We weren't sure if we were going to swing up to Pai or not, but after the not so lovely front deskman at The Chiang Mai Thai House informed me we'd have to move to a more expensive room if we wanted to stay, we decided we may as well catch a bus to Pai after all! I'm rather glad that the stars aligned for us to visit. Because somehow, I managed to forget how much I love this tiny town.
It's much more popular than it was four years ago. When I was here last, there was one shop to get eclectic hippie meets graphic design postcards and paraphanalia… now there are dozens. The town stays up later than it did in the past, and many more tourists sit in coffeeshops by day and roam the streets by night. The roads have since opened up to more streetfood stalls and vendors selling t-shirts, leather bags, woven scarves, and so much more. It's glorious. The only problem with Pai is that I want to buy everything! (Including the beautiful and out of my price-range handmade leather bag I'm eyeing in the video. And yes, I know, it's another bag… I do not deny I have a problem. At least the giant black and silver ring I found- not at all to Andrew's surprise, was in my price range!)