Arrived in Pai...

Yesterday I zoomed from Chiang Mai to Pai in a 15-seater minibus, it was a real winding road. Since I was squished between the window and my neighbor on the too small seats, I hardly took any photos 😬

Just arrived, I actually wanted to go back immediately...

Pai is a small mountain village in the middle of nowhere, which was eventually populated by incoming tourists and seems to be the hippie capital of Thailand seems. There are some nice restaurants, but it's not really my thing...

Moreover, my hostel was not great either 😬. Crappy mattress, power plug somewhere far away, no free cheesecake (😱), and everything else was just average for 5€ (scandal!😀)

That's why I moved to another hostel today, where I sleep in a tent, which is located in an air-conditioned hall!? (for 2.50€ per night)🤔... anyway, I will check it out!

So far, one big plus is that I found a sports field with everything👍

In Pai, there is a "market" every evening with nice food and other entertainment... but other than that, it's only semi-busy😀

That's why today I rented a scooter (5€ with insurance for 24 hours) and visited the main attractions (White Buddha, Grand Canyon, a few waterfalls)... it was pretty awesome, especially riding up and down the winding roads with the scooter 💥 But I also ate enough mosquitoes and who knows what!😄

Nobody here cares that these are 110cc scooters and I don't have an international driver's license or any permit for such a vehicle. There are no police checks like in Chiang Mai here😋👍

I will spend one more night in Pai and tomorrow take the bus back to Chiang Mai... it's the only city that can be reached from here...

Update:

The night in the tent was pretty cool. The mattress was quite hard (more like a gymnastics mat from PE class) but I slept well💤 There was air conditioning in the room and a fan in the tent. I don't think I need to explain what possibilities arise when farts come up (CC: Funki, DeFi) 😂

They even serve "breakfast" here! (just toast with jam, but it's enough for now👍)

In the afternoon at 5 o'clock, I'm going back to Chiang Mai, so another 3.5 hours squeezed in a minibus with 13 other people and (probably) a completely crazy driver😄

Originally, I planned to visit an elephant reserve today, but it rained all night and according to the forecast, it will continue all day... obviously not great🤔

...

Okay, I changed my return trip time (for 80 cents😬) and I'm already heading back at 2 pm. I canceled the elephant camp, but I'm sure there will be another opportunity in Laos!

Now it's time for the "waiting game" again until departure. I've already checked out of the hostel and still have 2 hours to kill, but I found a shop with good coffee and cake!💪

One more night in my old hostel in Chiang Mai today (which means free cheesecake again🙌) and tomorrow to Chiang Rai or maybe directly to Laos... I have to research again how it works best 🤓