a flier. We are keen for a good night, but maybe not with overly persistent smelly stoner hippies. It was experiences and people like this that sadly seemed to suck the native Thai culture from the area.
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| Beersie and a game of pool (Dennis won, as always) |
There is so much to do in Pai and we could have easily spent a week there. We hope to return to Pai closer to the rainy season when the mountains are green, the waterfalls fully flowing, and the rice fields are alive and lush. After three days, we regretfully returned our scooter, got on the minivan, and returned to Chiang Mai (with only one unpleasant emergency stop required some poor guy in the backseat).
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| Mum and babe |
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| We love Pai! |
On a Sunday evening, there is a walking street market in Chiang Mai. We tried to walk down the street, but a river of tourists made that challenging, with constant pushing past stalls selling identical souvenirs, jewellery, or light cotton pants with patterns of elephants on them. After 25 days in Thailand, we decided that we didn't need any of these trinkets and walked home for an early night.
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| Chiang Mai sunset |
Chiang Mai was originally the capital of the Lan Na Kingdom (1296-1768) before it was unified with the Kingdom of Thailand. Whilst in Chiang Mai, we visited the Lanna Folklife Museum, where we learnt about how the Lanna people lived, what they wore, and their Buddhist lifestyle. We also visited the Lanna Architectural Centre, where we saw small-scale models of various buildings around Chiang Mai that were built in a hybrid style of European and traditional Northern Thai, which were usually built with dark teak wood.
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| Lanna Folklife Museum |
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| Spooky looking displays of Lanna clothing |
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| Lanna Architectural Centre |
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| Buddha at Lanna Architectural Centre |
Wat Chedi Luang Varavihara is also an intriguing site to visit in Chiang Mai. The Lanna-style Chedi was built in 1441 and was possibly the largest structure in ancient Chiang Mai. The top of the Chedi is partially collapsed due to an earthquake in the 16th century or possibly when the city was retaken from the Burmese. Either way, it was interesting to walk around and was framed beautifully in the evening light.
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| Wat Chedi Luang Varavihara |
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Inside this building is the city pillar.
Unfortunately, woman cannot enter because menstruation is considered unclean for such a sacred place |
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| Collapsed top of Wat Chedi Luang Varavihara |
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| The temples were made of beautiful dark teak wood |
Our evenings in Chiang Mai were often spent at the night bazaar, where there were plenty of souvenir stalls and food carts. There was also a stage and a live band playing covers of western hits; in spite of mixing up their words a few times, they were very good! We were also entertained by an annoying woman and her partner having a disagreement.
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| The band and the annoying woman (once her partner had stormed off) |
After 3 days, we caught a bus to Chiang Rai, the smaller, mountainous little brother to Chiang Mai. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to embark on a trek into the wilderness to visit the Northern Thai hill tribes, where the women stretch their necks with golden rings. Instead, we hired another scooter and had our own impromptu adventure.
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| Scootering again! |
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| Scootering through banana plantations around Chiang Rai |
Firstly, we visited the famous White Temple (Wat Rong Khun), built by Mr Chalermchai Kositpipat, a local artist who has an interesting, extravagant, and controversial take on Buddhism. The bridge to the main temple (ubosot) carries people over white outstretched hands, symbolising that the way to happiness is above greed, desire, and temptation. The main ubosot is completely white on the outside and covered in glass mosaic tiles. However, the inside is a burst of golden ferocious colour and a mix of contemporary paintings and traditional Buddhist images. The inner back wall of the temple is painted with a mural of modern images, such as cartoons of superheroes, fictional characters, and western idols (e.g. Michael Jackson, Spongebob, Harry Potter, Freddy Kruger, Hello Kitty, and Superman), terrorism, disease, oil rigs, and common objects of wealth. This mural represents the greed, futility, and desires of the mind, as well as the destructive influence that humanity has had on the planet. Th fiery mural leads towards the front of the temple where solid Buddha and monk statues sit, backed by a painting of enlightenment, the final step in the Buddhist pathway. We had a very thought provoking morning! Kudos to Mr Kositpipat and the 40 million Thai baht that he has spent on the temple so far. We are excited to visit again in 2070 when construction of the temple complex is estimated to be finished.
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| First look at Wat Rong Khun |
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| Hands under the bridge to Wat Rong Khun |
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| Wat Rong Khun |
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| Interesting fence posts for a temple |
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| Even the road cones were weird! |
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| Wishing well |
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| Wat Rong Khun was not your standard Buddhist temple |
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| We signed a lucky leaf that will be hung around the temples |
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| We returned to Wat Rong Khun in the evening and we were treated with a stunning view |
After reflecting over a mango smoothie, we decided to venture out to the Khun Korn waterfall in the Khun Korn Forest National Park on our little scooter. In contrast to Pai, where the land and waterfalls had been very hot and dry, the jungle around Chiang Rai was lush and green, and the rivers flowed steadily. We tramped through the jungle for 1.5 km to get to the waterfall, where we were pleasantly surprised by its beauty. Sitting on a rock, feeling the cool mist from the waterfall, and listening to the sounds of the jungle was a lovely way to spend the hottest part of the day.
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| Trying not to get wet feet! |
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| Khun Korn waterfall |
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| Khun Korn waterfall |
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| Jungle walk |
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| Appropriate attire for walking through the jungle? |
On the way back from the waterfall, we stopped for some food by the river. There were small bamboo platforms lining the river where Thai people swam and floated around on swimming rings. We crossed a flimsy bridge, pointed to some food on someone else's table and sat down to enjoy the view. Our food ended up being deliciously seasoned deep fried chicken bits (cartilage and all) and spiced marinated chicken wings; all washed down with a cold Chang beer made this a fabulous afternoon tea.
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| Afternoon tea (Thai-style)! |
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| River where we stopped for afternoon tea |
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| The rice fields were much greener in Chiang Rai |
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| And if you didn't take our word for it, here is a picture of some healthy green rice plants |
Although we didn't have long in Chiang Rai, it was a cool place to visit. Hiring a scooter there was a great idea because we wouldn't have seen the waterfall or national park, or had afternoon tea by the river. In the evenings in Chiang Rai, we went to the night market and had a super cheap, but super tasty hotpot; it was nice to cook again!
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| Iconic clocktower of Chiang Rai |
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| Hotpot for dinner |
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| Chiang Rai sunset |
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| Hiring a scooter was the best idea! |
Leaving Chiang Rai felt odd; this was our last stop in Thailand. We had one night in Chiang Mai, and then we were flying to Phnom Phen. We had been in Thailand for 28 days and that was hard to believe! After all that we had seen, experienced, and eaten, our time in Thailand had gone so fast! We spent our last night in Thailand enjoying mojitos, being taught how to ride a unicycle by an 11-year-old Thai boy, and eating our final Pad Thai in the night bazaar listening to decent Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, and Rihanna covers.
Goodbye, Thailand. We hope to visit again!
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