This Morning I said goodbye to Bannamhoo Bungalows and the town of Pai. I truly loved it there. The 138km ride through the mountains to Chiang Mai was much more fun with the proper gear and a bit later in the day.
Back in Chiang Mai I stopped in at Lookbua restaurant for some lunch which was very tasty. Then I returned my bike and re jigged all my bags from bike mode to plane mode.
From Chiang Mai, I Flew 2 hours to Krabi where I then caught a 45 min taxi to the Ao Nam Mao pier where I boarded a long tail boat and traveled 25min to Railay beach.
I then followed google maps 20 mins through the jungle in the wrong fucking direction, trying to find my hotel. Thankfully a staff member from a different resort took pity on me and led me all the way back from where I came, to a tour agent kiosk. You heard me right. I was very confused and proceeded to cough up the remainder of the Thai baht I had with me, which was weird because I booked with a credit card. I was told I could pay with my credit card but it would cost me a $20 surcharge. Then came the stairs, there is is 122 steps to get up to the hotel. Then you follow a dark path covered in broken glass into the jungle till you meet a giant white wall that says Railay Hilltop Resort. my room is on the bottom floor and has absolutely no ventilation and the door to the room barely locks, also the bedding was torn and the door to the bathroom is only about 5’9 and I’m 6’4. Do the math.
Obviously by the tone of how I am writing todays post I’m tired and not particularly pleased with the most expensive place ill stay during this trip being the shittiest. No quote tonight. Tomorrow will be better
Today I realized an error in my judgement in a big way, I didn’t pack a jacket or windbreaker of any kind for this trip. Estupido. I left Chiang Mai at 7 am this morning and scootered the 128km through the mountains to the town of Pai, Armed with nothing but long pants and a loose knit sweater you can tackle the 14c mornings of northern Thailand with relative ease. That is until you have to scooter for 4 hours through the mountains at 50-65km. I might as well have been naked, and 14 degrees feels like 2 degrees after a couple hours. The wind chill is vicious. At the 1 hour mark into my journey is where I started to actually run into some serious problems, I was shivering so violently that it was ever becoming increasingly hard to control the scooter through all the switchbacks and hair pins and blind 90s that the road to Pai is famous for. The drive should take about 2 hours 45 mins, but it took me a little over 4 hours because for the last 3 hours I was stopping every 15 mins to unthaw in any sliver of sunshine I could find. This drive was definitely a big goal of this trip and I’m so excited I did it, That being said I really am not looking forward to the drive back as I have to do it in the early morning again, To catch my flight to Krabi from Chiang Mai in a few days. It truly was one of the coolest roads I’ve ever had the freezing pleasure of driving and the country side is incredibly beautiful, I cant wait to see the Go-pro footage when I get back to Canada. Funny enough because of my aggressive clothing error I took naught a single photo on my journey here. Tomorrow ill get a bunch of pictures. This Place is incredibly beautiful, in Many ways in reminds me of my hometown of Squamish BC.
After landing at Ban nam hoo Bungalows, where I’m staying here in Pai I was hit with some disappointing news that they had double booked the deluxe bungalow that I had rented. That was a little sad but the regular bungalows here are still very nice, nice enough that I came back here after my trip last year.
Thankfully my room was ready several hours earlier than check in and I was able to dump all my gear. The town of Pai has an incredible vibe and is very welcoming to every kind of traveler, but it is a backpackers haven. The restaurants are quite inexpensive, plentiful, and I’ve yet to have a bad meal here. For Lunch I Stopped at the Gorilla Cafe and had a Pork omelet on rice and a Panang Curry that I must say didn’t look great, But both were totally delicious. when you are paying $5 Canadian for 2 dishes and a drink I think you can pass on some poor presentation.
After lunch I went back to the Bungalows to get some water, chill for a bit , and call home. I did both those things, but I also had an unplanned and totally necessary 2 hour nap after mistakenly sitting on the bed.
From my nap I decided to go get a massage at one of the numerous parlors, and was pleasantly surprised with the incredible height of pain and relief the masseuse dealt to me. Both of us were laughing at the plethora of grunts, groans, and involuntary twitches that came from me.
In Pai one of the most unique draws of this place is the walking street, every night 6 blocks of downtown Pai are closed to vehicles and a delicious array of street vendors open. To me it is truly a one of a kind attraction for a town of only a couple thousand Thai locals. I cant wait for tomorrow to go hang out at some hot springs and hunt for some waterfalls.
After I scootered back to the bungalows I was greeted by an old feline friend of mine from last year here. Her name is Miu, She is such a friendly kitty cat. For the people she really likes she will just saunter right into your room and hop on the bed for beds. I feel honored as I miss my two cats back home dearly. I don’t know why she would choose to sit on my computer instead of the bed, But as we all know cats are cats.
“The world does not shape the soul so much as it is shaped by it. For your interior faculties change, the world around you changes in exact proportion. As your eyesight improves, everything becomes clearer; as your reason grows, everything becomes more orderly.” – Marcus Aurelius
As a note, This quote and all the others I’ve used on my blog to date have been excerpts from “The meditations: An Emperors Guide to Mastery” By Marcus Aurelius. This book as had a profound impact on how I’ve been seeing the world and myself in it, since starting to read it and I suggest you should read it too.
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