Exploring Pai by Motorbike
Pai, Thailand, is a tiny mountain town about three hours from Chiang Mai. Originally a hippie enclave, today Pai is now a resort town popular with both Thais and foreigners. It’s still massively popular with the hippies as well. For me, going to Pai was all about seeing the northern Thai countryside. The town is so small that it has no real sights. You can go trekking, take a rafting trip, or rent a motorbike to explore the landscape on your own! Since it was the cheapest option by far, I chose the latter. Let me add this: I had never ridden a motorbike before. Nor a motorcycle. I hadn’t ridden a bike in years. This was a disaster waiting to happen. And it was. I rented a motorbike costing 100 baht (about $3.33) for thirty hours, plus an extra 40 baht ($1.33) for insurance. The attendant taught me again and again how to start, stop and go. And then I peeled off way too fast, weaving wildly between cars, as he yelled, “Slow down!” People stared. ...