I remember reading about Pai in the travel section of the Globe a few years ago.
Pai is a hippie mecca of the old school. Best thing about it is its location in a scenic valley.
Almost everybody here rents a scooter or motorcycle to explore the nearby waterfalls and other sights. The emergency rooms of the local hospital must see some dandy accidents as a result of unskilled and inebriated foreigners motoring around – helmetless – in shorts, tank tops, and flip flops.
![Festive street - Pai](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_6549-1024x768.jpg)
Lots of other people come here for different reasons. Some quotes from a Wikitravel article:
‘There has been a large increase in Thai people visiting after Pai was featured in a romantic Thai film, Pai in Love.’
‘Perhaps due to the popularity of the Chinese movie ‘Lost in Thailand’, which was shot in northern Thailand, Pai has seen a significant increase in the number of mainland Chinese tourists and group tours since 2014.’
![Hills just outside of town - Pai](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_6531-1024x768.jpg)
Nice bamboo bridge leading to our accommodations.
![The Bridge on the River Pai - Pai](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_6524-1024x768.jpg)
Among all the restaurants, souvenir shops, tattoo parlours, and massage studios are some tranquil buildings.
The range of tourist activities in the area is wide but unappealing – at least to us. Ziplining, whitewater rafting, elephant riding (cruel and exploitative), trekking – meh. We stay in these bamboo huts. It feels like a tropical Hobbit village.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_6522-1024x768.jpg)
You may have heard of Cat Cafés. Pai boasts a Rabbit Café, which of course we thought was great.
I need no excuse to sneak in another bunny pic.
![](https://randomrambles.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_6540-1024x768.jpg)
Besides the endless possibilities for making puns on its name, we enjoy the laid-back vibe here. Planning our next move to Laos.
Sight or Insight of the Day – Pai
A wonderful drive – by public transit – to Pai from Chiang Mai on twisty mountain roads. Stopping for a break in a small town midway, we’re surprised by a convoy of 10 or 11 latest-model Ferraris – teenagers at the wheel – screaming through the village, passing slower traffic on a blind curve.
We’ve seen this movie before. Looks like Canada isn’t the only place where Chinese criminals gift their sons with examples of sleek Italian automotive exotica costing a quarter of a million US dollars (and up) apiece. Like here. And here. And here