Day 1 -

We arrive at 8.30pm after the horrible winding road drive from Chiang-Mai, apparently there are 745 turns on this highway connecting both cities enough to make anybody travel sick. We have a reservation at a place called Countryside Pai, we know its a little out of the way which is what we wanted after a hectic few days in Chiang Mai. However, Pai looks buzzing and full of life. We heard through the grapevine this is the favoured hang out joint of artists and musicians, basically Jason Mraz wannabes. Reggae music is in the air and everyone looks effortlessly cool, every other person has dreadlocks and that shabby chic vibe. We have no idea where our hotel is and are wandering the streets carrying 16kg, we walk down a street full of bars each one individually themed, no bar is the same here. A man takes a sip of his beer, gives us a nod and says welcome to Pai. I can already tell i'm going to like this place. Now, looking back on what happened next was very irresponsible and shows that I trust people too easily. We go inside a resturant and ask for directions, the owner shows her friends the map and they ask if we would like them to give us a lift...Me and Tom look at each other, Im not entirely comfortable but we go ahead and accept anyway. Im on the back of a strangers motorbike driving up a dirt track outside the city centre. WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING? Anyway, no need to worry at all and these man are just as nice as every other Thai we have met and take us straight to our hotel with no hassle at all. Phew. (Sorry Dad it wont happen again!)

Day 2 - We wake up in our little hut, it has a roof terrace so we set up camp for the morning and get the base tan on the move. We are in a beautiful setting surrounded by moutains and paddy fields, but this just isn't enough. Last night we had a little slice of Pai and now we want more!

We decide to make another reservation at a hotel and move into the centre of town. But what happened next did not make for a relaxing start to our time in Pai. To put a long story short... the hotel we booked has lied about its location, after walking around for 2 hours with 16kg on my back in 38 degree heat you can imagine im not in the best of moods. No locals have any idea where this place is and the only one who does seems to think its 2km away. A very anrgy email, a complaint to booking.com and a tiny tantrum from both of us later I sit in a cafe and Tom goes off on a hunt to find us somewhere to stay. The boy does good and returns with news of a lovely little flat in the centre of town. We start the day again both knackered after the last two hours that felt like a whole afternoon had whizzed by. We sit in a hammock for a few hours and watch the day go by. That night we hit the market and I ooh and ahh at things I know will look just fabulous in my non-existant flat. We sit down to eat at a nice resturant joined by a few cats and a man playing some chill out tunes. Each bar is different, some thai, some boho chick, London cosmopolitan and a lot of reggae bars. We opt for a Thai bar and get comfy on beans bags with the flickering of candles to set the mood. It gets cold here at night and the bar provides blankets, after one beer at 6.9% I am now sufficiently sleepy and get into the fetal position. I think its time to go back to the hotel.

Day 3 -

Today we have done a rounds of the cafes, so far this is our third and im sat here blogging in the sunshine and Toms sampling the beers. We have a night bus tonight to Chiang Khong ready for our border crossing to Laos and the dreaded Gibbon Experience. Everytime its mentioned I get butterflies in my stomach. We have loved our time in Pai and is somewhere you can definitely spend a week or two here just relaxing, it is a thought that has crossed our mind, we saw a flat for rent earlier for £60 a month, it was very tempting. But now I'm going to spend the rest of the day relaxing before our 8pm bus and enjoy our last few hours in beloved Pai.