Pai- Cool people, cool places, cool faces.

A beautiful piece of Pai

Pai was one of the places we had had on our definite list when we were planning our travels to Thailand. Whenever I had asked anyone for recommendations they had always mentioned Pai being one of their favourite parts of Thailand as it was such a quirky, hippy town. The vibe there is so chilled that it convinced me I could live there. 

I should probably have noted when I first wrote this post that the journey to Pai is hell. But its HELLa cheap. lol. We had to get a bus from Chiang Mai to Pai which travels around to all different pick up points in Chiang Mai but we were lucky as one of the pick up points were directly outside of our hotel. The buses there are very frequent and for a  3 hour journey it costs you the equivalent of less than a fiver. The roads are shocking, they have so many winds and bends and you only have one stop off to take a breather. So many people were very sick during the journey so i would 100% advise taking travel sickness tablets, I don't get travel sickness at all but I was convinced a couple of times I was gonna throw up. Grim.

We had met a couple on a trip in Chiang Mai who had told us about a really cool thing you could do via booking.com which meant if you used each others referral codes it can get you up to £15 off each trip, which massively came in handy. We stayed at the Pai Yadodo resort which wasn't amazing but we had a beautiful room, a cute little pool and beautiful gardens. However, I would recommend staying closer to the centre of Pai as neither of us drive and most people get around there via motorbikes whereas we had to use taxis which weren't available past 9pm. If we were to walk from the centre back to our hotel it would have probably taken us just over twenty minutes.

Other than the hotel being a little further away from the centre than anticipated and the taxi situation, we LOVED Pai. To prove just how cool the vibe is there: We wanted a chilled night one night with a cocktail so we found a cute little bar and drank Mai Tais whilst playing Jenga which they had brought to the table with our drinks. Any bar that brings you Jenga to play while you sip your cocktails is a winner in my eyes!

We booked an excursion whilst in Pai called the Pai Lets go tour, this has shitty reviews on trip advisor but don't listen to them, it's a super cheap, fun day and we met some of the most amazing people on this trip... we met two American guys that were vlogging their trip, we met three people from Chile that had never met before their travels and yet ended up travelling together, we met other people too and all of them showed us how travelling really does bring people together from all different walks of life. The day started with us being picked up from our hotel in a big pick up truck, we went on to pick up the others from their hostels and then we were taken to a gorgeous viewpoint with this crazy swing that could lift up to four people in the air. Pai is bursting with beautiful scenery and this tour gave us all of the Instagram worthy pictures & more...

Hot springs, waterfalls & caves

We were supposed to go Bamboo rafting on this trip but the weather had been pretty bad so we the water level wasn't right for it or so we were told lol. We still got to explore some really cool caves with lanterns which were full of crystals and cool patterns engraved in the walls which the tour guides kept making random suggestions to what they were to make us all laugh. We also got to spend time bathing in hot springs and we visited a waterfall which most of us were using as a waterslide, it was so much fun! We went on to have lunch together which was pad thai or fried rice and we were given endless fruit platters of pineapple, watermelon & banana.

Pai Canyon

(Hey flip flops, lol)

On the tour we also got to visit this amazing Canyon at sunset, we had to climb up to get to the best view point and I got so nervous about crossing over some parts as the drops were crazy but the people we met on the tour were so literally so cute and supportive, one guy stood behind me and held my shoulders so tightly whilst I walked across so I knew that I was safe. It was so worth climbing for the most beautiful view and we all got to sit together on a rock and it is just crazy the sense of closeness you can receive from people you have just met.

The White Buddha

Whilst I don't regret the excursion we chose to do in Pai because of the people we met we realised after we booked this trip that there were other day tours on offer that took you to way more places. We ended up booking a taxi that could take us to the white buddha & Coffee in love, the taxis are incredibly cheap and the driver waits for you whilst you spend time at each spot which is insane.

To get to the White Buddha we had to climb a lot of stairs which is never a shock in Thailand, although I didn't workout at all whilst I was out there I was constantly kept active. Once we reached the top the views were again amazing but the White Buddha we had been so eager to see was unfortunately under construction. We still got to see it but if you search the white buddha on tagged on instagram one girl has the most amazing picture taken with it and literally if there was anything we wanted to recreate it was that. 

We visited Coffee in love as obviously if anything has the word coffee in the name you know I will be hop, skip and leaping towards it. I know I keep talking about the views but for real.... the view whilst I sat with my coffee & cake was just out of this world. Coffee in love is actually a famous movie set from a Thai film, it is a coffee shop in the most beautiful setting and it was definitely worth it for all the gorgeous pictures we got to take and as a decent cup of coffee is pretty hard to come by in Thailand this place gave me just that.

Pai walking street

Thailand is full of 'walking streets' but Pai definitely had the best ones. Full of street food stalls, cool bars, etc. We were loving life. We found a stall serving up different kinds of bruschetta and we found a cool bar to drink Thai beer whilst listening to 50s music, our seats were right in the street so we could people watch whilst stuffing our faces. It is no secret to anyone that avocado is my one true love and here in Pai I found avocado spring rolls. What a freaking delight.

So there you have it, the beautiful Pai. We only spent three nights here and it was worth every single one. The rain can get crazy here as we experienced on our first night but the vibe is second to none. 

Thanks for reading, H x

Chiang Mai- Temples, cooking classes, elephants & more

Chiang Freaking Mai

Chiang Mai was possibly my favourite place in Thailand. Chiang Mai is just North of Bangkok and it is incredibly easy to get to. We only spent three weeks travelling around Thailand, most people have way more time than that but we had to make everything as time efficient as possible. After a night in Bangkok we flew to Chiang Mai. The flight was only 1 hour 15 mins and cost us around £24 each via skyscanner. Everything in Thailand is insanely cheap, including flying around there and as we needed to cut down as much time using transport as possible we decided flying was our best option. Most travellers use sleeper trains which is the cheapest form of transport. I had read gross things about these sleeper trains but actually two guys we met in Pai used them and took videos on there and they looked really comfortable.

It is so easy to get around Thailand in fact that we actually booked our flights at 9pm the night before and then flew at 10am the next day. We asked our lovely hosts at Here Hostel in Bangkok to arrange a taxi to Don Muang airport and they happily did it for us, everyone is so willing in Thailand that you will ALWAYS find a way of making things work. We found it so funny that we turned up at the airport panicking that we would need documents etc for us to just hand our passports in at the check in counter and have everything sorted within minutes. 

We arrived at Chiang Mai airport and as soon as we walked out of the exit we found tons of taxis ready to take us to our hotel. We found a hotel called the Royal Penninsula on booking.com (BEST website to use for travelling) and the hotel was £16 each for 4 nights with breakfast included, the rooms were cleaned daily with fresh towels, we had access to the pool, buffet breakfasts and a lovely lady known as Boo at the front desk on hand to help us book excursions.

If you're doing it for the Gram you will for sure find the best picture spots in Chiang Mai.

Here are some of the things we did whilst here;

Elephant Mountain Sanctuary

There are soooo many elephant sanctuaries for travellers to visit. We opted for a no riding excursion as we wanted to go somewhere where the animals are treated with absolute care. We found the Elephant Mountain Sanctuary. We spent the day learning about the elephants, washing them, giving them mudbaths, taking them on a 6KM jungle trek, feeding them, making their food, etc. It was such an incredible day and if I could suggest one thing that people HAVE to do in Thailand it is going to visit these beautiful animals, it is honestly the craziest thing being so close to them.

Doi Suthep

Doi Suthep is another absolute MUST in Chiang Mai. It is one of the most sacred temples in Thailand. There are so many different temples to visit in Thailand, small and large and although neither of us are religious we found the temples to be the most peaceful and calming of places especially Doi Suthep. There are so many 'busses' also known as Songthaews (pick up style trucks with two benches inside) all over Chiang Mai offering to take people to the temples/main excursion places. The people that drive you will also give you an hour and 15 minutes to go to the temple whilst they wait for you and they will then return you to the pick up spot. To get to Doi Suthep you have to climb 309 steps which is seen as the stairway to heaven, here you will find the most incredible architecture and the most beautiful views of Chiang Mai. You will spend your time there in awe, trust me.

The salad concept

Okay people. Hear. Me.Out. Yes, we were backpacking around and trying not to blow all our money at once (I only spent £600 in 3 weeks and that is actually a lot to them) but I am also the biggest foodie. I just love food. The food in Thailand was incredible but we had days where our stomachs felt off whether that was from the spice or the way things were prepared etc. Lets not forget Thailand is a second world country so although cooking is a huge deal to them, food hygiene teams would have a field day out there. Amongst all of the amazing Thai restaurants, street food stalls and cafes, you will also find lots of Western restaurants and cafes, we found quite a few places that used the ideas of Australian cafes and this was one of them. If you want a health food stop, this should be your go to. They had the most incredible salad building options, breakfasts, smoothies, coffee, etc. I had the peanut butter & banana smoothie and the eggs royale which was incredible, to match their name they put salads with everything, mine came with grilled vegetables and salad and it was so refreshing to eat something that wasn't foreign for the odd meal. I was being a basic bitch...for one day. Promise.

Siam Garden Cooking School

Another MUST in Thailand (okay, i will say everything about a billion times because I just loved it there SO much) but for reals. There are so many cooking schools there and we just had the best time there. Our instructor was called Cam, I don't know whether it was his knowledge, his camp approach to life, his impersonation of the sassy guy that sprinkles the salt, his hilarious jokes or all of the above but he absolutely made this excursion for me. I honestly wish everyone knew about him because he was amazing! Thai food is actually so quick and easy to make once you prep your ingredients and we had so much fun making and eating everything. We made glass spring rolls, normal spring rolls, pad thai, prawn & coconut milk soup, cashew nut chicken, deep fried banana, sticky rice with mango and so much more. They set out the cutest area for everyone to sit together on comfy cushions in a space overlooking the garden, we did the evening course so it was sunset whilst we all ate together and shared our travel stories.

Art in Paradise

We returned to Chiang Mai for a night following Pai before flying to the South and we visited this amazing art gallery. You defo have to visit here, the artwork is so quirky and cool there. It isn't far from the centre of Chiang Mai and it is totally worth the walk regardless.

Chiang Mai is bursting with life, the streets are bustling with night markets, street food, quirky cafes, tuk tuks (BEST way to travel around) and the most wonderful people. I honestly loved it there and I would recommend Chiang Mai to anyone and everyone.

Thanks for reading! H x