Day 107 – Going to Pai (18/11/2015)
We had breakfast and then we started packing. I feel like it gets more annoying every time. I’m starting to hate my backpack. It took us about two hours and then it was time to check out.
We made our way to Noi’s and Urs’ apartment with all our stuff. By the time we got there Caleb was dripping. The heat has been crazy since we’re in Hua Hin. So we went straight into the pool. Caleb and I didn’t wanna do anything today because we had a very long bus ride ahead of us. Noi and Urs went to see the King’s palace and we stayed at their place. We enjoyed the pool for a while, after that we worked (editing pictures and writing diary) for a bit and then I wrote an inventory list for their apartment because they wanna rent it out from now on.
When they came back they brought us Pad Thai and chicken for lunch. We were really getting spoiled by them. Soon it was time to leave. Noi and Urs accompanied us to the bus station and off we went to the next destination. I really enjoyed the time in Hua Hin. Again I was overwhelmed by generosity. We had a great time with Noi and Urs. Next time it’s our turn. I’m already looking forward to a cozy raclette night in Switzerland.
The bus was amazing. We were impressed. I mean, yeah we paid a bit extra for a VIP bus but we didn’t expect it to be that cool. We had our own screen on the back of the seat in front of us. And there was a stewardess on the bus, who brought us snacks and drinks. And the seats were pretty big and we could put the back really far down. But still, after some hours it got quite uncomfortable. It wasn’t easy to sleep, we woke up all the time. At about 1 am, right after I fell asleep, we stopped for dinner. Dinner was included but the food was pretty bad. After a 30 minute break we were back on the bus. The whole ride took exactly 12.5 hours. That’s as long as our flight was from Zurich to Singapore!
Day 108 – Arriving in Pai (19/11/2015)
After long 12 hours we finally arrived in Chiang Mai. It was 6 in the morning and we had no idea what to do. It took us about ten minutes to decide to keep going to Pai. Pai and Chiang Mai are the last two destinations on our schedule for Thailand. I feel like we don’t have enough time to see both places properly but we have to try. Pai is further north than Chiang Mai, so it would have been nicer to do Chiang Mai first but because there is a lantern festival on the 25th of November and our flight out of Bangkok is on the 26th, we have to do Chiang Mai at the end.
So we got a ticket to Pai and only five minutes later we were sitting in a mini van. The ride took three hours and it was horrible. The road consisted of thousands of curves and our driver was going as fast as possible. My back hurt from sliding to the right and to the left. We were so tired but it was impossible to sleep. It was torture.
When we finally made it to Pai we couldn’t wait to go to bed. We had already booked two beds in a dorm at Baan Mai Sak Hostel. As soon as we checked in, we took a nap. We didn’t wanna sleep for too long because as I said, we don’t have time to dilly dally anymore. So after about a two to three hour nap we got up and took a shower. We were quite hungry and went to a restaurant close to the hostel for some Pad Thai. Unfortunately we didn’t make a very good choice with the restaurant. It was the worst Pad Thai we’ve had so far. I wanted to get a massage for a while and I really wanted one in Thailand. I found a place in the LonelyPlanet and that’s where we went. They didn’t have time so I made an appointment for later. We went back to the hostel and just hung out before I went back to Pai Traditional Thai Massage. I got a one hour oil massage and it was so painful. It really really hurt but I hope that’s a good thing.
When I got back Caleb was sitting in a hammock, drinking whisky with the owner of the hostel. We were hanging out in the common area for a while, I wrote diary for a bit and then we went to the night market. I always love night markets but the one here was special. It’s really big and there are so many different things to eat. The best thing is that everything is in English, which makes it a lot easier. I fell in love with Pai. It’s such a cute village. Every second person that you see on the street is a serious hippie and I’ve never seen that many dread locks in my entire life. Pai is a bit like Ubud but more authentic and even more hippiey. On the way back to the hostel we walked into an American girl, who was in our group at Khao Sok National Park. Sometimes the world is so small.
Back at the hostel we sat outside for a while and talked to the owner and soon it was bed time. We were both so tired from our long trip.
Day 109 – Piranha fishing and Pai Canyon (20/11/2015)
As soon as we got up, Caleb went to get a scooter. We only had today in Pai. Tomorrow we’re already leaving again, so we had to get going. Caleb got a pretty cool bike, it looked like a motorcycle and you can probably already imagine how excited he was about it. Our plan for the day was to go Piranha fishing and then see the Pai Canyon. But first we had to get some breakfast. We went to Thai Kebab and kebab tickled our fancy so much that we decided to skip breakfast and have lunch. It was delicious!
The way to the piranha fishing place was beautiful. The nature up here is amazing. When we got there, the prices were much more expensive than what we had read online and that’s when we realized that we were at the wrong place. Back on the scooter the landscape got better and better. I’m so glad that we came so far up to the north. The piranha fishing place was pretty nice made. We paid THB 100 for a fishing rod and THB 50 for a pork liver and bread to use as bait. By the way the chance that you catch a piranha there is not very high. They only have some in there. Caleb prepared his rod and I have to admit, I was pretty impressed about his know-how. Again and again he proofs that he can do everything. We were sitting there and Caleb couldn’t wait to catch something. I honestly got bored pretty quickly but Caleb was completely into it and got rewarded. A fish got hooked and it was actually quite a big one. I was freaking out because I felt so bad for the fish. Caleb at the same time, was so excited and maybe just a little bit overstrained, so he hooked himself because the fish was flopping around like crazy. It only took some seconds and he released him back into the water. It was a horrible experience for me. Poor fish is probably traumatized forever. Caleb couldn’t give up yet, he wanted to catch another one, so we kept waiting and waiting but it didn’t happen again and we finally left.
Then we made our way to the Pai Canyon and I have to mention the incredible landscape again. So beautiful! And so was the canyon. It was not just an incredible view, it was also quite a lot of adrenaline flow when we were walking on it. it was pretty scary from time to time because with one wrong step we could have did a terrible death but of course that made it even more fun. We needed some adventure. We didn’t have enough in Thailand yet. We walked around for a while, took lots and lots of pictures and then we settled down for sunset. It was amazing!
We drove back home with our bike and it was actually kind of cold, which we’re so not used to anymore but we enjoyed it. We were starving and almost ran to the night market as soon as we got to the hostel. Even if we already went there yesterday, it was exciting again. We had a lot of different food and then we went home. We sat outside for a while and had a drink and over was our day in Pai.
The Travelling Smiths 