Outdoor

Swimming with Elephants in Pai River

March 16, 2023 /

Introduction

This post is part 4 covering our epic Mae Hong Son loop. It covers our adventures and experiences as we made our way from Ban Jabo eastward to Pai as we headed back to Chiang Mai. Feel free to jump to the “TLDR” section to get a quick run down of what to expect and some tips. Read through the full post to follow our day by day, stop by stop experience.

Flying Through the Treelines of Pai

Pai marks the last city before we head back to Chiang Mai. It is a very tourist heavy town, where you will likely see many tourist on scooters zipping down the narrow roads here. Pai is where most tourist stop in their exploration of North Western Thailand. It has a extensive selection to cater to all these folks, with many lodgings, activities, cafes (vegan options top) , spa, meditation center, etc. It feels like a backpackers town. 

We rushed over to Pai Zipline for our morning 10 am slot. Recommend to call ahead as they have a skeleton crew, and will not be available if there’s another group going for the experience. Best time to zip across the countryside would be mornings, when its not too hot. Costing 1000B/person, zipping across 10 lines was definitely worth every penny.  

The views was not the best, as the wild fires blanketed the horizon in a layer of haze, but it was nevertheless still beautiful. 
There were sections where we picked up too much speed, and the handlers actually snapped the lines to slow us down (notice the bend of the cable in the picture). 
Highlights as we zipped through the treelines

Geyser By the Road

We initially wanted to head back west to Sai Ngam hotsprings, but we were told that the water level was low and air was bad because of the fire in the area. So, we swung over instead to the nearby Mueang Rae Pai Geyser Hot Springs.

Along the way, we were initially dumbfounded to see two completely different landscape, separated by the road. We eventually found out that Pai river flowed on the left, and likely reason for that section to still be flourishing under the intense weather. 
The Geyser was located right by the road, and this was the first geyser for all of us. It was fascinating seeing waters constantly bubbling up from the ground, but the sulfuric smell that accompanied it was pretty pungent.  
We paid for a basket of 6 eggs for 50B (expensive!) and boiled it in the scalding hot water. Sprinkled some salt & pepper, and wolfed it down while seated beside the Pai River. 
It was late afternoon by then, and we decided to abandon the plan to Mueang Paeng Hot Spring (which was still half hour drive away), instead we headed back to town. Along the way, we made a quick stop at Tha Pai Memorial Bridge, a steel bridge rich in history, said to be similar in structure to the more famous bridge over the river Kwai in the Kanchanaburi. 

Catching Sunset at Pai Canyon

As sunset loomed, we wolfed down some snacks in town, and rushed off to Pai Canyon. By the time we arrived, motorbikes, vans and cars were already spilling out to the road from the small parking lot. Droves of tourist were seen making a beeline up an inclined cemented walkway.

Unsure the purpose of the wooden stakes in the middle of the path (separate the foot traffic heading up & down?), but it was heavily stickered. 
We scrambled across the narrow ridge connecting further viewpoints, as the viewpoints near the entrance were already packed with people.
Abigail and Annabel were like “mountain goats” hopping across gaps, up and down narrow crevices, while both of us carefully made our way to our target. 
We were rewarded with a beautiful sunset, and the mad scrambling (dangerous at times) certainly made it into one of the highlights of our trip. 

Pai Nightmarket

We dropped off our clothes at a nearby coin-operated laundry, and joined the tourist at the Pai nightmarket. Many vendors (street food mainly) & bars lined the famous street, and we even bumped into a few “hippies”, with some kicking back smoking their self-rolled joint.  

Grabbing dinner from the street vendors as we walked the length of the famous Pai Walking Street

A Morning With Elephants

It was time for the main highlight of our trip! We signed up for the Elephant Experience at Thom’s Elephant Camp, where we would be spending the morning keeping them company to their feeding ground, and then to dip in the Pai River. It was absolutely worth it, with everyone giving 2 thumbs up! We were blessed to have Ike, (an American who’s with Thom while recuperating from his surgery) who was able to explain what we were seeing, what to expect, the do’s and dont’s in English! The two elephants in the camp, Tad Dho (movie star) and Odt (tadpole) was absolutely adorable. 

Since it was still early, I went exploring the trail at the back of where we stayed led to a secluded (somewhat abandoned) park. The mist and the bare trees lining the trail created a haunting atmosphere, and was an idyllic spot to catch sunrise.  
An experience that will stay with us for a long time
We were so reluctant to say our goodbyes, but we unfortunately had to leave for Chiang Mai.

Turning Poop to Paper

The drive back would take us 2.5 hours, and we needed to arrive before 4pm, for another Elephant related activity. We made good time, but at the outskirt of Chiang Mai, a grounded airplane at a cross junction caught our attention. 

Black Canyon Café actually converted an A330 to a Café & Hotel. We were tight on time, so skipped tea in the airplane and headed over to Elephant Poopoopaper. 
Elephant Poopoopaper is an outdoor museum park where you can join a hands-on tour that explains the process of converting elephant poop to colorful paper! 

TLDR

Pai is definitely a tourist town. After the smaller towns in the past few days, Pai was a refreshing change with many more of their residents able to converse in English (it’s so good to be able to understand each other). There are many modern/western tourist friendly choices (vegan Cafe, coin operated laundry, lattes with oat milk) and definitely a good point for you to recharge amongst the modern day trappings, while being surrounded with beautiful mountain skylines. For us, Pai was where we experienced many first – bathing with elephants, enjoying sunset at Pai Canyon & flying through the tree lines of Pai.

Attractions

  • Thom’s Pai Elephant Camp – Thom is a 4th generation elephant breeder. She loves her elephants, and really spoils them. Highly recommend Thom if you are planning to spend some time with these magnificent creatures. There are many options available in Chiang Mai province, do judge yourself if the elephants at these “camps” are really cared for. Available on airbnb, and agoda. We contacted Thom directly and secured some discount. Recommend Tour 2 or Tour 2A (which includes rooms) costing 2600B/person.
  • Pai Zipline – there are 3 packages on offer, differences being the number of platforms you will cover. If you enjoy zipline, we recommend to pick Package B, as the additional platforms covered by Package A (the full package) just adds a few more “low” & “short” lines. Package B cost 1000B/person. Recommend to allocate 2 hours for the experience.
  • Black Canyon Air Diamond Cafe & Hotel – an upside building and an A330 plane is the highlight of this cafe & hotel. You get to experience sipping coffee while “seated” in the plane. Guests can also tour the AIR DIAMOND aircraft, visit the cockpit, and enjoy the plane’s window views. Visting will set you back 120B/person, inclusive of drink.
  • Elephant Poopoopaper – an outdoor museum park that provides a hands-on tour that explains the process of converting elephant poop to paper. Located at the northern outskirts of Chiang Mai. Cost 100B/person for the 1 hour tour

Lodging

Tips

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