At the bus station we took a “Fan bus”, a pickup car with space in the passenger cargo area that cost us 80 Baths each, beware that normally at the station they tell you that there is only a van for 150 Baths … they lie . The road that reaches Pai “literally” climbs the mountains, in an endless labyrinth of curves, 3 hours of apparent pleasant walk in the mountains, which can turn into a nightmare … hehehe …
We arrived in Pai, it was already dark and we were surprised by the illumination of the night market, a street full of shops, above all hippies artisans quite perroflauticos and mainly food stalls. Chicken skewers, sausages, PadThai, noodle, papaya salad, fruit smoothies, ice cream, even lasagna, pizzas, spaghetti … what else can you think of? The atmosphere is quite hippie, dog-flautico, relaxed, so the first impression was quite good.
And as always to the search for accommodation! Asking tourists, on Agoda (a booking style website and not very useful for us and the price is never the end and they always add a last minute tax … chorizos !!) so we kicked the whole area in search of accommodation cheaper, backpack on the shoulder. On the other side of the river we found a small bungalow for 200 Baths, in Pai Loess resort, it was not bad, however giving another opportunity to the web Agoda we saw a guesthouse for 150 Baths, Tony’s guesthouse … although it was far from the center but there We went and … go antro !!! A cabin that fell apart, a greasy and dirty mattress, a bed cover full of stains that we did not even want to imagine what they were, sheets with holes and stains … a real disgust !!!! There we do not stay or charging! So we left.
To walk back to the center again … by chance we saw a sign of rooms, entering by Pai Scooter for rent, we asked, and haggling we agreed to do 2 nights at 150 Baths each … private bathroom, hot water, and everything correct and clean! !!! Great!!!! Fuck Tony’s guesthouse !!!! Really … how can you be so dirty …
happy in our CLEAN and yellow tutifruti room
The Garden of the Guesthouse and its charming lounge
Once in Pai, compared to Chiang Mai, time stopped, tranquility among the crowd, people but at another pace. The best scenario to work, there began to gestar more seriously this Blog.
The food that gave us the most value was Kao Soy with tofu for 40 Baths, delicious, although less than in the small stand of Chiang Mai, the papaya salad for 35 Baths, the chicken breast breaded on a skewer for 10 Baths, and the Delicious street ice cream for 10 Baths.
After two nights we looked for free sleep in exchange for 3-4 hours work, a volunteer, with the web “workaway”. We contacted a bungalow resort and they accepted us, the contact was a certain Dominic, very friendly, he showed us where we were going to stay and … surprise !!! Another Tony’s clubhouse guesthouse … but much worse … nor living on the street would sleep on that mattress … in a cabin that was falling apart … go rock … there are people for everything …
With backpacks on his back, we kept looking and in the street we saw a sign of a Thai looking for people to help him on his farm, Ban Numhoo homestay. We called him and he came looking for us to take us to see him. He was Pete and it was a bungalow resort gone down, well, it was falling apart, but Pete wanted to reform.
We were in a bungalow that was not bad, maybe there were some bugs, fruit of which the surroundings were pure vegetation … bathroom in the room with hot shower.
We stayed for a week and helped to build a bamboo kitchen in the center of the farm, we cleaned leaves and weeds around our bungalow and an esplanade to make an ecological garden. We also made a profile of Workaway, Helpex, Worldpacker and updated social networks. If you are looking for something similar do not hesitate to contact him http://www.bannumhoohomestay.com
In the resort also lived Mr. T, a nice Thai musician happy to spend some time with us and so be able to play the guitar and / or harmonica some of his Thai or American country classics … all an adorable character …
After five days of work followed, we took a break and the day before our departure, we rented a motorcycle for 100 Baths with a deposit of 2000 Baths; We never left our passport … and we went to some beautiful hot springs, Sai Ngam. They charged us; 20 person and motorbike baths (total 60 Baths) to enter the natural park and 20 Baths per person to enter more in the hot springs, at first I grumbled about the continuous payment, but afterwards I recognized that it was worth it … the waters are about 30º, if there are no children and the water is calm it looks completely transparent !! a joy of relaxation.
We also went down to the river, and we bathed in the current near Buffet 55, friends of Pete, very close to Pai.
