Lazy days in a hammock are a favorite in Pai....

.."Lazy days in a hammock are a favorite in Pai, along with just staring at the mountains and rivers... "
pronounced as "bai" or "bye"

The sleepy hippy town of Pai is situated 135kms northwest of ChiangMai, halfway to MaeHongSon. As you enter Pai area, the mountain road makes a meandering decline into a large green valley of padi fields and fruit groves. Pai is a tiny place with 4 main roads but offers a rich bohemian atmosphere where you can collect your thoughts and commune with nature. Trendy cafes and boutique B&B, slow pace of life and lots of cyclists and motorcyclists..

A decade ago, Pai was virtually unknown and today it has developed into a thriving, multi cultural town. Fortunately it has retained its down-to-earth feel and prices are still reasonable, making it especially popular with backpackers and free-spirits...who sometimes stay for months. Recent consciousness of health and environment has largely reduced the open consumption of opium or marijuana and even normal cigarettes are a rare scene !

Pai can be reached by bus, 3 - 4 hrs from ChiangMai and less from MaeHongSon. We rented a little car (we would recomend a 4wheeldrive) and it takes less than 2 hrs fr ChiangMai ..very good roads on highway. However off highway, watch out for the thousands of pot holes. Contrary to the many write-ups in the Net regarding the weather & road conditions on this "MaeHongSon loop" , we assure you it is totally safe even in our normal city wheeler ! thanks to our Asian upbringing, we are much "toughened up" and can eat practically everything!

so Peterpatterpot takes to the road ... 1180km road trip, 1864 curves or even more..

DAY 6


Woke up early the next day to this!Tranquility and coffee!
I love Mae Hong San.
Today we begin our journey to Mae Sariang,down south of MHS.


Found some lunch - noodles- at market in MHS before we started our drive.Its a little bit difficult to find decent food in the smaller towns.


Mae Siarang-163km away.

Closest thing to a 'opium' joint,somewhere in the mountains.Authentic Burmese handroll cigars can only be found here- Phabong Viewpoint (4500feet) on the way to Mae Siarang.

"yup! found it!  ... Burmese Cigars!"

Corn fields

Half way to Mae Siarang we stopped over at a small town called Khun Yuam for coffee and fried rice.The rice is very nice in this part of Thailand.Khun Yuam is a small town where the there is a Japanese war musuem.Nothing much to do here.

Red Corals bracelet-Pai street stall (THB100.)

One of the many 180' loops of MHS.



Little worm thing doing the loop.

Another ride option.


'wooooozy oozie topsy turvy jelly belly!' Like bouncing on this branch.

Reach the famous sunflower fields.About another week from when we were there the flowers would color the entire hill yellow.Can imagine only!

Wind blowing,chilly and green.No sunflower.


Sunflower pitstop-one of the loops.

We were there at the season for these flowers,very pretty.




Black Pigs!!


Cave of quartz-stuff they use to make Rolex watches,laser beams,etc.Camera not allowed inside.
We made it for the last tour group for the day with some local tourist.Nobody speaks English.Tour group also in Thai.

The little truck that took all 10 of us to the cave on the hill.Nearly fell out of truck because it was so steep.

It was around 6pm and the sun was setting over the padi fields as we headed to spend the night at Mae Siarang.It was a full day again.
Mae Siarang is the tiny little town by the river.We arrive around 7pm to another festival parade.Without a room for the night,we had to look for a comfortable one.The best hotel recommended by people was fully occupied.It was getting late and we were tired.The entire town was full of visitors because there was a festival and some conference was going on that weekend.After searching many hotels we found one that feels like a giant toilet.It was the 2nd biggest hotel in the town and probably the only few rooms available.We took it!Was so tired and the only photos we have of Mae Siarang was this Giant toilet room.
The end of day 6.



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