The perfect backpacker ghetto...This was a place we never got too last time. We couldn't fit it in and we always promised ourselves we would visit if we ever returned to Thailand, which 'ta-dah' we have! It's about a 4 hour bus journey from Chiang Mai travelling over 1000 bends which makes for a very fun an interesting journey getting there.

Pai lies near the Myanmar border along the Pai River and used to be a quiet tiny market village that got popular with the hippy crowd years ago, since then it has has developed vastly with over 100 guest houses now in operation and numerous bars and cheap eateries. Wikipedia even states that the town has 3 sets of traffic lights! WOW!

Unusually for Thailand, the locals have had the say on the development and have managed to keep the small town low key, uncommercialised and ultimately awesome! It's like a small island beachy town, but with no beach and is well known among backpackers for its relaxed atmosphere.

We managed to find a small bamboo hut, which was accessed by crossing a rickety bamboo bridge over the Pai River for a ridiculously cheap price (£6 a night). The hut was elevated off the ground on stilts, completely made of bamboo, had an outside toilet and shower that was frequently visited by cockroaches, Mosquitos and geckos, had a mattress on the floor what looked (and smelt) like it was 75 years old, one little squeaky fan and a hammock on the porch out front. It was perfect. We also had friendly and chatty neighbours who like us enjoyed good food, the odd game of cards and a good night out. Pai has one main walking street with a couple of smaller streets running off it. The streets have nice little bars, restaurants and cafés. Shops that don't just sell the usual tat and loads of delicious and unique street stalls.

Frustratingly the day of leaving our swimming pool in Chiang Mai the sun decided to put his hat on...so it didn't take us long to find the public swimming pool, a ten minute walk from the town. Nothing special, just a big pool, but gave chance for Claire to work on her tan and David a chance to sit in the shade.

Our best day was when we hired a scooter. It cost £3 for a scooter for 24 hours! And you don't even have to show your license, you simply answer yes when asked if you have rode one before. This is probably the main reason as to why so many people in Pai wander round with bandaged knees, scraped elbows or hobble on crutches (as per - usually girls...).

We spent the day racing round the countryside. We visited a quirky strawberry farm and had a fresh strawberry smoothie. We saw several waterfalls. We visited a memorial bridge taking its picture but didn't bother to find out what it was in memory of. The most impressive place was Pai's answer to the Grand Canyon: Pai Canyon. This was a great little set of cliffs to wander and scramble round and scare your self to death looking over the edges. Not so good in flip flops though - as Claire soon found out as she crept along one of the edges...

Our ride through the countryside would present us with little coffee shops and farms that all had quirky hippy style decorations. Our favourite spot was another place we stumbled across by accident. On the way to the waterfall there was a small sign pointing towards a little farm house that said 'Land Split'. Curious, and in dire need of a drink and to cool down we pulled in and had a look. A path takes you up a hill and there you see the floor in a field has 'split'. Nothing too impressive to look at, in fact it looks a little bit like a big ditch. Apparently it happened 4 years ago, the farmer was walking through his field and the land had just 'split'. It then split a bit more the next year. Then the next. No earthquake or anything just 'split'. Anyway it in itself is very unimpressive. We wandered back down the hill to our scooter to make our exit. That's when we met the farmer. He waved us over and gave us both a glass of chilled Rosella tea, which was possibly the most refreshing drink in the world. Always wary in Thailand about being ripped off we asked how much before we tried any and he simply said, "up to you" pointing at a small donation box. He then asked us to sit down at a little table by his small hut. So we sat down with our chilled tea thinking what a lovely man and what a lovely drink, we had never heard of Rosella tea but it tasted amazing. Then we started feeling nauseous, a little bit woozy, the surroundings started spinning and we both collapsed. We woke up 3 hours later in the middle of a field in the hot baking sun, tied up, naked and sore. And then we heard the foot steps...

Only joking! The farmer then came out with lots of homemade fresh food for us! He brought out fresh banana chips, Sweet Potatoes, home grown tamarind, Rosella jam, passion fruits, star fruits, nuts and even some Rosella wine! All for a simple donation. It was all delicious and the farmer was such a nice man. Not only that, but had the biggest c*** we have ever seen. It was massive! Claire could only just lift the thing (see photo). It really was a treat, if only more people in the world were like him.

We spent our days in Pai either exploring on the moped or relaxing in our hammock on the terrace and the evenings mostly with a couple we met from the beach huts, Jess and Rhys, eating cheap food, drinking beers, and playing cards.

Our last night started as a normal evening. Again with Jess and Rhys, our new found friends we ventured into the town for a meal and no doubt a few cocktails/buckets/beers. As we crossed our rickety bridge we felt a slight chill in the air and noticed a dark cloud form over the usually happy town. There was a different atmosphere as we approached the main street, a dark atmosphere, an angry atmosphere. We noticed several white faces wandering around looking lost and distraught. Something terrible had happened, we could feel it. We could hear sobbing and crying coming from behind doorways, not children but the sounds of grown men crying out in horror, grown women screaming scratching at the eyes and ears! Confused and curious, we tried to ask a passerby what had happened sensing some terrible tragedy. Little did we know just how terrible it was...The passerby, a Dutch man about our age, was unable to explain anything to us he just kept repeating a phrase over and over, before shyly walking away in the direction of the River.

"Just soft, just soft, just soft"

What the hell did that mean? We approached a bar, which was disturbingly empty and ordered a few beers and that's when we saw it. Behind the bar was a small sign, crudely handwritten in marker pen.

"Due to holy Buddhist Holiday. No alcohol to be served for 48 hours. Just soft drinks"

We were in tatters. It had been too long. We had gone a day without at least one beer we had no idea what to do? Enjoy a night in a pub with a coke? How boring! Oh well we guessed we would just have to lump it. That was when we heard something smash. Further up the road a group of Swedish lads had chucked a chair through a window. Then some British lad joined them and picked up more items and started smashing more windows.

"GIVE US A F****** BEER!!!!"

They all shouted. Not wanting to get caught up in anything silly we decided to turn and make our way back via the bridge. As we walked, groups of other Europeans had grouped together and started smashing more windows. Some of them had makeshift weapons like baseball bats and bamboo poles. We got to the bridge quickly, but it was pointless, somebody had set it on fire. It was rampage! We ran back to the town to find somewhere we could stay out of this madness!

Back in the town it had escalated quickly! We could see some lads and girls had managed to find a bottle of vodka, but instead of sharing it they were fighting over it, and it spilled everywhere. One desperate soul got on her hands and knees and attempted to suck up the vodka from the dusty floor. Another group of Europeans were marching up one of the side streets holding above their heads a small Thai bloke who was in a uniform from a local bar. Obviously he too had refused to serve them beer. We never saw the Thai bloke again...

It soon turned into a full scale riot. Police helicopters arrived. The army arrived in tanks threatening the use of guns. One Swedish lad was shot in the leg as he attempted to run at the now ever increasing army of soldiers.

All because they didn't serve beer. We are lucky to survive to be able to tell the tale...

Well, actually, it wasn't that bad and we may have exaggerated a little, but you get the idea. Although every single westerner was actually wandering around like a little lost puppy for the following 2 days.

Pai was brilliant. It's a bit hard to explain why it was so nice. It just is. A pure backpacker haven.

Things we have learned
1. There's some bloody lovely people in this world
2. Thailand would have no tourism at all if they ever banned alcohol completely
3. Burnley girls love a bit of Pai


Dave's Transport Stats
Planes used - 2
Buses used - 16
Trains used - 9
Metros/subways used - 17
Cars used - 5
Minivans - 3 (+1)
Russian Campervans used -1
Horses used - 1
Camels used - 1
Taxis used - 5
Cable cars used 1
Bicycles used 1
Tuk tuks used 4
Scooters used 1 (+1)