Pai is a very friendly town in the North of Thailand. This video will tell you how to register shared land
On a town street. Photo credit: HIKARU Pan, Flickr
The city has a lot of cheap guest houses and very nice inexpensive resorts, restaurants and bars, tea and coffee shops, massage parlors, yoga classes and cooking courses. In addition, trekking tours are organized from Pai, with visits to high mountain villages. Rafting, tubing on the river, cycling, swimming with an elephant in the river are also options for “things to do” while while away the days.
why go
Don't miss it in Pai
- Rent a motorbike, have a map of interesting places and explore the local natural beauty - the canyon, hot springs, waterfalls, a Chinese village and the charming little temple of Wat Phra That Mae Yen on the mountain with magnificent views.
- Visit the elephant camp and swim with an elephant in the river).
- Experience local hospitality and sample local fruits in a tiny cafe next to one of the local landmarks, the Land Split.
- Learn how to cook Thai food at local cooking classes.
- Immerse yourself in the lively pleasant atmosphere of the evening Pai - with its night market (Pai Walking Street), restaurants, bars, live music, young and pleasant faces around.
Evening with music. Photo credit: rodeochiangmai, Flickr
Rent a motorbike in Pai
Renting a motorbike in Pai is a must-have experience, unless, of course, you are on. Riding around Pai is a pleasure, the views are simply beautiful. You can get a map with places worth visiting at any of the local guest houses; you can rent a bike either through the guest house or on the central streets of the town, where all the tourist infrastructure is concentrated. Driving experience and a helmet are required. Cost 80-100 THB/day.
On a motorbike around the surrounding area. Photo credit: Cody Perhamus, Flickr
Pai Canyon and Temple on the Mountain
This, of course, is not the Grand Canyon, but, nevertheless, the place is beautiful and very atmospheric. Be careful walking along the narrow Canyon trails. The trip can be combined with a visit to the temple on Mount Wat Phra That Mae Yen and Pam Bok waterfall.
Picturesque canyon. Photo credit: ocean_rain, Flickr
Temple on the mountain Wat Phra That Mae Yen. Photo credit: Brian Poulsen, Flickr
Waterfalls around Pai
The beauty of the local waterfalls is that you can swim here. Mo Phaeng Falls is called a “slide waterfall” - water flows over gently sloping rocks, which for local kids and young backpackers serves as something of a natural water slide (be careful, this attraction has been known to cause accidents).
Mhor Phaeng Waterfall. Photo credit: missshaiva, Flickr
Pam Bok waterfall is less visited and you can also swim here, not only in the pool, but also under the running water. On the way to the waterfall, there is a local landmark called The Land Split - a hole in the ground and an atmospheric cafe nearby where you can drink delicious juice and lie in a hammock.
At Pam Bok waterfall. Photo credit: Scott Barber, Flickr
The third of the Mae Yen waterfalls is reached from Pai by a 7-kilometer hiking trail; the waterfall itself is inferior to its neighbors - you can only swim in the pool; the trekking itself is more interesting here (about 5 hours there and back), part of the road is through the jungle.
The road from Chiang Mai to Pai turned out to be unexpectedly difficult. I won’t describe the details, I’ll just say that all the windows of our minibus were occupied, and the driver would have to stop at a car wash. The path to Pai, although not long, is laid through the mountains along a hard serpentine road. At the first stop, Nika and I bought anti-motion sickness pills, and this saved us, but everyone else vomited literally everything there. The driver categorically did not want to stop, apparently this is a standard situation. Well, otherwise everything was wonderful, somehow in about three hours we reached Pai.
Having arrived at the place, we, like all our fellow travelers, first of all rented a bike. Bikes in Pai can only be rented in one place; several rental services are located a few steps from the final stop. So if you are planning to rent a bike, it is better to do it right away; this pleasure costs 100 baht for one day.
In general, Pai is a very tourist city; finding a guest house or a good resort there will not be a problem. At the bike rental point, we took a map of the city, on which all the main resorts were marked with the indicated prices. After swelteringly hot nights in Chiang Mai, we decided that we needed to take a cabin with air conditioning. And so they did. We rented a house in a good resort for 600 baht. But after the first night we realized that there was no point in air conditioning. During the day in Pai the temperature is 35 degrees and at night it is cold. So the next day we moved to another resort for 250 baht.
Search for hotels in Pai:
General impressions of the city
We were completely delighted with Pai. This is the kind of town where you want to come for a while to take a break from the bustle of the city and recharge with creative energy. All the tourists here are mostly European hippie backpackers and Asians, all very cheerful, positive guys with no complexes. In general, Pai leaves a strong impression of himself as a hippie city. Anyone who is not interested in luxury will really like it here.
Well, the most striking impression, of course, is made by the mountain landscapes in the vicinity of the city, especially on the way to the Lod Cave, we made a separate video about it. It’s true that it’s the dry season in Thailand now, and all the mountains are covered in haze (due to numerous forest fires), but it’s still very beautiful, especially in the evening.
Fire in the forest:
There are also a lot of different shops in Pai that sell all sorts of unnecessary handmade items, and it was very difficult for Nick to pull them out.
The only thing that disappointed us in Pai is that you won’t find fresh fruit here during the day. We traveled all over the city, but never found a single fruit market.
First impression of the city and our accommodation in Pai:
Sights of Pai
As I already said, at the bike rental point we took a map of the city, on which two tourist routes around Pai were marked. We took a short route on the first day; there was nothing particularly interesting there. But the next day we visited the three main attractions of Pai, about which we filmed a video and took several photographs. Below I will briefly talk about each of them.
This is a must-see for all tourists coming to Pai. The canyon doesn't make a particularly strong impression, but it's still quite beautiful, and this place is definitely worth your time.
The source is open to the public from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. There is an entrance fee of 200 baht for foreign tourists and 40 baht for Thais or Thai driving license holders. Active construction is currently underway on the territory of the source, but despite this, you can have a great time there. The water temperature in the fonts is 35 degrees. After bathing in hot water, you feel very comfortable in the air, even in the heat.
On the way to the hot spring there is another attraction of Pai - the memorial bridge:
Video of the sights of the great tourist route in Pai:
Lod Cave
Well, the last attraction, which in our opinion is the main attraction of Pai, is the Lod Cave. It is located on the opposite side of the small and large tourist routes indicated on the Pai map. The drive to it is approximately 45 km. There are signs to the cave along the road, but it is better to periodically ask the locals for directions. The road to the cave is laid along a mountain serpentine and along the way there are gorgeous views of the mountains and rice fields.
We paid 550 baht to enter Lod Cave (150 baht for a guide with a lamp and 400 baht for a raft). This price is for a group of 1-3 people.
The entire excursion lasts about one and a half hours. You load onto bamboo rafts and float through a huge cave, stopping several times and walking through its halls. This is probably one of the most memorable excursions that Nika and I have ever attended. It's really really cool there. Unfortunately, it’s not visible in the video, but the cave is really huge and makes a colossal impression.
Video of our visit to Lod Cave in Pai:
Of course, these are not all the attractions of Pai, but for the first time we were impressed enough. Next time we plan to return here during the rainy season, when we can go to the waterfalls and admire the mountain scenery without haze. Well, tomorrow morning we’ll leave for Chiang Dao (but we’ll arrive in). From Pai you can only get there through Chang Mai , so we are again faced with an extremely intense mountain crossing.
The first ones have air conditioning in the cabin and cost 150 baht, while the second ones only have a fan (price 80 baht). It’s better to take minivans; buses are good only in the mornings and late afternoon, when the sun has not yet begun to shine (at 7-8 in the morning it may well be +16...+18 outside and the air conditioners in the minibuses are not turned on). Minibuses run every hour starting at 6:30. The last minivan goes to Pai from Chiang Mai at 17:30. But it’s better to take the second to last one, in case the last one is cancelled.
The entire road to Pai takes 3 hours. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more, it all depends on the recklessness of the driver and stops for a smoke break and a snack. The fastest time it took the author of the article to get there was 2 hours 40 minutes, and the slowest was 3 hours 20 minutes. In the first case, the driver never made any stops, and in the second, he stopped at the toilet and a snack bar for 15 minutes. I also noticed that getting from Pai to Chiang Mai is faster than vice versa. Apparently in the first case there are more descents, and in the second there are more ascents. First, you drive to Pai along a straight highway for about an hour and a half at a speed of 80-100 km/h, but then the road begins to wind through the mountains and valleys and the last section of the minivan drags along at 30-40 km/h. Therefore, despite the fact that the entire journey is less than 200 km, it is never possible to get there in 2 hours (as on a flat road).
There is no bus station in Pai, there is only a small nook about 40-50 meters long, into which minivans are turned. There is also a small booth where they sell tickets to Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. There are no signs indicating this is a bus station. This bus stop is located in the heart of Pye, on Walking Street. It is on this street that most restaurants and bars are located. After 18:00, tents with souvenirs, clothes, food and all sorts of things appear on it.
How to get from Pai to Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and other places
At the bus stop we mentioned above, they only sell tickets to Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. If you need to go somewhere further - to Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, then it is better to use local travel agencies.
The largest and most famous of them is Aya Service. If you stand with your back to the bus stop, you need to go left. In a minute you will see the Aya Service office on the left side of the road. They sell tickets there:
- to Bangkok - 500 baht,
- Mae Sai (city on the border with Burma) - 850 baht,
- Hanoi (Vietnam) - 2450 baht,
- Siem Reap (Cambodia) - 1550 baht,
- Laos - 650-2500 baht depending on the city and method (minivan or boat on the river).
Also, with Aya Service you can leave for Chiang Mai every hour (starting from 8 am). The ticket also costs 150 baht.
- V ,
The most convenient way to travel around Northern Thailand is by car. We drove for the first day from Chiang Mai to Pai and stayed there for a while. And then we went further along the northern loop, and covered its next section, from Pai to Khun Yuam via Mae Hong Son, in 1 day. In this article we will talk in detail about its first part - from Pai to Mae Hong Son, and share practical information and recommendations.
Basic information about the route Pai - Khun Yuam:
- Route: Pai - Mae Hong Son - Khun Yuam
- Description: Transfer from the city of Pai to the provincial capital of Mae Hong Son along a mountain road with stops
- Transport: passenger car
- Path length: 198 km
- Time spent: 1 day (12 hours)
- Start of the journey: 06:43
- End of journey: 18:44
- Minimum height: 204 m
- Maximum altitude: 1643 m
One-day itinerary and sights of the Nordschleife
As you can see from the diagram, we didn’t turn off the path anywhere this time; all the attractions are located along the main highway. However, during other travels (also by car and on a motorbike), we stopped at many interesting places that were located away from highway 1095. And in this article I will combine two trips to show what can be seen along the route in Northern Thailand from Pai to Mae Hong Son.
Basic information about the route Pai - Mae Hong Son:
- Path length: 110 km (total with deviations from the route - 165 km)
- Minimum height: 204 m
- Maximum altitude: 1643 m
- Maximum speed: 89 km/h
- Travel time: 10 hours
Mae Hong Son Center - a park around Chong Kham Lake
This is where our route from Pai to Mae Hong Son ends, but the next day it will take us further to other attractions that lie along the western border of Thailand and Myanmar.
Route from Pai to Mae Hong Son - our impressions
The experience of traveling around Thailand in a rented car turned out to be invaluable. It is in the constant change of environment that you can very well understand how they live in Thailand, experience their culture and way of life. With this post I am opening a series of publications about interesting places in the kingdom, and I will talk in detail about this beautiful country. I will attach practical information about the trip (in figures and facts) to the posts to make it more interesting to perceive information about movements.
This concludes the first part of the story about the journey from Pai to Kun Yuam. Next, I’ll tell you about the sights of Mae Hong Son and about visiting Nam Tok Mae Surin National Park.
- Continuation of the story about traveling around Northern Thailand by car
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