Thailand (Day 35- 41)

In the morning, we headed back to the old town for breakfast. Just as we had finished our meal, a waitress rushed over to us and informed us that the police were at our scooter. Jan quickly ran over, but it was already too late. The policeman had attached a parking boot to our scooter, which we were actually planning to return right afterward. The officer explained that we were parked in a no-parking zone because the curb was red and white striped. We should have parked just half a meter further to the right! So, we had to pay a fine of 500 baht again, but this time we could pay the policeman directly. After that, we went to return the scooter. On the way, we noticed that almost everyone was parked in the no-parking zone and we just had incredibly bad luck that the officer chose to check our scooter.

Afterward, we walked back to the hotel and packed our backpacks. By the way, we had packed way too much and were looking forward to visiting Ida and Leo since we would give them some things.

We then took a taxi to the bus station. We traveled by minivan for about 3 hours on a winding route to Pai. We had been warned beforehand and advised to take something for nausea. Fortunately, we didn't need anything. On the way to Pai, we also saw two car accidents where the cars had gone off the road. Upon arriving in Pai, we first went for lunch and later rented a scooter again to get to our accommodation. The accommodation was right by the river and we stayed in a small bungalow with a private bathroom.

After the long journey, we needed a break before heading out to the night market in the evening. There were plenty of vegan dishes available again, and my highlight was the vegan carrot cake.

Day 36 Pai

In the morning, we first went to a small restaurant to enjoy a delicious smoothie bowl. Then we rode the scooter to a Buddha statue and, once again, we were lucky! The Buddha was completely covered in scaffolding, so we could hardly see it. However, we were compensated with a view of the town.

Afterward, we finally returned to the gym after a long time. When we returned to our accommodation a bit later, we discovered a little market nearby with many different stalls. The people there I would generally describe as alternative or hippie types. Some were even dancing in the street or doing yoga exercises. We both got a delicious tofu wrap.

We ate it in the garden of our accommodation, and it didn't take long for one of the dogs to come over and lie down next to us. I followed the dog's example and lay down in the garden to continue reading my book.

After a longer break, we took the scooter for a quick ride to the market to pick up some fruits. Well packed, we continued to a canyon. We actually wanted to watch the sunset there, but unfortunately, it started to rain.

So we only ate our fruits. Besides melon and water apple, we had gotten a jackfruit. I had known jackfruit from home only as a meat alternative, but when it is really ripe, it tastes very sweet. However, for me, it was already too sweet. The water apple tasted like a watery apple. After that, we returned to the city and, as often, went to the night market again in the evening.

Day 37 Pai

After getting up, we first went to the city for breakfast. This time, we had vegan scrambled eggs with a bagel. Today, a trip to a waterfall was on the agenda. We parked our scooter in the parking lot and saw a sign that read “Entry Prohibited Due to Fire Danger”! However, we decided to go anyway, partly because there were already so many scooters there and the rain season had begun. According to the internet, it takes about 2 hours for one way. However, we took a total of about 6 hours for the round trip. The path itself looked like we were walking through a valley of tears. We could still see some remnants of previous wildfires, like charred tree trunks and the smell of burnt wood. Well, by the time we had traversed the forest, we finally reached the waterfall and were both a bit disappointed. The waterfall was not as spectacular as advertised, and we couldn't even swim there. Moreover, there were a lot of bees buzzing around. We turned back after not even half an hour but saw a snake, many lizards, and countless insects on the way back. However, as I was holding onto a bamboo stick, I suddenly got stung. Fortunately, it only bled a little and the pain went away quickly. For caution, we took a picture of the large black ant with a stinger.

The way back fortunately went a bit faster but was still quite painful for me since I had developed a blister. We then returned to the city, first had some Pad Thai, and took a break. Later, we headed back to the night market.

Day 38 Pai

After breakfast, we headed directly to our day's destination. We drove for a little over an hour through the beautiful mountainous landscape of Papi to a limestone cave. Upon arrival, we went straight to the entrance, where we were approached by a nice American named Max. He asked us if we wanted to do the cave tour together since there were only groups of three, and we could share the entry fee. We agreed and immediately began the tour. Our guide was an older woman named Phu. The cave was really huge, and we stopped at several spots to look at special stones. Additionally, a kind of river ran through the cave. There were hundreds of bats hanging from the ceiling, and we even encountered two dogs in the cave. They naturally got a bit of my fish food that Max had bought at the entrance. Strangely, one of the dogs followed us during part of the tour. After seeing the front part of the cave, we were taken with a bamboo raft to the back part. There, we could feed some fish again.

The end of the cave was really stunning, with hundreds of birds flying at the entrance. After the tour, we both had Pad Thai again and then returned. Along the way, we stopped at a viewpoint that offered a really great view of the mountainous landscape.

Upon arriving at our accommodation, we took a short break before heading back to the night market in the evening.

In conclusion, I must say that I enjoyed Pai the most so far. The nature was truly beautiful, and everything felt very relaxed there.

Day 39 Journey to Chiang Rai

We left around a little after six since our bus was scheduled to leave at 7:00 AM. Upon arriving at the bus station, we quickly grabbed something to eat at 7/11. Then it was a 7-hour bus ride to Chiang Rai. We made a total of 3 stops and even had to change buses once. Upon arriving in Chiang Rai, we first got lunch and then headed to the hostel.

After a short break, we also went to the night market there. This time, there was almost only Thai food available, and I tried fried rice with pineapple for the first time, which I can really recommend. Afterwards, we returned to the hostel, which fortunately was only a 5-minute walk from the market and the bus stop.

Day 40 Chiang Rai

After having toast with jam for breakfast at the hostel, we went to the city to rent a scooter. Our first stop was the blue temple, which looked really impressive and, as the name suggests, was completely blue and adorned with gold. There was no entry fee, and a huge golden Buddha was inside the temple. Next, we went to the golden and white temples. Both temples were right next to each other and were really beautiful. Personally, I liked the white temple the best, which had wonderful silver decorations and was relatively large. We only looked at the temples from the outside as one would have to pay 100 baht entry. Afterward, we had lunch next to the temple. Since we came to Chiang Rai only to see the temples, we thought about what else we could do. As it was 37 degrees hot, we decided to search for a pool. The first pool we found was in a hotel. We decided to just go there and ask how much the entry fee was. Unfortunately, it was too expensive for us. At the entrance, a security staff member opened the barrier to the parking lot, and we were taken to the hotel by a golf cart. The hotel was indeed huge, and we found out that entry would cost 400 baht per person. So, we decided to look for another pool and were taken back by the golf cart. Fortunately, we found a small swimming pool a bit outside of Chiang Rai, where we only had to pay 100 baht entry in total. At a little after four, we made our way back and stopped at a small market. However, we were the only tourists there, and due to minor language barriers, but with the help of Google Translate, we bought some pineapple and a sweet dish. In general, I noticed that many Thais did not speak any English, especially in non-touristy areas. In the evening, we, of course, went to the night market again.

Day 41 Journey to Chiang Mai

After breakfast, Jan quickly filled up the scooter, we checked out, and returned the scooter. Then we sat at the bus stop and waited for our bus. There, we were approached by the tourist police, who asked where we were from and if everything was okay with us. After our confused looks, the female officer explained that everything was fine, and they were just checking in. If we had any problems, we could call the tourist police. At noon, we took the bus to Chiang Mai. Luckily, we had a bus with air conditioning, as it was hot again. After about 4 hours of travel, we finally arrived in Chiang Mai. After a quick lunch, we took a taxi to our new hotel. This time, the hotel was a bit more expensive than the previous accommodations, as we had to pay €16 per night. However, it included free breakfast and even a pool.

After a short break, we went back to the night market. This time, we noticed that there was an even larger market right next to the one we had visited last time. However, the other market was so big that it was completely overwhelming, and we didn't even know where to go.