We got all sorted this morning to check out and were picked up at 9.30am by a truck which took us to the train station to get on our mini bus. It didn't set off until an hour later and it took about 3 hours to get to Pai. Nearly all the way it was winding roads all the way up the mountains then back down other side. A poor girl was sick on the bus it was that winding. The mini bus dropped us off in town at their booking office but we didn't really know where we were. There were no taxi people jumping on you to bring you to your accommodation which was strange. We went over to a taxi stand and asked and they suggested for us to walk saying our accommodation was about 1-2km away. It was beyond warm today and we had to walk up some little hills. We made it though and wasn't that far at all to be honest, maybe about 15 minutes. I was harder than it sounds though in 34 degree heat with 16kg on your back! Pai Phu Fah Resort was far enough away from town to be peaceful and near the mountains with brilliant views but still close enough to walk and be near to everything so it was perfect for us!
When we got to reception nobody spoke English so was difficult checking in but we got there in the end. The resort was about 15 huts, some big wooden ones, some small wooden ones, some concrete ones. We had the very end large wooden hut on the row of 5 which was right next to the rice paddy fields looking out towards the mountains. It was such a view!! The hut was great too. It was just a simple wooden hut with a bathroom and a bedroom. There were floor cushions for seats and a low table which I love. It was very tranquil and relaxing! A very nice place to end in Thailand and relax.
Even though we said we would just relax in Pai and nothing else, we still found things we wanted to do once we got the map so we are thinking of hiring a scooter tomorrow as wouldn't get very far on push bikes because of the winding roads and hills. Pai is well known for it's winding mountain roads- it has 762 curves and is over 1000 metres above sea level. Pretty cool!
For the rest of the day we explored the tiny town. It only had about 5 streets with anything on. There were three main tourist streets with everything on- shops, cafés, restaurants and bars. The rest of the roads led out to the mountains with some accommodation far out. Every road out of Pai town eventually led you to the mountains! The town had a lot of cafés and places to chill out. It was very hippy like with some rasta places too. Everybody and everything was pretty cliche and blended with the feel of Pai. Once everybody got to Pai they all seemed to get their baggy clothes out, not shower, get their hair in dreads and not wear shoes. It was pretty funny as nearly everybody had the same look!
All the shops sold hippy clothes too, everything handmade. Pai didn't have that many cars, nearly everybody drove a scooter. It had the closest likeness to the islands without the beach, though we hadn't stayed anywhere with views and mountains like this! It really was amazing! We would just be walking through the town and there are the mountains in the background. Everywhere you went in Pai you could pretty much see the mountains. It was perfect! The closest place to pure beauty yet!
We eventually grabbed some lunch about 2.30- I thought I was going to be sick I was that hungry! Me and Nath without food are not good! We walked to market but it was just fresh food but we did manage to find a hammock as we were walking around! They were only £5 so we got one each! We were very excited! We went back to the hut and tried one of the hammocks out on the balcony, tying it to the wooden beams holding the hut up. It was brilliant- very comfortable! We still can't believe the view from our hut!! Living the dream laid there in a hammock looking at them views!
Later we headed back out for dinner and the walking street had turned into a night market with stalls and food venders. It wasn't massive but it was more than enough! We were worried that there wouldn't be street food here and that would have been the end of it for Thailand so we were over the moon when there was! We got some nibbles from some stalls and then went to a restaurant with tiny wooden stools and tables and got some Thai food from there. There seemed to be quite a few bars in Pai, opening later in the day so we wasn't sure what the night would be like. There was a lot of tourists so we weren't sure if it would turn a bit messy with loads of drunken tourists but it never did. On a night it was still very laid back, people just lazying about. It wasn't overly busy or anything and most of the bars were pretty dead. It seemed like everybody came out to the market as that was pretty busy and then everybody headed back to their accommodation pretty early. Most accommodation will be like ours or there would be places to just sit and relax which is what everybody comes to Pai to do. We sat out for a while back at our hut and did some star watching. It wasn't clear enough to see too much, but it was still good!