As usual, what was planned as a fairly simple trip, having been to Pai before, turned into the totally and pleasantly unexpected.
I checked my maps because I wanted to try a route different from the one I had taken before. The previous and normal route is still and an adventure. The most winding, narrow, two (?) lane road one can imagine. I described that trip in one of my first mini-novels.
This time I found a route on the map that said “4wd only, dangerous in wet season”. Well it has been dry for a couple months now and I have experience their roads where the pavement suddenly turns into rutted dirt for a couple kilometers. It has a highway number on the map I mean how bad can it be? So I figure I can handle it with ease. I forgot one important thing “This is Thailand”.
After only about an hours drive out of Chiang Mai through the very picturesque and beautiful Mae Sa valley, the road turns to dirt. Then it turns to ruts, then it turns into what can only be described as a poorly maintained logging trail. Plenty of ground clearance and at times shifting into 4 wheel low to make the grades is a necessity.
OK two hours of this, very beautiful but very rugged, I check my two maps. As usual for maps here they show different things on each map and each one says I should be on a passable highway. I must have taken the wrong turn at the beginning. There is only one other possible route on the map. I should be on the one with “2 little lines” and I think I am on the one with “1 little line”. Too far to turn back.
We run across a Land Rover stopped on the side of the road with a whole family and ask if they need help. They say they are fine just taking a rest but they do tell us we ARE on the right road. What the hell can the “1 little line” route be like?
After about 3 hours and after seeing about 3 other trucks and a couple dirt bikes coming from the other direction, that we must slowly squeeze past, we come out of the forest to the most beautiful green valley with a wide asphalt two lane road that looks like it has hardly ever been used. What a relief as we sail through a small village and this beautiful valley for about 5 kilometers. Suddenly, and I mean without warning or a sign the road just stops. Well it doesn’t totally stop. We are again at a “logging road” straight up into the forest. “This can’t be right but there is no other way. As we climb the mountain again on this narrow 2 track I can’t believe it but there are actually mile markers. We have 36 Kilometers to Pai.
We stop for break along the side of the road and all we see are green forests and green mountains surrounding us in the distance. It is dead silent. I mean it is breathtakingly silent. I don’t know why, but there are no birds, not insects, nothing. It is really eerie.
We continue on and come across; a construction zone? The road is graded to about 4 lanes wide. It is just red clay with piles of dirt everywhere, a steam shovel, a grader and a bunch of men working away on this “road”. We wind our way through the construction equipment and piles of dirt and rock and sure enough we are again off on our 2 track. This is Thailand.
After about 5 hours of literal cross-country driving we reach the beautiful village of Pai. It is set in one of the mountain valleys. The town is very small town, you walk from end to end and side to side without much problem. It is known for it’s attraction of falang backpackers. The best comparison would be an atmosphere of a cheap Mackinac Island with bamboo shacks. There are 68 “guesthouses” and 43 small restaurants, I have read. Young, mostly Europeans, wander the streets dressed like early hippies, carrying their backpacks and gear, taking the numerous treks and adventure tours that are offered. The buildings are mostly bamboo or teak. A guesthouse is generally a room or bamboo shack with a bed and sometimes your own bathroom. Some are really quaint others are just cheap shacks. The average cost is about $7.00 a night. Meals for two are about in the $3.00 range.
We stay at what looks like a pretty good place, numerous bamboo buildings in a nice setting. WRONG again. This turns out to be probably the worst stay I have had. The bed is like a rock and has the contours of many peoples bodies imbedded into it. Sleeping on the ground would have been better. There are two rooms to a hut and the walls of rough hewn wood have so many spaces between them that you dress and shower in the dark because the adjoining could room clearly see through without much effort. As for privacy, well we may as well not have walls. We pay the ridiculous price of $15.00 for this room.
The next morning we head out in search of better accommodations. We climbed the hill that overlooks the village and chose a rather new place that has individual A-frame chalet type rooms. It is heaven. Clean, private, tiled western style bathrooms and $7.00 a night. We became good friends with the managers but more on that later.
Our first trip is to the Tham Lod Cave. It is supposedly known for the hundreds of fish that inhabit the river that runs through the cave. It is believed they are attracted by and represent the “Gods” that protect the cave. I don’t suppose it could be because of the bags of food that the tourists constantly throw to them.
We pay an entrance fee and are assigned a guide, which is mandatory. The guide is a Thai-Yai lady, which are northern Thai people who have settled here from Burma over the years. She is definitely not a beauty, overweight and out of shape, but she carries the gas lantern that will be our only light while in the cave. I have a backup for this one. I have my fully charged Streamlight flashlight in my pocket. I think with this light I showed the guide more of the top and other cave areas than she had seen before.
It turns out there are actually three caves. If we want to see them all we must hire a bamboo raft and pole man. The raft is probably 20 feet long, and maybe 30 inches wide. Talk about unstable. The man is supposed to pole us through the caves, letting us off at different points to go on foot with the guide. The water level is decreasing now, so he must actually wade through the water, sacred fish and all, and pull us through most of the trip.
As I am trying to make this my usual ‘mini-novel’ and not a full fledged book I won’t describe all the details of the cave. What is interesting is the difference in conservation attitudes. Like other places I have been here, one can walk and touch almost everything. The ancient stalagmites and stalactites are not protected in any way. Where our guides in the U.S. national parks would tell us the geographical and archeological facts, our guide points things out saying such relevant facts like, “Looks same as frog”, “Looks same as Elephant Ear” etc. We go up wooden stairways that are just incredible in height and pitch. One wrong slip of the foot and you would be in critical condition for sure.
As these thoughts go through my head the guide explains that these stairs were not so modern until recently. Just a short time ago they were bamboo steps. The Queen came to visit and was impressed with the sights, but not the stairs as she is a rather large woman. She declared it should be more tourist friendly. Thus the installation of the guano and mold covered “modern” wood stairways.
Finally I learn of how the natural formations and the old rotted wooden coffin remains we find are protected. The guide informs us, as she points to a dried up stalagmite, that this has stopped forming because someone touched it. We are not too touch or they will no longer form. Also she tells the tale;
“One day a man was touring the cave and took a piece of stone from the cave. Shortly there after he became very ill. He went to many doctors who said he had an incurable cancer and would soon die for sure. Finally he went to a “future man” who informed him that he must have taken something from a sacred place. If he returned the item he would be cured. Sure enough he returned the rock and was miraculously well again”.
I know I sure didn’t take anything.
I became friends with the guide through conversations on this 2-hour tour. We gave her a 100baht ($2.30) tip. I guess we over did it, because she became so grateful she insisted we come visit her home in the nearby village. So with her mounted on the back of a friends motorcycle, carrying her lantern, we followed to her home.
We sat on a straw mat in her one room, concrete slab hut as she served us fruit and a Pepsi. With difficulty, we talked her out of cooking for us. The neighbors came by in rows to see why this truck was parked and why this falang was paying a visit.
We learned that everyone in the village is allowed to supply one person per household as a guide for the cave. There are 83 guides. They are paid 50baht per trip through the cave. We were this woman’s first trip in 3 days (I wondered how she could be so out of shape and do this walk daily). We finished our visit after she was satisfied that we would in fact come see her again, and that we understood we should stay at her home and not pay next time we come.
The next day we rented a couple of really good mountain bikes to ride around the City and check out some of the nearby sites. Why, oh why, can they not come up with a seat that is literally not a “pain in the ass”.
We gave up the bikes and took the truck to the nearby Pai Hot Springs. It felt great on the feet.
The first night, we met a couple at the restaurant. It turns out the guy, Ove pronounced Uber, who is a very big man, 68 years old and looks like Earnest Hemmingway is from Denmark and comes here 6 mths of the year. Something with the Dane’s law that he cannot live here longer than that and still collect his pension. I am still not sure what his occupation was. He talked of 23 years working with, and taking soldiers and weapons to the civil wars in Nambia, S. Africa, where he was shot a couple times. Interesting guy. Through him we met Patong. She is his boss here. She owns a hammock/tent shop in town and is a very sweet 30 ish Thai woman who speaks very good English and seems to know everyone in town. She has a New Zealand fiancée.
Christmas Eve we wound up going with ‘Thong to a bar called the Be-Bop. They had a great Blues singer and later were joined by his band. He is falang and his band was two Asian guys. They were really great and played to a standing room only crowd of Asian, Europeans, Australians and who knows what.
At the bar we met a guy named Scott, from Seattle, and his Thai girlfriend. Scott has 3 college degrees of various natures and is currently finishing another degree at the University of Taiwan. His father apparently has money, and Scott is contemplating opening a Starbuck’s in China but living in Thailand.
To shorten this a little, let me just say that having so much in common with all the travelers and nobody being shy or inhibited is what makes this place so cool. We are going to a Christmas party at 3:00PM at another guesthouse that apparently sits on the Pai River with a great view. We are driving Ove and ‘Thong. We are to meet there, Scot from Seattle, Steve from Australia, Katrina from Ireland, an English speaking Thai police officer and wife, an American couple from Aspen, and who knows who else.
(As it turned out, there was rain and a power failure and we ended up eating by candlelight but had some good conversations and shared experiences).
Oh yeah, about this guesthouse. The managers are a young Thai couple. He is also a Thai police officer. They have just taken over this business but neither speaks English very well. They rent the guesthouse and restaurant from the owner for 20,000 baht a month. That’s $465.00. No wonder the locals think my $345.00 house rent is too much.
Anyway, they know little about marketing and this is really a pretty good place compared to most of the others. So, I am told, I have volunteered to make them a website, come up with some advertising, and assist with setting up their email and handling all the English correspondence. Oh well. I need something to do anyway and it gets one to thinking about the other possibilities here (I could always help Pethong sell hammocks when Ove is away).
Ove has also insisted there is no reason why we cannot come here to Pai on weekends “for a beer”. The Thai cop has promised that whatever I need just see him; he will be sure I get a good deal on whatever I want and I don’t have to worry about such nonsense as permits and things. Yeah right!
We are going to stay a couple more days, as there is some type of festival starting on the 27th that everyone insists we stay for, and also do a little more exploring.
All in all a good Christmas was had by all.
Note: A change in plans. We came home today, Dec.26, so we can go back for the festival and New Year’s Eve. It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes by the real road.