Plentiful Pai Puns

Apple Pai. Pai in the Sky. Slice of Pai. Clever
We’re held up at the moment, nestled amongst the northern mountains, in lovely Pai. Chiang Mai and Pai are usually given in nearly the same breath but for me, give me Pai for sure.
We spent six total nights in Chiang Mai, somehow managing to do not a whole lot (which in my view, is something in and of itself).

Stayed at Eagle House 2 for the first night after battling a dizzying array of options in the sprawling traveler area of an even bigger sprawling city. Disappointed with the quality there, chose Libra GH up the road on Soi 9 which we found pleasing for the remainder of the stay. It blows me away how many traveler oriented establishments there are in Chiang Mai (focused mainly in the east side of the old city but can be found on nearly any street you happen to stroll down). The Western occupation of the town is abundantly visible in most parts of the town except for the outskirts (as I’ve mentioned, the city suffers badly of sprawl).
International gastronomy seems a honed art: restaurants serve up a plethora of Western dishes of any variety desired, of which we sampled pizza and falafel of pleasingly high quality. Next to any restaurant you’re likely to find a "travel agency" dishing out cheap treks, hilltribe voyeurism, drugged tiger visits and probably a motorbike and bicycle rental. Bicycles for rent in town are of typical horrific quality, mostly due to their lack of even the slightest attention to maintenance. If you search hard enough, you can find quality Trek 3900 (or 4300) MTBs but mine had a ransom of 200B (double the price of a motorbike, figure that one out). Plenty of Westerners walking about and occupying bars and cafes but I found it unfortunate that because of the gigantic size of the "traveler area" there was no hub of action as people spread themselves thinly amongst all of the establishments.
The nightly "bazaar" a bit out of town near the Ping river is mostly a let down, same-same tourist crap abounds. The Sunday night market though, a MUST, it’s spectacular! You’ll find just as many farang as you’ll find Thai browsing the seemingly endless row upon row of tables hawking creative art, jewelry, clothing and food. You’ll find a procession of shoppers marching from Tha Pae gate all the way to nearly the opposite wall 2k away (not including all the off shoots vendors create off the main drag). If you’re in town on a Sunday, you cannot miss this; bring walking shoes though (and an appetite and full wallet).
GT-Rider.com, a website with information focused around moto riding and The Golden Triangle, had recommended for us Jonadda Guesthouse where John could help us gear up for a small moto tour around the north. He set us up with jackets, gloves and helmet for Rachel while I opted to purchase my own by the brand of “Real” which are imported in the US with DOT approval but were had in Chiang Mai for a mere 800B. We were referred over to Tonys Big Bikes and ended up with a Honda VRX400. Given zero prior paired riding experience, we decided it best to start with a day trip; the Samoeng Loop was the obvious choice. Somehow a lot more bending and curving than I expected! Was a serious ride with which came along with it serious riders zooming past in full leathers on their sport bikes. Wasn’t hardly a turn when last on a moto together in Sukhothai so I made sure all the leaning was okay with Rachel (and there was a lot of leaning to be done). The VRX had the right amount of power for the hills and riding two up but the cruiser style riding position gave my legs cramps and even a very calm mannered rider like myself was scraping pegs on the tight corners. Was a fun little joy ride around; didn’t see much of anything though: there would’ve been a beautiful vista above the Samoeng forest but the increasingly annoying shroud of lingering smog/smoke that sticks to the hills in the north like sweet rice to your belly made it almost impossible to enjoy. End of the loop with daylight to spare, we made it up Doi Suthep for another disappointing viewpoint and some more twists and bends (this time more heavily trafficked). By the end of the experience I thought it was fun, but unfortunately at the same time nerve racking. I really now appreciate the ease of riding solo! Handling the issue of balance with a rider behind you is not always easy and I think the greater issue for me is the severely increased responsibility of not only my own life but the life of my passenger. I just couldn’t do the full tour we were thinking about. With approaching Songkran, the danger of being on the road was exponentially higher and the combination was too much for me and just not worth it.

Moto touring plans behind us, was time to leave the city, six days does grow long. Had a hankering for some camping and on the advice of the guidebook, we laid our sights to Khun Tan National Park, a short jaunt by train south.
Hour from Chiang Mai Station we were in Khun Tan feeling a bit confused at the lack of….anything around us. Was fairly clear at this point by the lack of any clear direction in which to go from the station and the rows of stares from the still in place train’s windows, that this wasn’t a stop that most anyone took, especially a couple of farang. Few minutes of head scratching and the path to the park entrance was found (as described in the book, excluding some "minor" details). A 1300m path conveniently connects the train station directly to the park (as opposed to the much longer paved road) but not so conveniently, it’s all uphill, and steeply so!

We didn’t so much expect it but we ended up doing some minor backpacking (opposed to "backpacking", similar I suppose to trekking and "trekking"). An unexpected workout later and suddenly now with a view to the hazy valley below, we reached the park. Fee wasn’t as bas as I expected, they only charge 100B here instead of the sometimes 200B (for whities only of course) and then 30B for the tent pitching privileges (the ticket I noticed was numbered  "1", the first issued this year?). Another trudge with our gear across our backs to our camp site and up the tent went, a satisfying feeling for me at least, maybe because it just gets used to seldom. Luckily very little to zero rain in the north (yet) so being without the rain fly was no problem.

Took the rest of the day to make a challenging hike to the waterfall which despite telling myself I’d likely come to find a very weak trickle of a falls, I still ended up a bit disappointed the sight. The thought of a rushing deluge of water I could stand under and a pool to swim in beneath it couldn’t help but surface in my mind; what we found was everything but; oh well, was still pretty. The park fortunately is well equipped with a small general store and a smaller kitchen which can whip up a few basic Thai dishes. A bit of food in our bellies and the sun down, no disagreement of it being time to turn in.

Keeping to traditional "camping time" we awoke with the crows of roosters and the peeking of an eager sun. Was still a longer hike to the summit we had yet to explore but we were contented at the prior days challenge and made our leave back to the train station (disappointingly a trek not made at all easier by the downhill). Train times were a bit confusing and on top of that, we knew that all trains were nearly guaranteed to be late (as most were bound from Bangkok and destined to run into some sort of delays during the long trip). Unfortunately and surprisingly unhelpful train station with hardly anyone willing the least bit of help. We apparently had just missed a train then had the additional misfortune of the next train being a sleeper for which the ticket price was an insane 240B for the 1hr trip that originally cost us 15B each. Conceded to waiting for the train after that, negotiated some food from the one of two restaurants in the area and parked ourselves at a table to play cards for the 4-5 hours until train arrival. Wasn’t as bad as that sounds; did happen to have the entertainment of the tactical falling of a large tree some Thais decided needed immediate removal by truck (the entirety of the "town", about two dozen people, gathered to watch as well). Picked up our 15B train back to Chiang Mai; ended up less than an hour given the advantage of downhill travel.

Was easier than expected to pick up a minibus to Pai from the Chiang Mai train station; we expected to have to get back into town but the tourist information desk had a “travel agent” there to book tickets and arrange pickup. If we were better informed though, we could’ve just walked an embarrassingly short distance to the Aya office just outside the train station and saved a few baht. For details on this wonderful ride through the hills, you can see the below post.

So here we are, in Pai. Funny to think about, many months ago now, an employee at REI who had been to Thailand insisted that I get to Pai. At the time I nodded and agreed but hadn’t a clue to it’s location. Turns out she gave a hot tip, I do like Pai (although I can definitely see how it is soured within the last years as so many things do [ie the “you should have seen it X years ago” type sayings]).

We’re staying at Mr Jans just down a soi off the road from the bus station. Plenty of options in town and we basically just took a chance on this place: great choice though! The very well kept and detailed rooms are all amongst a medicinal herb garden with gloriously sweet smelling flowers and even a few edible plants I’ve been nibbling at (which have made me daydream of some bizarre mobile garden atop my bike). The attention to detail at Mr Jans is top notch and a mere 200B, total steal. The places along the Pai River have a lot of appeal but if you do want to stay in town, I think Mr Jans is the place.

Took a short stroll out of town, across the river and up a hill to one of the temples. Nice view down to Pai and the surrounds; caught the sunset. Again, disappointing haze; hoping maybe I can see some miraculous day when its clear (maybe after the rain?).

I could definitely spend a while in this town. Would be great if there was a Thai language course here like in Chiang Mai but I don’t believe one exists unfortunately. Also unfortunately, we are set to leave back to Bangkok, this time via short flight from Chiang Mai, so that Rachel can catch her flight home and I can reunite with my bicycle and ride onward after soaking (ha, pun) in some of the Songkran festival water madness (on Khao San road I’m assuming).

09.Apr.09 South East Asia 2009