After a trip like this, the first question asked is “what was your favorite place,” an impossible question to answer. Although when I start to really think about it, I realized that the most unexpected place that I loved was Northern Thailand, in particular the small hippie town of Pai. We took a bus from Chiang Mai about 3 hours north near the Burma border. We had heard that the town was tiny, but worth the trip up, and that’s exactly what it was. The road north is along a very windy road weaving through the mountains. It was absolutely beautiful.
We checked into the BEST guesthouse/hostel in Pai, Darling View Point Resort. It’s located slightly outside of town, across an Indiana Jones bridge, along a dirt road and up a slight hill, providing their guests with treehouse like bungalows, a magnificent mountainous view and an inviting nightly bonfire. We also lucked out meeting an amazing group of fellow travelers hailing from Canada, Germany, the UK and even back home. It felt as if we were at camp, checking in with each other to see if anyone was up for wandering into town for a meal or take an adventure via motorbike to a local natural attraction. Once again we had introduced ourselves to people who we can now call new travel friends, and people we even ran into later on in Bangkok. Small world encounters will never get old.
One thing we had heard about Pai is that it’s a great place to learn how to ride a motorbike. Before Pai, we had been in large cities and simply the idea of riding a motorbike solo was terrifying. So this was it, time to face fears and get on those scooters!! Yet one thing we didn’t hear about Pai was how hard it was to actually get a scooter. Tourists are up early, making their way into town to snatch up the limited amount of bikes. Our first day trying to get a bike was very frustrating. The lines were insane and our patience were surely being tested. We decided to call it quits for the day and try again early the next morning, but in the meantime we had half of a hot and humid day ahead of us. Anytime we found ourselves with some downtime and couldn’t decide what we should do, we resorted to “what would we do if we were at home in this situation,” and the answer was… find a swimming pool.
My brother had read about a local public swimming pool just outside of town, and after about a mile or so walk we found Fluid. It was perfect. The grassy pool deck was filled with backpackers lounging around, drinking cocktails, eating your standard pool snackage and dipping into the refreshing semi-chlorinated water (can’t win them all). Maybe we wont discuss whether or not the facility was up to code, but it was exactly what we were looking for. We spent the afternoon relaxing around this hidden gem in our new favorite mountain escape.
Each evening we walked around the nightly market, enjoying the vibrant energy and delicious street food this small hippie town has to offer. I could have spent at least a week just in Pai, lounging around the pool, exploring the beautiful natural sights and eating some of the best barbequed ribs I’ve ever had in my life from my favorite street market in Thailand. My favorite place on the trip is an impossible question to answer, but Pai will always hold a special place.
One thing we had heard about Pai is that it’s a great place to learn how to ride a motorbike. Before Pai, we had been in large cities and simply the idea of riding a motorbike solo was terrifying. So this was it, time to face fears and get on those scooters!! Yet one thing we didn’t hear about Pai was how hard it was to actually get a scooter. Tourists are up early, making their way into town to snatch up the limited amount of bikes. Our first day trying to get a bike was very frustrating. The lines were insane and our patience were surely being tested. We decided to call it quits for the day and try again early the next morning, but in the meantime we had half of a hot and humid day ahead of us. Anytime we found ourselves with some downtime and couldn’t decide what we should do, we resorted to “what would we do if we were at home in this situation,” and the answer was… find a swimming pool.
My brother had read about a local public swimming pool just outside of town, and after about a mile or so walk we found Fluid. It was perfect. The grassy pool deck was filled with backpackers lounging around, drinking cocktails, eating your standard pool snackage and dipping into the refreshing semi-chlorinated water (can’t win them all). Maybe we wont discuss whether or not the facility was up to code, but it was exactly what we were looking for. We spent the afternoon relaxing around this hidden gem in our new favorite mountain escape.
Each evening we walked around the nightly market, enjoying the vibrant energy and delicious street food this small hippie town has to offer. I could have spent at least a week just in Pai, lounging around the pool, exploring the beautiful natural sights and eating some of the best barbequed ribs I’ve ever had in my life from my favorite street market in Thailand. My favorite place on the trip is an impossible question to answer, but Pai will always hold a special place.
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