Day 40 – Pai
Today we went on a group tour early in the morning, which we purchased last night at the street market. The Songthaew picked us up and we were the final pick up.
Big Buddha
The first stop was close to our accommodation Pril Pai Guest house, which explains why we were to last to be picked up. The Big Buddha is reached by climbing up stairs for around 5 minutes, which are unfortunately exposed to the morning sun, which was already harsh. The massive white statue is in a sitting position and from the top you have awesome views of the area around Pai.
From the Big Buddha we drove around the winding roads of Pai as the heavens began to open up. Fortunately the Songthaew has material covers that can be pulled down. However there are always gaps so the rain water still managed to find its way onto us.
Lod Cave
As we approached the Lod Caves the weather improved back to solid sunshine. At the entrance we were assigned to a cave guide. After a short walk down towards the cave, we had to wait for a while until our Bamboo Raft came. It was a short 1/2 minute ride which took us further inside the cave. From here the tour guide took us around with a lantern (which added some dramatic effect) and showed us the various features of the cave. And I learnt the GoPro is pretty useless in the dark.
Along the way to the caves we stopped at a restaurant to order our lunches. After the caves we returned to this stop to have lunch. It was quite good and filling.
Sai Gnam Hot Spring
The Sai Gnam Hot Springs are located down a very bumpy road so we had to hold on to anything we could to not be thrown around. At the hot springs themselves we found around 3 sections separated with artificial barriers. We were able to change in the change rooms (nothing fancy) and got into the lukewarm water. The water weren’t really that hot…but it was still nice to unwind and chill out.
While in the water we worked out that there were several different tour groups doing the exact same tour route as us so we had kept seeing them at every other site. After 60 minutes we had to leave.
Kiu Lom View Point
We stopped along the way back at a view point to see the mountain views. We didn’t stop here earlier due to the rain. There was a massive swing here, but I couldn’t convince J to come with me.
Mor Pang Waterfall
Mor Pang Waterfall was supposed to be another swimming spot but once we arrived it was close to rapids. Possibly due to the rain earlier on in the day. We had an hour to be here so we ended up walking down a bit to a cafe and having some drinks instead.
Pai Canyon
Our final destination on the trip was Pai Canyon, which was meant to be a good spot for a sunset, but today it was too cloudy to be any good. Nevertheless, the canyon is very cool to walk around, with high ridges and drops either side of you. Some of the areas require a bit of climbing but for most part the climb/slope is easy. As we were walking back, there were some guys who were riding the ridges on motorbikes! I would definitely not be doing that for a while!
After the tour was complete the Songthaew proceeded to drop of the other tourists. We decided to get dropped off at the market street so we could have dinner.
We ended up eating at a restaurant that made us completely different food than what we ordered. Mine was apparently correct but looked nothing like the photo but J’s was remade by the reluctant shop owner.
After dinner we booked a bus back to Chiang Mai and then walked the 2kms back to our guest house. Another full day at Pai.