Thailand: Chiang Mai and Pai
- Will Boddington
- Dec 26, 2017
- 5 min read
We ended up flying from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. I know, sort of cheating and missing the countryside views and local trains but...
The train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was fully booked for the next couple of days and cost ~£30 each. We had done most of what there was to do in Bangkok and didn’t want to spend another 2 days there. Flights were ~£35 each, with one available next day. So the cost of the extra night in Bangkok would’ve been the difference and the flight takes an hour and a half instead of 11...
I’m sure we’ll have more than enough long bus and train journeys to come!
We arrived in Chiang Mai airport in the evening where we only had to wait 2 minutes for a taxi to Deejai hostel which cost 150 baht. We checked in and got chatting to Nicola from Northern Ireland and made plans to go to Chiang Mai’s “Grand Canyon” in the morning.
Not quite what the name suggests, but it was still impressive! An old quarry filled with water 70m deep, with an inflatable water park floating on top. Real good fun - and quite a workout!
When we got back to our hostel, Nicola caught her bus to Pai and we booked into a half day at an elephant sanctuary for the next day and the bus to Pai at 5pm.
There was only 2 of us at the sanctuary, so we had 3 elephants between us. Quite the experience! We washed bananas before hand feeding them to the elephants, then we went for a walk with them before having a mud bath - again, with the elephants! Then washed them off before having our lunch and heading back to Chiang Mai. We seemed to do everything that was advertised in the full day tours in our short half day, guessing just without the waiting around and taking in turns?
After returning to the hostel we got the 5pm bus to Pai - quite the drive, very similar to Sri Lankan bus rides so it's a good job beither of us gets travel sick. When getting to Pai we checked into Deejai Hostel (we booked the bus and 1 nights accommodation as a bundle deal from Deejai in Chiang Mai) and got an early night before moving to Suan Doi Resort (the name makes it sound very fancy but it’s the same standards as the others). We went to Sai Ngam hot springs which was a bit of a struggle with our small 110cc moped as it involved having to get off and push it up the hill several times on the way - this is when the moped was christened Freddie as we felt like we were in the Flintstones.
When we got to the hotspring we were slightly confused as we had to pay twice - once to get into the national park then again for the hot springs, but it was still only a total of 100 baht which was well worth it.
After a chilly ride back and drying off in the breeze we got back and enjoyed our first night (of many) in the Pai walking street. This consisted of a lot of food, both western and local, clothes, souvenirs and bars.
Whilst in Pai we also went to Pai Canyon for the sunset which we filmed a time lapse of on the GoPro.
On the way to the canyon we stumbled across “Love Strawberry Pai Cafe” which sold strawberry everything, from a smoothie to... Strawberry fried rice?! Had to give it a try!
We also explored a couple of waterfalls around Pai. Mo Paeng and Pam Bok weren’t too impressive (could’ve been because of the time of year we’re visiting in) but we spent some time at both admiring the views, although it was too cold to go for a dip.
We also visited Hyun Yai view point on our travels which was quite impressive, but to enter the cafe you had to pay for a ticket. It was only 50 baht each we had a good view from where we were.
Next on our list was Pang Mapha view point - very impressive. A good 20km drive (we got ourselves a 125cc for this one), but very worth it.
There were also a couple of street food vendors where we grabbed a bit of food to fuel us back to Pai, before once again eating our way through Walking Street.
Our stay in Pai was absolutely beautiful, especially our views from the last hostel we stayed in (Famous Circus Hostel). It had an infinity pool with gorgeous views of the valley.
Accommodation in Chiang Mai:
Deejai Backpackers, 2 nights, 200 baht per night for a bed in a shared dorm.
This hostel room wasn't quite up to the standard we were used to in Bangkok, but it was fairly clean, the shower was hot and we only had to share the bathroom between four of us. The hostel had a separate restaurant and pool down the road, although the food there was more expensive. It seemed quite a chilled hostel, but the second night we were told about a BBQ evening which apparently ended up quite lively, although we didn't go ourselves. We would probably try the Bodega Hostel if we ever stayed in Chiang Mai again. 6/10.
Accommodation in Pai:
Deejai Backpackers - 1 night, 200 baht per night for a bed in a shared dorm (although we got a deal for the bus to Pai and a night at Deejai for 300 baht each - the bus was 200 baht alone which made Deejai 100 baht each for the night!).
This hostel was right on the edge of Pai with stunning views of the surrounding rice farms. There were only three showers and three toilets shared between four dorm rooms, but this didn't seem to be a problem and they were all clean. It was just a bit far out of town and a bit too quiet ! It's a lovely hostel but not for us - 7/10.
Suan Doi Backpackers (formerly Suandoi Resort) - 2 nights, 500 baht per night for a private room.
Although it was much closer to the main part of Pai, this resort was still quiet and relaxing. The food here was really good and they built a bonfire in the evening to sit around and relax with drinks from the bar. Again it was slightly too quiet for us but our large double room with ensuite bathroom was clean and had nice views over the pond, great value. There were also puppies running around which was really cute! 7/10.
Famous Circus Hostel - 2 nights in a Deluxe Double Private, 650 baht per night, and 2 nights in a Superior Double Private, 450 baht per night.
The deluxe room was definitely not worth the money we paid! It was across the road in a separate building which was nice but the toilet and shower drain were both blocked, and the room wasn't that great to start with! In comparison, the superior room was a bamboo hut with only a bed inside, but we both loved it - there was a window at the back of the hut you could open in the morning and just see green fields and blue skies. It was annoying having to walk to the separate shower block but for the price it wasn't anything to complain about! We also didn't have as much bar noise in this hut as we did in our first deluxe room. The hostel itself was great - there was an infinity pool, hula hoop lessons, free shots and family meals. We would definitely stay here again for the lively atmosphere! 8/10.
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