Swimming with Elephants in Pai River
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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