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Pai is all about taking it easy, relaxing and just chilling out. So that is how our rest day in this beautiful town was to be enjoyed. That said, there is much to do here like hot springs, elephant camp, temples, waterfalls, WW2 bridge not to mention the many art galleries, cafes, restaurants etc. Breakfast was taken leisurely at the hotel, and we didn't meet up till late morning. Our first stop was to ride up 5km outside of town to the Yunanese village as it has a strong historical significance. This is where remnants of the Taiwanese 93rd Army settled after their failed war with Mao Tse Tung's forces in the 50s. They soon were fighting for Thailand against the Miao Communist and were given citizenship. The attraction thus is having Little China right here in the highlands of Thailand.
Since my last visit some years back, it has steadily been developed into a serious tourist attraction and I'm sad that it has lost its old village charm. Nevertheless, economic growth is good for its residents and especially when the biggest number of tourist comes from mainland China. The climb up there was easy enough and I enjoyed swapping bikes with Pete. His Tern P24 touring bike felt like a very competent Land rover.
With our bikes safely locked up, we enjoyed playing the tourist sampling all that Little China had to offer. It was good to be able to speak in Mandarin and browse through the many shops with interesting offerings of tea, souvenirs and preserved fruits. Some of us had fun on an ancient 4 seater ferries wheel manned by several strong blokes, and this was great fun even with basic technology. There was a real buzz as everything was in full swing and beautifully decorated in preparation for Chinese New Year.
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Lunch was Yunnan style and it was a good change from the usual fiery Thai cuisine we have been enjoying for the last few days. The speciality was of course stewed pork trotters eaten with buns among other delicacies.
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Our next stop was to check out the Piranha Fishing Pond as that sounded exciting. Getting there meant more climbs but thankfully only one very steep one. The views that passed us by did not disappoint and was worth sweating for.
Unfortunately when we got there, the pond was closed with a sign saying the owners were sick. Only a very lethargic dog greeted us with sleepy eyes. Tried feeding the fish with some bread, but it seemed they too were in dream land. Seems like the sign don't lie...
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KC, Cil and I decided to proceed uphill to see the Mor Pang waterfall while the others headed down back to town. It was a gradual climb of another 5km or so along quiet narrow country roads. For some reason, it seemed like forever to get there but we eventually did.
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The waterfall was attractive and quite a few tourists were there, mostly arriving by motorbikes or vans. We 3 were the only ones on bicycles and that drew some curious stares. Who were these crazy people?
It was fun woosh-ing downhill back to town and we rode around to check out the happenings. As we were rather in need of a drink, it was good to see a soya milk stall by the road. This is one reason why I love Thailand as they make them so well here and one glass of delicious white protein was only about 20 US cents. Taken with crispy chinese donuts, it was just heavenly.
We enjoyed a spot of pre-dinner massage and that was really a balm to my aching legs. I had a rather strong elderly lady wearing a tiger skin blouse who enjoyed inflicting pain on me and that really sorted my aches out, though I cannot say honestly I'm in love her session. It didn't help too that there were mozzies dive bombing me, and I was glad I managed to shoot one down.
The team assembled later at the hotel lobby and we walked for dinner to Nong Bier, instead of cycle. It was after all supposed to be our rest day. Nong Bier has been around in Pai for a very long time and is an icon. They serve value for money Thai food and the 80 yr old grandma manages the till. Good old fashion Chinese family run restaurant. I ordered Garlic Pork and rice which was simple but satisfying.
The second round of dinner was supposed to be wanton noodles 10 mins away but this was unfortunately closed. Disappointed! So we ended up having dessert at the Soya Milk stall again and this was a blessing in more ways than one. A group of youths were crowding around the only table at the stall and we ended up sitting on the curbside. However upon seeing us, they very kindly gave up their table. We could not believe their caring gesture. Turned out they were a bunch of youth after a church meeting and we enjoyed a little chat with their leaders. The outgoing Youth Pastor trained in Penang, Malaysia in the Baptist Seminary and they were descendants of the KMT army.
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We spend the rest of our evening wandering through the night market, eating and shopping again as we went along. The street music and sights of beautiful Pai make this such a special place to hang out and I felt sad we only enjoyed just a small slice of Pai. Must stay longer next time!
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