Touring the town
We had a bit of a lie in today, as the tour of Pai was not starting until 10am. The breakfast was similar to yesterday, there was fruit, scrambled eggs, and toast, still pretty good! Around 10am, our tour driver, called Ten, came to our hostel to grab us. We got in the back of the tuk tuk and drove around town to pick up the last person. The final member of the group happened to be a Californian girl called Vianna. She was a university student who had come to Asia for her university course. We got on with her pretty well. The other members of the group were in the front with Ten.
The first stop of the tour of Pai was the natural mineral hot spring. We’d brought a change of clothes with us, so we put our stuff in the locker, and then jumped in the spring. It consisted of two pools of water, one which flowed into the other via a small waterfall. The water was crystal clear and nice and warm. The air was pretty cold to be honest, maybe because we’re in northern Thailand, or because it’s still before noon. We all spent a good amount of time in the spring, this allowed us to socialise and get to know the other members better. In the pools, we mostly spoke to Vianna and Marya, an American girl who lives in Hawaii, around our age.
The spring
Once we had got out of the spring and changed into dry clothing, it was time for some food. It was pretty much pad thai, but it was very nice all the same. Whilst eating, we also got to know Stephan, from Canada, and Aki, from Japan. Everyone seemed to get on really well with each other, despite being from different backgrounds and demographics.
After we had finished at the hot spring, we moved on towards the next spectacle. This was to be in the form of a giant white Buddha, at the top of around 300 steps. We picked a couple of folks up on the way to the Buddha. I raced up the steps as fast as I could. It sure as hell made me sweat, plus I could hardly lift my thighs once I’d reached the top. There was a very nice view of the entire valley and surrounding area. You could probably spot the rest of the locations we’d be heading to on this tour of Pai.
Check out this post when we made some friends in Laos!
Highlight of Thailand
After we’d spent a bit of time here, everyone returned to the base of the structure, and we were whisked away. Our next place was a view point of the valley, quite high up in the hills. To be honest, we didn’t explore here much. This was because there was a small Ferris wheel that had 4 swinging seats. I got the feeling that this wasn’t used to its full potential very often; Mat and I were gonna change that. First, we managed to get Aki to sit on it and strap in. Then we got Vianna to get on the opposing swing. It required quite a lot of strength, because we had to hold the wheel in place with Aki on top. Then, one by one, the other seats were taken by members of our tour too.
There were several who doubted that the wheel would turn, but we defied their claims. Once 4 people were on, Mat and I started to push it faster and faster. We were able to let go of it, and it still spun by itself. Everyone was laughing so hard, it was hysterical. Especially when Aki said ‘help me!’ and ‘it’s very scary’. I can confirm that afterwards he was okay, we weren’t trying to be mean. But it was hilarious and everyone around was watching. Eventually Ten came to fetch us, and he seemed quite worried for our safety, so we got people off one by one. This is definitely a highlight of Thailand. I’m really glad we came on this tour of Pai!
Cake
The next place we stopped off at was a coffee shop that overlooked a valley. It was a very quiet and quaint location, and it was pretty homey inside. Most folks had a coffee, but I decided to indulge in a piece of red velvet cake. It was pretty damn nice, especially since I was on the balcony, looking over the edge of a very steep drop, and the sunset cascading shadows everywhere. After this stop off, we also visited a Chinese village. However, to the eye, there wasn’t much Chinese about the village, except a shop renting/selling traditional Chinese garb. There was also an archery range, and some historical info. Nothing too noteworthy to be honest. Everyone was still buzzing from the swing.
The next destination was the land split. About 10 years ago there was an earthquake, and it had literally split the earth in this area. Now there was a large ravine that you could walk through. When you’re in the split, it’s probably 5 metres high or more, and even wider than that. It was pretty fun and quirky to see this, and to actually walk through it all. Our final destination of our tour of Pai was the canyon. Yes, the same canyon I nearly died in yesterday! The difference this time was that there were loads of people here waiting for the sunset…except it was cloudy so no one saw it. I’m glad we came yesterday and explored it ourselves!
Rendezvous
It was around dusk by the time we got back to Pai. We decided to get dropped off in town where we’d get some food from the night market, then walk back to the hostel. Everyone bar Stephan agreed that we’d meet up later on for some drinks and food. Everyone went their separate ways until later. It was quite the tiresome day, so it was nice to chill out in bed for some time.
A couple of hours later, we met up with Vianna first of all at her hostel. Then after half an hour there, Marya was ready and we moved onto another place. This was a bar just up the road. It had started raining quite heavily, but luckily this place had seating under cover. Even if it was just small tables and cushions around it to sit on the floor. After a couple of drinks, we headed for something to eat. Due to the time and rain, most places were closed, so we settled for a small market stall that had sheltered seating area. Aki had shown up during this time.
Once we’d had our food, we all bid each other goodbye, and thanked them for an awesome day. We walked home wet, and knuckled down for one hell of a thunderstorm! I think there was a bit of leakage from the ceiling, it rained that bad. Pretty scary stuff to be honest, but a bit of a thrill at the same time.
