I love Pai. It's beautiful. Mountains all around with luscious green trees just blanketing everything...so refreshing after India. The views were breathtaking especially when riding around on a moped - which we did for two days. It really was a great place to just chill out and enjoy the scenery and small town of shops and food stalls. We ate so much at the night market...I had a food baby in my stomach for a few days but it was well worth the satisfaction.
One of my favourite things was the Rabbit Cafe. You order a coffee or tea and you get to chill with a rabbit on your table. You can pet it, feed it or just cuddle and love it...great way to pull people into your cafe...we only bought something to play with the rabbits hahaha.
The days were hot but the nights were cool so it made it easy to sleep in especially with the comfortable beds we had at the hostel. When I got up in the morning I was excited for night time so I could crawl back into bed under the big duvet that I wrapped around me like a cocoon just with my head sticking out. It was heavenly.
The night we got there everyone (in the hostel) had tickets to a rave so after everyone left it was literally just Anouschka and I at the hostel... it was great, it was so quiet. Our plan was to just enjoy, not really party and do some day trips while we were there.
Two of our dorm mates (Ewan and Oli) from Chiang Mai were also in Pai and we planned to do two days with them on mopeds. They had already rented them so we paid for the gas.
Day Trip No. 1
We were going to visit Lod Cave about an hour and a half ride from where we were....well...Google Maps said about an hour and a half but for us it was maybe two and a half hours.
Driving on a moped through the country side is way better than going by car or tour. The freedom to stop and take photos, the feeling of the wind in your hair, the smells of nature. It is honestly such a breath of fresh air (no pun intended) after India...it is soo green here....luscious green every where all different shades here...and it's clean!
I was a little nervous at first being on the back of moped especially because ours wobbled a bit and didn't like hills. It actually slowed down when we went up hills, we both had to lean forward hoping it would make it up. Every time we got to one (and they are steep) Ewan would be like "oh great!" But we made it ... well...except once.
"I think you're going to have to get up and walk this one Em. I don't think I can make it up with two people on it." "It's okay no worries." "Okay I will just meet you at the top of this bend." So I hope off and Ewan drives away. I got a kick out of it... I thought it was hilarious! Anouschka and Oli are driving around up and down hills no problem and here I am walking up one because we almost had to Flintstone it going up.
Meanwhile at the top of the bend Anouschka and Oli and stopped to wait and only see Ewan on the bike. "Umm...where is Emmie?!?" Anouschka asked. "We couldn't make it up with the bike, so she is walking up." "Oh boy, Emmie hates hiking!"
We continue on for a little bit but needed gas so we stopped at this tourist stop on the side of the road with a view point, food, gas - which they pour from a glass bottle and this four person swing. It kind of looks like a ferriswheel but it's four swings, quite high off the ground and the weight of the people move it around. It's interesting to watch but none of us had any interest in doing it ourselves as it is a complete accident waiting to happen - and we ended up seeing someone fall off who got quite hurt.
We drove through the windy roads enjoying the scenery but never seemed to get to our destination. I had my Google Maps on but it seemed like we were driving to far...and we did ... about 10 kilometers too far...in the wrong direction. So we back tracked and finally made it to Lod Cave.
It was honestly not what we expected...in a good way. We thought we were going on a bamboo raft ride through a cave for 20 minutes but we were very happily surprised. You get a guide that walks
you through with a lantern. The entrance to the cave is just beautiful all the limestone is different colours as well as the stalagmites and stalactites. There are little bridges to walk over and staircases bamboo staircases that just take you higher and higher in the cave where it is surprisingly hot and stuffy. We saw carvings on the wall, old coffins and stalagmites that looked like popcorn and stalactites that came down forming huge pillars with the stalagmites they met below it. It was never ending but incredible...sometimes you feel your insignificance on this planet...you feel like an ant in this incredible natural beauty.
We got on a bamboo raft and went into the dark cave. All you could see were the other lanterns on the other rafts, and you could hear the sound of the fish jumping all around the rafts - you can buy fish food to feed them so now they chase the rafts for food.
As you come around a wide bend the cave opens up to the world outside... a picture perfect scene of the greenery and sky outside framed by an arch like opening... it was incredible.
After another climb up and down we took the rafts back inside the cave and then were led back to the beginning... all in all I would say it was an hour? maybe longer? All I know is we were impressed and it was worth the drive.
Ewan however wasn't keen on having me on the bike on the way back. "The brakes are shot! I'm uncomfortable driving it especially with you on it." But there were no buses at this time and I had to work at 5 so we had no choice.
If I thought I was nervous on the way there try on the way back.... it didn't take us as long because we knew where we were going but going down the hills was nerve wracking and probably more so for Ewan. He's a good driver though and knew he had precious cargo on the back ( yes mum I told him before we left) and he drove carefully and smartly. We got back safe and sound with no scratches...just me with some shaky legs and the guys wanting to switch their bikes for our day trip the next day.
Day Trip No. 2
We didn't end up going the next day as the guys had bad stomachs ... but it was fine... Anouschka and I just had a chill day and napped in our comfy beds! But that was after my little incident.
I was meeting Anouschka down at the hostel bar for lunch. As I walked out of our dorm I felt something on my back. My mole moved and felt like it was falling off... that's weird I thought. It kind of hurt. "Nousch is there something on my back?" She looks. "It's a tick!" "You mean like a skin tag?" thinking she didn't have the right words as English isn't her first language. "No, I mean a tick." "I'm not sure what you mean by that. Can you take a photo?" I almost vomited when she showed me...she wasn't confused she really meant a tick. "Oh god. We have to get it out...this is so fucking gross. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." "It's okay Emmie, let's check with reception" "Reception?!?"
We got to reception.
"We have things maybe your friend...." "I'm not touching it!" Anouschka said before the woman could finish. "Okay," she said. "I do it." "Umm, have you done this before?" I asked nervously. "Sure! I take one out of horses tale, no problem!!" Fuck! I am far from a horses tale. I am a human with a tick lodged in my mole. "Okay, no problem." It hurt but she got it out "no problem" and covered me with a bandage.
Completely grossed out I went and ate lunch and then took a nap in my comfy bed to forget about my ordeal of my new little friend.
Ewan showed up the next day on a new bike with more power and better brakes but there was no Ollie...so we waited, and waited and still he didn't show up. "I'm gonna go look for him, you girls stay here in case he shows up...I will message you."
About 10 minutes later Ewan messages me "Ollie lost his wallet so we are trying to find it."
10 minutes later "Ollie found his wallet!" That guy has a horseshoe up his ass.
We walked into town and met them for a drink, Ollie had to go back to the police station to get his wallet in an hour so we were just killing some time. When he went back to the police station they told him "nobody ever gets their wallet returned with cards and money, youre a lucky man." Then they all took a photo with him holding his wallet up saying "lucky man! Lucky man!" And that he was.
It felt so good being on a bike that made it up the hills without an issue. "That feels so good being able to drive right up," Ewan said. "Tell me about it. At least I know I won't be walking this time." But I didn't know I was wrong in saying this but that comes later.
Our destination was about a 10 minute drive from us this time...not a crazy two hours so the drive was easier...well actually not so much. Anouschka and Ollie had a bit of a fender bender not even 5 minutes into our drive. There was a bus in front of us that Ewan considered passing but decided against it...however the bus moved to the right to let us pass and as that happened Ollie went to pass it on it's right side and it ended up hitting him and Anouschka and they hit a parked moped. FUCK!!! They were fine no one was hurt, maybe just shaken up and Ollie had a scratch on his leg. They were lucky.
Our first spot was the Land Split.
A farmers land is on a fault line (which they didn't know) and every so many years he would wake up with a huge split in his land. It is now a tourist attraction with beautiful hammocks, fresh juice, homemade jams and banana chips that they give you when you walk in and after your hike in the land split all for a donation...whatever you can afford! It was really wonderful...but hot as fuck! We had to choose the hottest day to go climbing in a land split...we were drenched! But it was well worth it and quite interesting. The owner of the land is fantastic with amazing English. It was fun just speaking with him. I think all together we spent about an hour - an hour and a half there and then headed off to the bamboo bridge.
The roads were windy like the previous days drive but the road wasn't paved so it wasn't as smooth but Ewan and I were able to get up the hills no problem and it was easy to stay just behind Ollie and Anouschka whereas the other day our bike was so slow they were miles ahead.
The bamboo bridge is exactly what it sounds like, a bridge made out of bamboo and it goes on for miles turning this way and that way. It's through the rice fields so the people can still get from one side to the other. If I have learned anything in Thailand...it's that bamboo is strong as fuck!!! and it makes for a noisy bridge. It was a shorter day than the last but we had plans for the night market that night so we decided to head back.
As I said before the roads were just as windy but not paved so it made for a not so smooth ride, but we had working brakes this time. However on these roads that doesn't necessarily mean anything. We got to this really big hair pin turn going down, nothing we hadn't done before. As usual, Ollie and Anouschka were in front of us and as they went around the curve Ollie put his foot on the ground to help with control - something I had seen him do before, however this felt different and something inside of me said that something wasn't right.....
Now before I go on, I need to rewind about 4 days, a day before our first day trip with the guys. I kept having this vision of us being on the bike and us falling to the left with the bike on top of us. Now even with the first day we had a shitty bike but when they showed up with new bikes I didn't feel we were in the clear....I was right.
Now back to the curve...
I didn't lean like I was supposed to and for some reason instead of turning Ewan kept driving straight but we didn't stop, we were going just to the side of the guardrail where there was a cliff. Very quickly my vision became my current reality...we needed to act fast. Ewan somehow lifted his right leg and held the bike up from falling over. I wrapped my arms around his waist and jumped off and he let go of the bike and it crashed on it's right side just like in my vision except we were standing unharmed. While this was all taking place. Anouschka had heard something and turned around and just see's Ewan and I jumping off the bike.
The bike was still on as it lay on it's side and when Ewan went to pick it up it started spinning almost hitting us. Once everything settled down I looked at him and said " I think I will walk down." Nousch walked with me. We walked down a few curves until we met up with them again. " I am so glad you walked." Ewan said. "It was honestly pretty bad coming down."
We'd had enough of bikes at this point and were happy to get back to the hostel. "I couldn't turn the bike." Ewan said after. "What do you mean?" I asked. " I physically couldn't turn the bike, like the front just wouldn't turn." "It's probably a good thing, we could've been really hurt. We had a fucking angel with us today." I truly believe something stopped that bike from turning...had we of turned it wouldn't have ended so nicely. I know we had an angel with us that day but I will keep her name to myself... but thank you for watching over us.
That night we met the guys in town...we didn't want them to pick us up on the bikes lol. We were meeting them at the night market which they hadn't been to. It is the best way to eat and boy did we eat. What ever one bought they shared with the others. Nousch and I had already done this but it is so much better with four people haha. Honestly...my favourite night market so far - for food. My stomach was satisfied and I believe I put on a few extra pounds ... but happy pounds.
We went and had a few drinks with them and then said goodbye as we had an early bus the next morning. We were heading down to Phuket and the bus was a 25 hour ride... oh yay!!!
It honestly wasn't that bad. Two meals are included and the chairs go right back and we had heaps of leg room because we were at the front. It wasn't that bad except Nousch's feet were right by the door and the hostess (yes they have them on the buses here, they bring you water and snacks) also closed my fingers in the door. All she said was "sorry." At 530 they wake you up just to give you bottles of water and your free meal ticket and then you get off the bus for breakfast at 6am! 6am! Are you fucking kidding me! We were not happy, nor did we eat breakfast.
We were staying in different hostels so when the cab dropped me off I hoped out and we planned to meet up that night but it never happened. Phuket happened and a meet up with a friend from Chiang Mai happened and then it all happened.
- My Beautiful Life -
The days were hot but the nights were cool so it made it easy to sleep in especially with the comfortable beds we had at the hostel. When I got up in the morning I was excited for night time so I could crawl back into bed under the big duvet that I wrapped around me like a cocoon just with my head sticking out. It was heavenly.
The night we got there everyone (in the hostel) had tickets to a rave so after everyone left it was literally just Anouschka and I at the hostel... it was great, it was so quiet. Our plan was to just enjoy, not really party and do some day trips while we were there.
Two of our dorm mates (Ewan and Oli) from Chiang Mai were also in Pai and we planned to do two days with them on mopeds. They had already rented them so we paid for the gas.
Day Trip No. 1
We were going to visit Lod Cave about an hour and a half ride from where we were....well...Google Maps said about an hour and a half but for us it was maybe two and a half hours.
Driving on a moped through the country side is way better than going by car or tour. The freedom to stop and take photos, the feeling of the wind in your hair, the smells of nature. It is honestly such a breath of fresh air (no pun intended) after India...it is soo green here....luscious green every where all different shades here...and it's clean!
I was a little nervous at first being on the back of moped especially because ours wobbled a bit and didn't like hills. It actually slowed down when we went up hills, we both had to lean forward hoping it would make it up. Every time we got to one (and they are steep) Ewan would be like "oh great!" But we made it ... well...except once.
"I think you're going to have to get up and walk this one Em. I don't think I can make it up with two people on it." "It's okay no worries." "Okay I will just meet you at the top of this bend." So I hope off and Ewan drives away. I got a kick out of it... I thought it was hilarious! Anouschka and Oli are driving around up and down hills no problem and here I am walking up one because we almost had to Flintstone it going up.
Meanwhile at the top of the bend Anouschka and Oli and stopped to wait and only see Ewan on the bike. "Umm...where is Emmie?!?" Anouschka asked. "We couldn't make it up with the bike, so she is walking up." "Oh boy, Emmie hates hiking!"
We continue on for a little bit but needed gas so we stopped at this tourist stop on the side of the road with a view point, food, gas - which they pour from a glass bottle and this four person swing. It kind of looks like a ferriswheel but it's four swings, quite high off the ground and the weight of the people move it around. It's interesting to watch but none of us had any interest in doing it ourselves as it is a complete accident waiting to happen - and we ended up seeing someone fall off who got quite hurt.We drove through the windy roads enjoying the scenery but never seemed to get to our destination. I had my Google Maps on but it seemed like we were driving to far...and we did ... about 10 kilometers too far...in the wrong direction. So we back tracked and finally made it to Lod Cave.
It was honestly not what we expected...in a good way. We thought we were going on a bamboo raft ride through a cave for 20 minutes but we were very happily surprised. You get a guide that walks
you through with a lantern. The entrance to the cave is just beautiful all the limestone is different colours as well as the stalagmites and stalactites. There are little bridges to walk over and staircases bamboo staircases that just take you higher and higher in the cave where it is surprisingly hot and stuffy. We saw carvings on the wall, old coffins and stalagmites that looked like popcorn and stalactites that came down forming huge pillars with the stalagmites they met below it. It was never ending but incredible...sometimes you feel your insignificance on this planet...you feel like an ant in this incredible natural beauty.
We got on a bamboo raft and went into the dark cave. All you could see were the other lanterns on the other rafts, and you could hear the sound of the fish jumping all around the rafts - you can buy fish food to feed them so now they chase the rafts for food.
As you come around a wide bend the cave opens up to the world outside... a picture perfect scene of the greenery and sky outside framed by an arch like opening... it was incredible.
After another climb up and down we took the rafts back inside the cave and then were led back to the beginning... all in all I would say it was an hour? maybe longer? All I know is we were impressed and it was worth the drive.
Ewan however wasn't keen on having me on the bike on the way back. "The brakes are shot! I'm uncomfortable driving it especially with you on it." But there were no buses at this time and I had to work at 5 so we had no choice.
If I thought I was nervous on the way there try on the way back.... it didn't take us as long because we knew where we were going but going down the hills was nerve wracking and probably more so for Ewan. He's a good driver though and knew he had precious cargo on the back ( yes mum I told him before we left) and he drove carefully and smartly. We got back safe and sound with no scratches...just me with some shaky legs and the guys wanting to switch their bikes for our day trip the next day.
Day Trip No. 2
We didn't end up going the next day as the guys had bad stomachs ... but it was fine... Anouschka and I just had a chill day and napped in our comfy beds! But that was after my little incident.
I was meeting Anouschka down at the hostel bar for lunch. As I walked out of our dorm I felt something on my back. My mole moved and felt like it was falling off... that's weird I thought. It kind of hurt. "Nousch is there something on my back?" She looks. "It's a tick!" "You mean like a skin tag?" thinking she didn't have the right words as English isn't her first language. "No, I mean a tick." "I'm not sure what you mean by that. Can you take a photo?" I almost vomited when she showed me...she wasn't confused she really meant a tick. "Oh god. We have to get it out...this is so fucking gross. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." "It's okay Emmie, let's check with reception" "Reception?!?"
We got to reception.
"We have things maybe your friend...." "I'm not touching it!" Anouschka said before the woman could finish. "Okay," she said. "I do it." "Umm, have you done this before?" I asked nervously. "Sure! I take one out of horses tale, no problem!!" Fuck! I am far from a horses tale. I am a human with a tick lodged in my mole. "Okay, no problem." It hurt but she got it out "no problem" and covered me with a bandage.
Completely grossed out I went and ate lunch and then took a nap in my comfy bed to forget about my ordeal of my new little friend.
Ewan showed up the next day on a new bike with more power and better brakes but there was no Ollie...so we waited, and waited and still he didn't show up. "I'm gonna go look for him, you girls stay here in case he shows up...I will message you."
About 10 minutes later Ewan messages me "Ollie lost his wallet so we are trying to find it."
10 minutes later "Ollie found his wallet!" That guy has a horseshoe up his ass.
We walked into town and met them for a drink, Ollie had to go back to the police station to get his wallet in an hour so we were just killing some time. When he went back to the police station they told him "nobody ever gets their wallet returned with cards and money, youre a lucky man." Then they all took a photo with him holding his wallet up saying "lucky man! Lucky man!" And that he was.
It felt so good being on a bike that made it up the hills without an issue. "That feels so good being able to drive right up," Ewan said. "Tell me about it. At least I know I won't be walking this time." But I didn't know I was wrong in saying this but that comes later.
Our destination was about a 10 minute drive from us this time...not a crazy two hours so the drive was easier...well actually not so much. Anouschka and Ollie had a bit of a fender bender not even 5 minutes into our drive. There was a bus in front of us that Ewan considered passing but decided against it...however the bus moved to the right to let us pass and as that happened Ollie went to pass it on it's right side and it ended up hitting him and Anouschka and they hit a parked moped. FUCK!!! They were fine no one was hurt, maybe just shaken up and Ollie had a scratch on his leg. They were lucky.
Our first spot was the Land Split.
A farmers land is on a fault line (which they didn't know) and every so many years he would wake up with a huge split in his land. It is now a tourist attraction with beautiful hammocks, fresh juice, homemade jams and banana chips that they give you when you walk in and after your hike in the land split all for a donation...whatever you can afford! It was really wonderful...but hot as fuck! We had to choose the hottest day to go climbing in a land split...we were drenched! But it was well worth it and quite interesting. The owner of the land is fantastic with amazing English. It was fun just speaking with him. I think all together we spent about an hour - an hour and a half there and then headed off to the bamboo bridge.
The roads were windy like the previous days drive but the road wasn't paved so it wasn't as smooth but Ewan and I were able to get up the hills no problem and it was easy to stay just behind Ollie and Anouschka whereas the other day our bike was so slow they were miles ahead.
The bamboo bridge is exactly what it sounds like, a bridge made out of bamboo and it goes on for miles turning this way and that way. It's through the rice fields so the people can still get from one side to the other. If I have learned anything in Thailand...it's that bamboo is strong as fuck!!! and it makes for a noisy bridge. It was a shorter day than the last but we had plans for the night market that night so we decided to head back.As I said before the roads were just as windy but not paved so it made for a not so smooth ride, but we had working brakes this time. However on these roads that doesn't necessarily mean anything. We got to this really big hair pin turn going down, nothing we hadn't done before. As usual, Ollie and Anouschka were in front of us and as they went around the curve Ollie put his foot on the ground to help with control - something I had seen him do before, however this felt different and something inside of me said that something wasn't right.....
Now before I go on, I need to rewind about 4 days, a day before our first day trip with the guys. I kept having this vision of us being on the bike and us falling to the left with the bike on top of us. Now even with the first day we had a shitty bike but when they showed up with new bikes I didn't feel we were in the clear....I was right.
Now back to the curve...
I didn't lean like I was supposed to and for some reason instead of turning Ewan kept driving straight but we didn't stop, we were going just to the side of the guardrail where there was a cliff. Very quickly my vision became my current reality...we needed to act fast. Ewan somehow lifted his right leg and held the bike up from falling over. I wrapped my arms around his waist and jumped off and he let go of the bike and it crashed on it's right side just like in my vision except we were standing unharmed. While this was all taking place. Anouschka had heard something and turned around and just see's Ewan and I jumping off the bike.
The bike was still on as it lay on it's side and when Ewan went to pick it up it started spinning almost hitting us. Once everything settled down I looked at him and said " I think I will walk down." Nousch walked with me. We walked down a few curves until we met up with them again. " I am so glad you walked." Ewan said. "It was honestly pretty bad coming down."
We'd had enough of bikes at this point and were happy to get back to the hostel. "I couldn't turn the bike." Ewan said after. "What do you mean?" I asked. " I physically couldn't turn the bike, like the front just wouldn't turn." "It's probably a good thing, we could've been really hurt. We had a fucking angel with us today." I truly believe something stopped that bike from turning...had we of turned it wouldn't have ended so nicely. I know we had an angel with us that day but I will keep her name to myself... but thank you for watching over us.
That night we met the guys in town...we didn't want them to pick us up on the bikes lol. We were meeting them at the night market which they hadn't been to. It is the best way to eat and boy did we eat. What ever one bought they shared with the others. Nousch and I had already done this but it is so much better with four people haha. Honestly...my favourite night market so far - for food. My stomach was satisfied and I believe I put on a few extra pounds ... but happy pounds.
We went and had a few drinks with them and then said goodbye as we had an early bus the next morning. We were heading down to Phuket and the bus was a 25 hour ride... oh yay!!!
It honestly wasn't that bad. Two meals are included and the chairs go right back and we had heaps of leg room because we were at the front. It wasn't that bad except Nousch's feet were right by the door and the hostess (yes they have them on the buses here, they bring you water and snacks) also closed my fingers in the door. All she said was "sorry." At 530 they wake you up just to give you bottles of water and your free meal ticket and then you get off the bus for breakfast at 6am! 6am! Are you fucking kidding me! We were not happy, nor did we eat breakfast.
We were staying in different hostels so when the cab dropped me off I hoped out and we planned to meet up that night but it never happened. Phuket happened and a meet up with a friend from Chiang Mai happened and then it all happened.
- My Beautiful Life -
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