Hippie village life in Pai

Hello dear ones and warm greetings - once again from a minivan, unfortunately already on my way back from Pai. Oh, it was so beautiful in the mountains surrounding Pai, definitely one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. In this charming mountain village, I realized again that I am an absolute mountain person. There is nothing better than waking up in the morning and looking at breathtaking mountains, breathing fresh air, and enjoying a relaxed life. That's exactly what Pai offers and much more. Pai is a small town with only a few thousand inhabitants, it is three hours away from Chiang Mai by car, and has been known as a 'hippie village' for a long time. In Pai, dropouts, free thinkers, chillers, and nature lovers of all kinds gather. Of course, this pearl is also being discovered by more and more travelers because of its uniqueness, who visit the restaurants, bars, and markets in greater numbers than the locals. However, despite the relatively high influx of tourists to this small town, it was very easy to feel comfortable in Pai. The travelers hanging out here are by no means families, honeymooners, or package holidaymakers, like in Koh Lanta. It is rather a paradise for backpackers and hippie travelers, which gives the atmosphere its unique character. If you travel to Pai, you really have to want it because the journey is not a piece of cake. I feel quite sick in the minivan right now because it is the curviest route I have ever driven. Over 700 bends separate Chiang Mai and Pai, and I have never met anyone in the minivan whose stomach is unaffected by it. However, once you arrive in Pai, you quickly forget about the turbulent journey because of the stunning beauty and the friendliness of the people. After Connor, Josh, and I arrived with big eyes and checked into our admittedly run-down hostel (the room door couldn't be closed, so cats came in at night and jumped and meowed on our beds, showers were only cold, there were constant power outages; but that's not a problem, it's actually funny when the three of us make fun of it), we strolled through the beautiful pedestrian zone, ate delicious Thai food at the beautiful night market, and hopped from bar to bar to enjoy the live music (mostly reggae). Although drugs are officially strictly prohibited in Thailand (jail time threatens, but de facto I see again and again that tourists who get caught have to pay a nice amount of money instead of going to prison - Welcome corruption), you can get joints or mushrooms in every bar here. Alcohol is also available at comparably good prices, so you can't help but empty one glass after another in this exuberant, relaxed atmosphere. What I really like about Pai is the fact that here you can relax and party, but at the same time you can also do a lot of activities if you want to. After I had read through some travel blogs and travel guides, I planned a scooter tour for Josh, Connor, and me to explore the natural beauty the next day. In that respect, the boys and I complement each other perfectly: the two of them would actually spend their travel days without any plan and just eat, drink, sit in the sun, and meet people. I, on the other hand, would be on the go all day, wanting to see as much as possible and forgetting to relax or just sit quietly with a beer. I find it incredibly fascinating how relaxed people like Josh, Connor, and most other travelers here can be. Unlike me, they have no fear of missing out on anything, hardly worry, and just live completely in the moment, while I plan everything too tightly. In a way, they live so much happier with this attitude, even if they see disadvantages in this lifestyle themselves. I hope very much to be able to take a healthy slice of this laid-back, positive attitude home with me. A first step has been taken, listening to a lot of Bob Marley's music =). On the other hand, the boys say that they envy my structure immensely and are grateful that I plan tours and events. They simply ride scooters without any complications, take me on the back, and then go to the places I suggest and that Google Maps spits out to me. While I am very grateful for their driving, they are grateful to see things that they would never have explored without planning master Kathrin. If only we could mix our qualities, life would be easier for both the boys and me. But unfortunately, that is not so easy, so I will have to train myself again and again to relax more and that it is not a shame to not see everything in a place. Life always has a plan for you, it seems, Josh and Connor are doing just fine on their travels...

But since my planning spirit was still active in Pai, we had a beautiful, action-packed day on scooters. First, we explored a fantastic canyon near Pai, through which you can climb if you're brave enough. I know some canyons in America where most hiking trails are clearly marked and more or less secured. Not so with this canyon here. There were hardly any predefined paths, and no safety measures, so you could climb and hike through it at your own risk or not at all. I managed to convince the two of them to do a little climbing, so we enjoyed great views. Our tour continued to the so-called 'land splits'. Here you could see how earthquakes split the ground and created deep gorges. After that, we explored various waterfalls, and some daring tourists even slid down into the water from the top of the waterfalls, including the risk of their lives. Fortunately, all the jumpers we observed were talented enough to jump and hold onto their lives at the same time. Furthermore, we went to the longest bamboo bridge in Thailand, a very fascinating structure. The bridge, which is completely made of bamboo, is over 1 km long and connects a monastery with a mini village. It was really great to walk across this bridge and observe the beautiful mountain village with its relaxed, happy residents. When we stood on the bridge, we saw not only rice fields below us (seen live for the first time in my life, really fascinating), but also buffaloes swimming in the water and birds hunting. Although it was a great feeling to feel the bamboo creaking under our feet, the bridge didn't really feel stable to be honest. Thank goodness most Thai people are small and slim, I don't know if the bridge would otherwise survive for so long... However, during my jungle tour in the national park, I learned that bamboo is a very good, sustainable material for building furniture, containers, and other things. Bamboo is very stable, goes back to nature after 3 years anyway (i.e. can be easily harvested without causing too much harm to nature), and is very easy to grow. Instead of wood and plastic, it is a great alternative to use bamboo products, unfortunately, this trend is not yet so widespread. Especially in the current debate about straws and plastic cutlery in Germany, think about bamboo as an alternative :). If you can't find it in the supermarket, I highly recommend a trip to Thailand for that ;). The bamboo bridge at least has withstood our Western weight (yes, I know, I am a good example of the big European ;)), which is a good sign of quality.

Our scooter tour ended in a really cute Chinese village in the middle of the mountains of northern Thailand. A Chinese community has gathered here and lives there according to Chinese customs (corresponding food and clothing stands), far away from civilization. It was very exciting to see and to realize once again that there are huge differences in the lifestyles of the various Asian countries. Honestly, I still find it difficult with the unfriendly, cool demeanor that seems Chinese to me, but who knows what they think of me. At least the Chinese village had a beautiful viewpoint from which we watched a wonderful sunset. What a great day surrounded by such impressive mountains and valleys! Of course, the evening was crowned with live music and alcohol, the boys deserved a reward for all the walking with me. But I must admit that going out in Pai is really fun for me too, the live music and relaxed atmosphere are so much fun that even I accept a hangover and less sightseeing the next day. But despite a slight hangover and being woken up by cats at night, we went on a nice hike to the 'White Buddha' in Pai today, which is a huge white Buddha statue in the middle of a mountain in Pai. We hiked up there and enjoyed great views of the cute mountain village again. I could do something like this for hours, just hike up somewhere and enjoy the view of mountains and valleys. Unfortunately, my planning drive has once again taken away the opportunity to further enjoy the views in Pai. After not even 3 days, I'm leaving Pai already, even though I would have loved to explore more waterfalls, caves, and hot springs in the area. I would also have liked to continue traveling with Connor and Josh, who can of course spontaneously stay in Pai without having made an advance departure plan: Somehow we have become a mini family. Each with their own quirks, peculiarities, and preferences, often completely different in many ways, and yet, or maybe because of that, we have learned to appreciate each other. We simply accepted and loved each other with our quirks, had a great time together, but at the same time, also reflected on how crazy we sometimes live. When you build that kind of trust and can be somewhat genuine with others instead of having to engage in travel small talk, it really hurts to go alone and leave such people behind. Nevertheless, I am already on my way back to Chiang Mai because I have booked a three-day mountain tour from there starting tomorrow: hiking and rafting in the mountains and jungle, staying and learning to cook with hill tribes, and with a bit of luck, seeing elephants. Of course, I'm also very much looking forward to this tour, hoping that it will be as amazing as I imagine it. However, I am once again experiencing the disadvantage of my planning obsession: leaving much too beautiful places much too early without being able to spontaneously stay longer. Once again, I remember Monk KK's words: 'For a happy life, just try to find balance! Balance is the key in every sphere of life!' Certainly very true... just how I could implement balance in the midst of the inner conflict between planning obsession and simply living in the moment, I would have to ask KK again. Maybe he can help me with the solution... otherwise: Recognizing the problem is hopefully already half the solution. In this sense, I hope for an inspiration in the mountains ;). Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while, there will be neither electricity nor internet with the hill tribes. I wish you all a relaxed week, while I get to chill in the middle of nature!