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עברית
January 28, 2007
The map I got for free from AYA turns out to be useful. Not only does it show the town’s map and the surrounding region, but tourists attractions are marked along with a couple of routes suitable for a motorcycle.
On a motorcycle around Pai
While crossing the bridge at the exit from Pai I noticed a large bulldozer which attracted the locals. From there I continued to Mae Yen temple which is located close to Pai (you can pass), and went on to the elephant camps zone.
The Elephant Camps
Each camp usually includes two to three elephants. The camps are three to four minutes ride from each other. Prices goes from 300 to 500 baht per person. Two can share an elephant for 400 to 500 baht.
Since the camps are located near the river, most treks are going there at some point, and this is where the elephants enter the water. I went to Karen’s Elephant Camp, one of the last camps on the road and we went on a trek with two elephants, me and John, an Irish guy. For a change, after two different elephant treks in Kanchanaburi and Luang Prabang, I chose a young elephant and the ride was without a seat at all. It looks like it made it easier on the small elephant. Although riding on a towel isn’t so comfortable, it was quite an experience. We reached the river and switched to swimming suits, after that the elephant went into the water. The Thai who led the elephant gave her some command. It looked as if he’s ordering her to enter the deep water. A few seconds later I found myself thrown into the river. Another attempt to get on the elephant and again, the young elephant starting to shake like a bull and I’m in the water again. After the third, fourth and fifth attempts and some red marks on my arms and legs made by trying to stick to the elephant, I realized that my Irish friend doesn’t get along so well either with hid bigger elephant in what seemed like get on the crazy bull that tried to get rid of you as if you were a parasite. My last failed attempt to stay on her back led me to the final conclusion that those Thais are sadist who trained the elephants to act that way. They did laugh every time it happened. I asked him to replace me but he refused and called his friend who seemed to enjoy it a little more than me.
Overall it isn’t as bad as it sounds like and even quite fun, so if you don’t mind flying off an elephant back and get some bruises, the experience is highly recommended.
Hot Springs
From the elephant camps the road take you to a place called Tha Pai Hot Spring. The good hot springs are inside the park. An outrageous entry fee of 400 baht denied me the pleasure of getting inside. Just in front of the park there is a hot spring. The water is extremely hot and a smell of sulfur is coming out of it. They were so hot that you cannot get inside for more than a couple of seconds without getting a burn.
The farm
I drove toward the Pai Canyon as marked on the map. A rural road took me to a farm, I stopped my biked when I discovered a very odd phenomenon. At first I was sure they were statues until they started moving as I approached, and then they stopped again. They stared at me for a long time without even blinking. When I got even closer another one joined the group and stood without moving. At some point I felt like I entered the twilight zone. The fact that behind those living statues there seemed to be something that looked like an improvised grave yard, made this feeling even stronger.
Pai Canyon
There’s a wonderful view around the Pai Canyon (free entrance). You can get to the viewpoint and watch the area from up high, or do some trekking and clim the cliffs to reach an even better viewpoint. People who are suited for this kind of trekking can spend an hour or two in the area.
Pam Bok Waterfall
Not far away from Pai Canyon, you can find Pam Bok Waterfall. In that area there are two different waterfalls. In order to get to the seconds one you need to go on road ten time worse than the road to the first waterfall, according to someone who went there. The fact that it’s not better than the first one, which is also not a good catch, caused me to do a U turn and get back to the main road with my motorcycle that suffered enough bad roads for one day. On the way to the waterfall I found a nice viewpoint as you can see in the picture.
Chinese village Santichon and Lisu Village
The time was 4:00 PM and in 5:30 PM it starts getting dark. I had an hour and a half to check route number two according to the map I got from AYA.
Two unimpressive temples (Wat Hua Na and Wat Nam Hoo) in a very impressive rural road of green fields along mountains and hills. The ride through the Chinese village Santichon and the village Lisu was an experience of its own. Every one hundred meters a man or a woman made a sign with their finger that marked smoking and offered me Opium, one of the most dangerous forbidden drugs in Thailand. In Luang Prabang a similar man approached to me on a bicycle, but here the phenomenon amused me because it occurred so many times and because those drug dealers looked just like regular people. Women who sat by the road and heard the motorcycle’s noise get up immediately, check who comes and make the famous signal. Men jump out of the fields, and even a twelve years old kids offered me to buy Opium. Needless to say I refused.
I asked one of them whether I can see the flowers from which they produce the drug, but he chose to avoid me. Later I’ve found that my camera is my best weapon against them and I my target was to photograph one of them while he or she is signaling the smoke signal. There were many. For some reason they ran away every time I took out my camera, and when I asked one of them to stand still he didn’t agree and turned away. A group of women that really didn’t look like drug dealers turned around when I took out my camera. One of them got her long hair in front of her face until I left the area. I offered one of them 5 baht for a picture but she demanded one hundred. I figured nothing good will come out of it and drove along.
Pam Bok Waterfall
After the Lisu village ends you arrive at the waterfall. It’s a nice place. You don’t have to pay an entrance fee to get inside. This waterfall looks better than the last one I visited but not too impressive. The way on itself is worth the trip, and the drug dealers are harmless. You can avoid them quite easily.
I drove the way back in almost the same route in which I came. I tried again to take pictures of drug dealers in actions, but succeeded only partially. I visited another village before it got dark (and I should mention that in the last village I haven’t noticed any drug dealer) and got back to Pai…
This article was originally written in Hebrew and was translated at a later time to English.
English
