Pai #1

Here, I'm throwing another photo-heavy post at you. Near the end of 2012 a girlfriend and I made our way along the treacherous road to Pai from Chiang Mai. The actual road itself is riddled with potholes, steep curves and, apparently, 762 bends. It was a nightmare, although I do recommend that same old hired 110cc scooter I mentioned before as the vehicle of choice. There's just nothing that beats that adrenaline rush you get from sliding over every stone, or that "flying" feeling you experience when your tyres lose their grip on the road. And if you're lucky, you might witness a fellow scooter-driver plop on the road in front of you. If you're not so lucky, you might be the scooter-driver who ends up being squished by a truck - Falang Roadkill. Nice.

All in all, Pai is a lovely place, if a bit small. Go for a weekend in high season - you'll experience everything from waterfalls and bungalows to jazzed up guest houses and crowds of young party-minded tourists. It's awfully easy to forget you're in rural Thailand when you're casually hanging out at a flashy pool party getting chatted up by army guys. And then stopping on the way back to your guest house for a gelato cone and an avo baguette from a street-stall. And, of course, waking up to go get crepes and coffee for breakfast. Yes, this is still Thailand. It's just that you're in Pai now, and life is a little different here.

Typical outskirts of Pai scenery.

A collection of solitary birds hanging in their cages at our guest house.

A Red-Whiskered Bulbul - a commonly caged bird in South East Asia.

Okay, enough of the caged bird photos!

I would like all of the above.

All we need is love.

And cheap cocktails!

The 'Magic Mushroom Crepe' is a fake. Sorry, guys.

DIY filling up.

Some more pretty Pai scenery.

A little pool at a guest house.

Rains in the distance.

Late afternoon.

Somebody scratched this onto a table at a waterfall site. Odd.

The (small) waterfall.

Yes. Okay.

A pretty little house.

A sign at one of the best restaurants in Thailand - Mama Falafel. No joke!

Mmmph. Falafel!

"Are you ting tong?" - a question Pai likes to ask its visitors.

Maybe.

A neat little bar spilling onto the street.

The place to be at 2am for avo baguettes and cheesy garlic bread.

A guest house exterior done right.

Burger Queen. Awesome.

A guest house on top of a popular bar - Yellow Sun.

My friend helping a man draw on his taxi. In the high season there are always taxis trucking people around to parties.

A nice-enough guy who was insistent we go party with him.

A view on the drive home.

Doing it right.

A stop on the way home in the middle of nowhere. Only 643 bends left.