Pai, Thailand

The next day we took a bus to Pai, which is about 3 hours west of Chiang Mai, close to the Myanmar/Burma border.  For the first time in my life, I got smart about traveling in a van through the curvy mountains, instead of feeling terribly car sick and wanting to vomit! I found a new friend…Dramamine!  Unfortunately, the Chinese girl in the van with us had not been introduced to this miracle worker! I tried to feed her many of my pills, but she could not keep them down.

After arriving in Pai we realized that things are crazy this time of year. We had great visions of renting motorbikes everyday to explore this beautiful countryside…BUT, everyone else and their dog had the same idea! So, no motorbikes for us the first day! We realized that our hotel was about 2km out of town and the only transportation we could find were our own 2 legs! After Lance and Anne had given up, I decided I would sweet talk a local man, driving by on his motorbike/cart contraption, to give us a ride. At first, he kept driving on…..but we saw him keep looking back at us as he drove away and finally he turned around to save us! We were very grateful!  The ride took a humorous turn when the last kilometer was totally uphill and his little motorbike couldn’t handle 3 “big” Americans! So, Lance hopped off and the driver jogged beside his bike and was working the gas! We burned a few calories from laughing during the whole event!

A new kind of incense holder???

The next morning we woke up and headed down into Pai to check out the motorbike situation again. After waiting for almost 30 minutes again at the bus station, only to find out they have only 1 bike for use, we headed out to see a waterfall. This is a waterfall that is off the beaten path due to motorbikes only being able to get within 7 kilometers. We marched on as we passed beautiful fields with water buffalos grazing on the outskirts of Pai. Eventually the small road ends and there is a river we cross to officially start “the trek.” We were told we would cross the river a few times, but that turned into a few dozen before the day was over. Good thing it was only a foot deep or so, but it made for wet feet for the day! After crossing some dense terrain we got on a path and followed the river as it winded up the mountain. It seemed the farther we went the harder and more steep the terrain was getting. 

We had thoughts of turning around, but then we ran into a Thai couple who was heading back down. They told us a man fell and broke his leg near the waterfall and that they were going to town to get help. We couldn’t turn back at this point as we knew there was an injured man ahead of us. So, we hiked for another 30 minutes until we came upon a man sitting on a large rock with a stick in his hands and both feet on the ground. He was grimacing and pointed us on towards the waterfall. I almost found this comical as his left foot was swollen through his shoe and you could see blood all over because his broken leg had punctured the skin. We really didn’t know what to do at this point……but we got him to lie down and elevate the leg. We then gave him some pain reliever, water, crackers and peanuts. Just laying there he was shivering from the shock and seemed to be in a great deal of pain. Time went on and we soon found ourselves having to make a decision. It was agreed that the last thing any of us 3 would want would be stuck out in the middle of nowhere with a broken leg alone at dark. But, we also knew that the three of us would have a difficult time getting down the mountain if it was dark. So, we decided to build a fire and then hoof it down as quickly as we could. It was a real nice fire, but I can only imagine bamboo burns quickly. 

When we got back down to Pai we went directly to the police station. They had been told about the man……but THEY HADN’T SENT ANYONE OUT YET! We explained the situation and were not impressed with the lack of urgency of the Thai policemen.  We then went to eat hoping something would get done and would check on the situation when we were done. We did not have high hopes that the cops were actually going to go trekking into the forest at dusk to rescue this man. While eating we saw an ambulance and hoped it was heading out to the man as it was getting cold. We found out the next morning that the man was rescued and then taken to Chiang Mai which is a much bigger city nearby. Needless to say, the speed in which the local authorities sent out help made us think about being careful for the next few days!

After our exhausting day hiking, we decided to wake up early so we could get to the motorbike shop when they open. We did and it was well worth it as we got three motorbikes for the rest of our stay and to drive back to Chiang Mai! The first order of business was heading out on a 55 km ride to a bat cave! The ride was spectacular, but very cold as we were passing through the top of the mountain. But, it also provided us with a fantastic view and nice mid-point stop. We finished winding down the mountain and turned off on some local roads before arriving at our destination. Our tour guide, a cute old lady with a propane lamp, walked us down to the cave and onto our long bamboo raft. There were 3 different cave areas that had some great formations, and then at the end of the cave was a great view. It made me think of big sky country in Montana! 

How about a little sheep placenta body lotion to help whiten your skin!!!

We then grabbed some fantastic Som Tum (a spicy papaya salad), some below average Pad Thai and headed back to Pai. Upon our return, Lacey had to massage out the kinks, Anne needed some alone time with her iPad and I was ready for some sleep!

I think this might have been my favorite day of the whole trip! We started out with another fantastic breakfast at the Witching Well. We then started driving out of town on the road we would be taking tomorrow morning when we headed back to Chiang Mai. First, we turned off and took a scenic winding road to a sort of hidden waterfall. We then headed back to the main road to hit Pai Canyon. Pai Canyon is quite amazing as there are parts of the ridge that our only a couple feet wide and the fall off would be a 50 meter drop on both sides! Needless to say I headed out trekking in the other direction while Lacey and Anne tried to be tough guys………I soon looked back to see Lacey on all fours wondering what she got into.

 This was also the stop in which Anne decided she no longer wanted a motorbike so she left her keys in the ignition for the taking while we were hiking. Surprisingly, and lucky for her no one wanted that chic hot pink attitude on wheels! Off we went to the Pai Hot Springs. This was quite the deal! The whole formation of the springs, and how it was separated into bathing/soaking areas of different temperatures, was quite something.  It felt great to relax our still sore muscles! 

Knowing our motorbike rides in the country were soon coming to an end we decided to just keep on keeping on. Some fantastic scenery and more gravel roads occupied us until dark when we decided it was time to grab some amazing pizza for supper.