Tour around Pai

On Tuesday I decided to do a tour around Pai. Everywhere they sell half or full day city tours and already the day before I had purchased a half  day tour in the afternoon. The other four guests on our tour were from Korea and a young couple from Poland. Then we were loaded on one of these pickup trucks which they have everywhere here. We joked about nationality segregation. The Asians were up front inside the car and the Europeans were on the rear of the car outside. But we didn’t mind as all of us were not crazy about air condition. 

Then the tour started. We had no tour guide, but only a driver guide, or better only a driver. We were assured before that the guide speaks English. However his knowledge of the English language was very limited. But he hardly talked anyway. He drove us from one sight to the next one and always smiled friendly, however didn‘t explain or even say anything. Sometimes we guessed were we are, sometimes we had no idea and we never knew when it was time to be back at the car.

Our first stop was the „White Buddha.“ There we had to climb many stairs til we reached the enormous statue of Buddha. I don’t know how many, but I know that my muscles are still hurting today, especially when I walk downhill or downstairs. 

At the next stop we had no clue where we were. Was it the „Chinese Village“ which we had in our programm? Or a view point? Or the Café of Love? When we asked the guy afterwards we understood that it was just a view point. We took nice pictures from there. 

The next stop was the Café of Love, we were lucky - there was a sign. And we managed to eat a little bit there, which was even more important.

Then we drove to a place which is known as   „Split Earth“, because the land split there one day for an unknown reason, and afterwards to the bamboo bridge and to a mini waterfall. Finally we arrived at a Canyon, where we had more than one hour time to watch the sunset. There I met the retired teacher from Germany, who is traveling for three months, again, and we sat together and talked for a while. When it was time for the sun to set many people were at the Canyon and it was a very nice atmosphere. A little after six it was time to drive home and when going  to my bus I also met my Austrian neighbours from my hotel. 

In the evening I went again to the street market where I had once again delicious food. As a desert I had wonderful tiny coconut pancakes. Then I strolled around in beautiful evening Pai with its wonderful restaurants and bars and finally I sat down in a bar with life music where I had a good Pina Colada. There I met three people from Bavaria, who invited me to sit with them. They had driven to Pai from Chiang Mai with one of these small motorbikes.

One the way back I had one more drink in a hippy bar with life music from the seventies.

On the next day, Wednsday morning, I had one of the best breakfasts I have ever had in my life: Avocado toast with poached  eggs. It was soooo delicious. And funny - the guys I had met from Bavaria the other night had their breakfast in the same place. 

At 11 it was time for check out and to walk to the place from where the mini bus would take us home. My Austrian neighbours were accidentally on the same minibus to Chiang Mai. As we wait at the bus station all of a sudden a boy comes up to me and hugs me. It was Björn, who has been sitting next to me in the bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. 

The ride to Chiang Mai took a little more than three hours, I was again sitting next to the driver, enjoying the landscape and listening to an audio book (a new one this time). In Chiang Mai I took a Tuktuk to my hotel and spend the rest of the day at and in then pool and the evening in the Old City.