Pai

The journey started with a fully packed minivan from Chiang Mai to Pai, which took about 3.5 hours. This small town with only about 2000 inhabitants is apparently known as a hippie village. In any case, there was a lot going on in the Walking Street, with bars and restaurants everywhere. In the evening, the night market opened, where there was a wide selection of vegan and vegetarian food, much to our delight, as we often had trouble finding something without meat at the markets. The bars were filled with party-goers, and we almost felt too old for that 😁 Overall, our days in Pai were characterized by scooter tours through the beautiful nature and sunsets - and it was cold, only 11 degrees at night 🥶

Our accommodation was about 8 minutes by scooter from the center. We had a cute bungalow with two terraces, surrounded by gardens and fields. There were also many cute cats and dogs living on the property ... but unfortunately also two loud roosters, which sometimes drove Jana crazy 🙈

On the first day, we had three scooters until the afternoon, so everyone could ride on their own. As a small gang, we drove past beautiful nature and a small temple to the Bamboo Bridge. This leads through many rice fields, which are currently unfortunately harvested. When they are in full bloom, it probably looks even more beautiful. At the end there is a small hidden temple, where monks live. In the evening, we ended the day with a sunset at Pai Canyon and a cool Chang beer.

On the next day, we went to Yun Lai Viewpoint, which, as it seemed to us, belongs to a Chinese-inspired village. From here you have a beautiful view of Pai. Sascha and Jana made plans to drive there the next morning to see the sunrise (Philip thought it was a bit too early😉). Then we went to a waterfall, where we took a refreshing bath and sunbathed. Otherwise, we cruised around the beautiful surroundings of Pai with only two scooters now (unfortunately, the pink scooter was only temporarily booked and quite old). In the evening, on the way to the second sunset, we discovered a beautiful temple complex that we almost had all to ourselves. Philip and Sascha were close to adopting two super cute kitten 🐈‍⬛ But in the end, we left them with their mother and hurried to our second sunset spot at the Big Buddha.

The next morning, our alarm clock rang very early. Luckily, Jana was already awake earlier thanks to the night-active rooster and was super fit for the drive to the sunrise at Yun Lai Viewpoint. The red lanterns looked mystical in the darkness, you could see them illuminating the path from afar. Gradually it became brighter and in the end you could see the red ball rising above the mountain. As a reward, we treated ourselves to a delicious tea, which was served in a cool Chinese teapot with incredibly tiny cups. After a hearty breakfast and the first workout of the trip, we drove through the national park to hot springs. The water was pleasantly warm and we splashed around again for some time. After refueling with super delicious Pad Thai (maybe even tastier than in Chiang Mai 🧐), we continued to the Doi Kiew Viewpoint and from there to supposed caves that unfortunately could not be visited as the stairs seemed to have collapsed. In the evening, we attempted our first hot pot. It's like a fondue with (hopefully) vegetable broth. As we weren't sure how it works, we tried to ask the staff, but unfortunately they spoke very little English, so we simply observed the other Thai guests. Apparently, the ingredients are not added individually, but all at once into the broth, so we did the same and lo and behold, you definitely get full faster than with "normal" fondue 🫕

The next morning, we returned to Chiang Mai with the minivan, this time with a speedy driver, or as Philip says, "he drives like a maniac". We still had a few hours before our night train departed. So we raced to the old town with a tuk-tuk - this time the version with the bench parallel to the scooter and Philip behind the driver. Now we are sitting in the night train and are curious about how we will sleep here 🛏 Tomorrow morning we will arrive in Bangkok after about 13 hours.