Day 96! I almost had a lazy day today, but I suddenly had the motivation to do one of the few things I really wanted to do in Pai this time around. So today, I hopped on a motorbike and went on a very bumpy, steep, and winding adventure.

It was a lazy start to the day for all of us. After a long night of hanging out we needed a bit of sleeping in.

We set out for brunch just before 11am and strolled to a nearby restaurant. We’ve eaten here a couple of times already, but it has cheap food and smoothies which is very much up my alley.

I started my day with a great plate of pad thai and a mango coconut smoothie!

Tomorrow, we set out for our silent meditation retreat! But… we didn’t have our bus ticket to the monastery yet. So we had to stop by the bus station to get that sorted out.

We got a bus ticket for 1pm tomorrow, which should get us to the monastery at the perfect time.

I then pulled money out from the ATM since I was running low and made my way back to our hostel. I was pretty tired, so I took a 30 minute nap… and then took another nap.

But when I woke up, I felt like I was ready to take on the day! I set out for an adventure I wouldn’t forget.

I hopped over to a nearby motorbike shop to see if they had any semi-automatic motorbikes (most shops in Thailand only have automatic). It took a couple of shops before I found the winner. A very old and red Honda wave.

This motorbike had all sorts of issues, but it was up for the ride! I topped off my engine with gas and set off for an hour long ride.

The ride ended up being one of the worst roads I’ve been on in SE Asia. There were pot holes, sand, sharp turns, and even sharp turns with sand. But the views were nice!

For my adventure today, I was heading to Doi Thong, the tallest mountain in Pai. I was quite excited because I’ve heard great things about it! And I didn’t even know about it the last time I was here!

Not only were these roads small and terrible. I also missed the turn and continued an extra 30 minutes into a nearby town. This extra 30 minutes was on a sand and dirt road that was littered with big rocks… it was not ideal.

Immediately, a local yelled “no, no!” I turned back around to see what he had to say. He didn’t speak English, but I could clearly tell he was letting me know I was in the wrong spot. Him and his friend pantomimed that the mountain was back down the road and to the left.

With my tail between my legs I accepted defeat that I wasn’t going to find the mountain. I headed back down the road. On the ride back I was contemplating stopping at another nearby mountain that I had passed the sign for earlier on the ride.

I was pretty fed up with the ride at this point. I had been sliding around, using 1st and 2nd gear more than I had ever had, and the icing on the cake was missing the turn. But at the last second, I decided to turn up the path for the peak Doi Mieng.

Funnily enough, I got to the top with my motorbike and there was a sign waiting for me saying, “Doi Thong 3 km.” I was so excited! My goal to see the highest peak in Pai was still in reach!

I left the smaller peak and continued down the well paved, but steep, road.

The road was pretty small and luckily I only ran across 4-5 cars. Overall I was pretty much alone during the drive though.

I rode the 3km to the base of the peak and had a 10 minute walk to the summit!

I had this view all to myself! I was pretty shocked no one else was there. The smog definitely got in the way, but it was still pretty stunning! I’m sure this view is breathtaking when it’s clear out.

After appreciating the view, I headed back down on my motorbike. The ride back was a lot nicer than the ride there, but still not great. I bumped and twisted my whole way back to Pai.

I made it back in one piece and met up with my friend Dan for a very late lunch.

We went back to our cheap restaurant near our hostel. I got a Pad See Ew and a mango banana smoothie! I was so hungry that I inhaled my food. I just absolutely love cheap food, especially cheap and good food!

Dan and I went back to our hostel to hang out and we met two new friends from Spain.

Once the sun went down, it was time to head to the night market for some more eating.

I started off splitting a mega sized Banh Mi with Dan. We both agreed it was one of the best Banh Mi’s we had had in SE Asia. The chicken was perfectly fried and the extra vegetables and sauces on top fit perfectly.

I was still hungry, so I got some gyozas from none other than Gyoza Queen.

We ran back into our friends and joined them to the music bar from last night! There was a solo acoustic guitar act playing music while I chatted with old and new friends.

I was getting pretty tired after such a long day, so were Dan and a Sam. So we walked back to our hostel, but we got distracted by a smoothie stand on our way back.

This smoothie stand was super good. Not only was the smoothie very delicious, the lady working it always had leftover smoothie because she cut up too much fruit. Her solution to this was to continuously refill our drinks to finish off what was left in the blender. It was super sweet of her, especially when the smoothie was only 30 Baht (just under $1)!

After the final mango smoothie it was time to call it a night!

Even with the terrible roads and missed turns, I’m very glad my adventure worked itself out! Having such a peak to myself was pretty cool. I’m a little sad to be leaving Pai already, but there’s a solid chance I’m back here soon! I’m super excited for the silent retreat starting tomorrow. Very curious to see how it goes.

– Elie