The Ride. The town of Pai

I’ve done it. I’ve been to Chiang Mai for Songkran, bucket list, life goals, all of the clichés. I wanted something more from my time there. Living life on a whim at this point had only improved my situation, and I wanted an adventure for my last few days up north.

“Fuck it.” I thought. I need to go to Pai. I had heard all about it from the travellers I had met and figured that was my next destination.

I got to talking with John, an eager brit that was staying at the hostel and loved motorcycles, and I had casually mentioned that I was thinking about renting a proper bike (none of this scooter business) and booting through the 700+ twists and turns through the mountains to get to Pai. He was all about it. Sold.

No turning back now

So the next day we rented our bikes for 24 hours and started on a journey that will continue to be the best memory of my trip so far.

The view was amazing

As we rode through the amazing scenery I figured this was pretty much why I wanted to come here. It was times like these that made me want to scream to the gods of insanity and thank whatever forces made this happen. Life was good and I had nothing but a smile on my face for the 4 hour drive there and then the same (same) back.

We arrived in Pai in time for dinner and I immediately fell in love with the town. The vibe was much more different than other parts of my travels. An impromptu jam session took place as I tried to keep up on harmonica. I was asked to stay and get paid to perform at a bar the next night which was unbelievable but I had a flight booked in Chiang Mai for the next day. I’m not sure I can carry a performance anyways as most of my playing is highly improvisational and usually fairly booze fueled.

We only had the night and I saw the town. I met some people, had some laughs and then woke up the next day to ride back to Chiang Mai and catch my flight back to Phuket.

More and more I love this country, the north may have my heart but the south may be where I belong in the long run.

To the next step and back to Phi Phi,

Daniel Double-u

I am hooked