A Few Pieces of Pai

 November 18^th, 2024

For our first full day in Pai, the plan was to walk on the Boon Kho Ku Sui Bamboo Bridge, visit the Santichon Chinese Village and finish off with checking out the Yun Lai viewpoint.  In order to get around to these various locations, we decided to rent a scooter.  We lucked out and got the last one at the first shop that we visited in Pai from a nice couple.

Breakfast time at the Reverie.

I loved the "birdcage" of food you received before your main breakfast meal.

Feeling quite posh.

A lovely breakfast.

The only helmet that fit Naomi was an awesome "Hello Kitty" lid!

After a brief stop at a random Buddha statue, we arrived at the Bamboo Bridge.  It was constructed in 2016, so it’s a relatively new tourist attraction, and is 815 meters long.  Essentially it was an elevated walkway, about 4-6 feet above a rice paddy field with the odd little lookout tower or sun shelter.

We stopped at a random Buddha on our way to the Bamboo Bridge.

You'll have to zoom in...but with her visor down, it looks like she has a fantastic moustache!

The start of the bamboo bridge.

Trying my best "Insta" pose.

Feeding the fish.

Not totally sure what this little set of stairs to nowhere was for...it was a rice paddy below it, so it's not for diving...

A small temple with a dual purpose of a lookout tower.

The main part of the bridge.

Looking back at the start.

Alright, let's go.

With the slight flexing of the bamboo, slats you couldn’t help but feel a bit of a spring in your step as you walked along.

Walking on the springy bamboo bridge:

Nearing the end, where there was a couple of temples.

Looking back from where we came.

At the end of the walkway, there were a couple of temples along with some houses in a forested area where some monks lived so we walked around there for a bit before starting to head back.

A warning sign before the temple...I loved the last thing not to do on the bottom right.  It says: "Ignore allurements which lead to ruin."

Inside a little temple.

Hard to read..but it says "Money" by the little slot...and "Happiness Box".  So I guess money can buy happiness!

These were strips of bamboo that people wrote on, their name and maybe a wish.  Seemed to be a discontinued tradition as I couldn't find any bamboo strips or felt marker.

Crossing over a small creek to another temple where some monks lived.

A monk home.

Even monks have to do laundry...

A non-typical carving at the staircase of a temple with the standard golden Buddha statue inside.

On our way back.

It was fairly hot with the sun beating down so once we completed the walk, we stopped at a cute little café that looked out over a field with some pink and white wildflowers for a well deserved and needed fruit smoothie.

We stopped for a smoothie fruit drink.  These "birdcage" hanging chairs were interesting...but not super comfy.

A photo stop by the highway.

After waiting out a short rain shower, we hopped back on the bike to drive about 10 kilometres to a small replica of a Chinese village called Santichon.  We almost decided not to go there as some Google reviews stated that it felt a bit contrived and run down.  Yes, it was created by some Chinese people who live in the area but it was essentially a tourist trap where you could buy souvenirs, shot a BB gun or bow and arrow or rent costumes to take photographs with.

Entering the Santichon Village.

Not sure how I was able to pull that face.

This is a swing for four kids that is manually rotated.

Thankfully we were pleasantly surprised.  It was a bit tacky, but it was good fun for half an hour and it looks like some effort has recently been made in its upkeep.  We wandered around, shot a few arrows with a crossbow and climbed up the short section of a replica of the Great Wall of China.

The sign says "Ride Horse 50 Baht" ($2) - it looked like a kid wrote it...perhaps one did.

Taking aim...

My turn:

Checking the results...Naomi won!  (although according to her, it wasn't a competition)

The Great Wall of Pai.

The view from the wall.

Up on the fake wall.

Coming back down, we met a few Thai ladies who were taking photos of each other.  Turns out that Nok (which means “bird” in Thai) and Pom have been friends for 55 years!  Nok used to be a professor in Bangkok and also an environmental activist.  At 72 years of age, she was full of life and energy which was contagious.  It was lovely spending a few minutes with these ladies.

Nok and Pom.

What lovely ladies!

The last stop of the day was Yu Lai viewpoint, which was just a few kilometres further up a hill from Santichon.  The vista was lovely although we didn’t spend a ton of time there as we could see rain showers headed our way.

At the Yu Lai viewpoint.

Trying to pull off a keisha girl pose...trying being the key word.

I guess you could camp up at the viewpoint.

A nice view even with the impending rain:

Not sure what she was about...

Some weird garden on the side of the hill.

After a full day, it was time for a drink and an appy at our hotel.  We had plans of going out to the walking street for some food that evening but decided to leave that for tomorrow as we were both pretty tired.

Back at the Reverie for a late afternoon drink and appy.

Sometimes you can’t have your Pai and go out and eat too!