The road to Pai from Chiang Mai was windy and long and it was no surprise that there were some very sick passengers on this ride. It is a very mountainous journey which finally descends into a huge dry valley where the small city of Pai is nestled. There are only two main roads with plenty of guest houses and cute artisan shops dotting the busy, mainly pedestrian area. When the bus dropped us off, we were eager to find our guest house about 15 minutes’ walk from town. We were greeted with a bit of unease upon this place because our reservation was not recorded. The main building and surrounding bungalows are constructed of mostly teak wood and are perched perfectly on a small hill above town, perfect to enjoy sunsets and a nice view of Pai. Once our room situation was figured out (we paid a bit more than we were quoted), we dumped our belongings in our private room with a shared balcony and greeted our Canadian neighbors before making our way into town for dinner. Old, cold falafel was on the menu and did not sit well with any of us. We were also a hoping to find a fun trekking excursion to suit all of us for the right price which we couldn’t seem to find here either. In fact, besides the relaxed hippy vibe of the place, the scenery and the infamous hot springs, there didn’t seem to be much of a reason for us to stay here. We left the next morning.
The public bus cost us about $1.50 to get us 90 minutes away from Pai further towards the Burmese border into an even smaller town called Soppong. Megan and I had read about this area ahead of time - its well-traveled caves and some possible DIY trekking seemed to be just what we were all looking for. Jake and I were forced to stand on the bus ride and I am realizing more and more just how tall I am in Asia as my head constantly hits the ceiling of the bus. When we arrived to the cave lodge after our first scooter taxi encounter (they kept our big backpacks in between their knees on the scooter!), we were blown away by the serenity and beauty of our next home, the Cave Lodge, about 9 km outside Soppong.
While we were here, we explored a huge, popular cave, participated in some perfect stargazing, went on a few pretty nice hikes and just relaxed in the herbal sauna, meeting fellow travelers from Belgium, France and even California. In a few words, this is what we were looking for: a budget, rewarding vacation within a larger trip.
We were welcomed by the owner, an older Australian man, who we would later learn, had been in Thailand for over 30 years and was partially responsible for discovering a host of internationally recognized caves in the region. The whole lodge is built on a hill sloping down towards a pretty small river; small enough to be clean and free of big predators but big enough to have a couple of swimming holes in the dry season. The main common area is a large, open building facing the stream with teak benches and tables surrounding a large fire pit, all constructed of teak. A kitchen to the rear and dorm wings off to the side of the building down river complete the main building, with many bungalows, benches and even a sauna comprising the rest of the lodge on the hillside. Jake opted for the dorm bed while Megan and I upgraded to a private bungalow overlooking the river. The mountain weather is nearly perfect here - cold in the morning, hot during the day and cool at night.
We knew we had to visit the popular Tham Lod cave during our visit since it was only five min away from the Cave Lodge. At the entrance, we paid for our guide and a narrow bamboo raft to drift us down the stream which winds through the length of the cave. It begins with a gaping entrance, a mouth nearly 70 feet tall and about 50 feet wide with jagged limestone rock piercing out of bare earth. After hopping on the raft single file, our driver pushed us into the slow, shallow current. Carp are everywhere, gobbling up bat guano and begging us for fish food (sold at the entrance). We were escorted through the “main hall” by bamboo raft, stopping at three separate branches of the cave to explore by foot, with the help of our guide of course.
It is truly one of the grandest natural sights I have ever encountered; amazing rock shapes and mineral formations have developed here thanks to an ideal mixture of water, minerals, gravity, isolation and a lot of time. In this cave alone, we saw a spider that could cover a human face, thousands of bats and even ancient teak coffins and cave paintings, dating back nearly 2000 years. At the exit to the cave, a handful of Thai men were sweeping up the bat guano into bags for fertilizer. The smell was horrible and I have to imagine that without masks on they could be breathing in some nasty guano dust. We decided to follow the river downstream on our own to see if we could locate any of the other caves described on the cryptic, hand-drawn cave lodge map. Unfortunately, most seemed out of reach but we did find a few smaller ones near the cave exit that also had unique spiders in them. To cap off the adventurous day, we found a perfect spot to witness swifts (bat like birds) enter the cave for the evening. It was like a hurricane; literally tens of thousands of thousands of shrieking, diving swifts darting into the cave about 50 at a time for at least 90 minutes. It was quite a show and we were joined by a total of eight other Cave Lodgers too!
A few days later, we found ourselves back in Chiang Mai, saying goodbye to Jake as he made his way to Bangkok and then on to Singapore. Meanwhile, Megan and I were still struggling to find the best method to get into Laos from Chiang Mai. We finally decided to bus it up through endless, beautiful rice fields to the border and make our own way into the next country. The border town, Chiang Khong, was a small and easy navigable town perched on the Mekong bank. The guest house we booked for the evening was run by the most hospitable husband and wife. She was from northern Thailand and he was a tall, lanky man from Alabama or Georgia. He told us the best way to see Laos was on the Mekong; its volcanic rock, hill tribes and mountain scenery were supposedly blissful to gaze at along the journey. With his southern grandpa looks and accent, we had to trust him and we booked our slow boat that evening.
Our experience in northern Thailand has surpassed my expectations. The weather is lovely, the scenery is outstanding and the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed and, in some more popular parts a bit more westernized, which certainly can be refreshing at times. There is a great variety of landscapes and people here and some truly amazing shopping potential. I would certainly like to come back to this region someday but for now, we push onward into Laos in the morning and I know our next big adventure is just around the corner.
The public bus cost us about $1.50 to get us 90 minutes away from Pai further towards the Burmese border into an even smaller town called Soppong. Megan and I had read about this area ahead of time - its well-traveled caves and some possible DIY trekking seemed to be just what we were all looking for. Jake and I were forced to stand on the bus ride and I am realizing more and more just how tall I am in Asia as my head constantly hits the ceiling of the bus. When we arrived to the cave lodge after our first scooter taxi encounter (they kept our big backpacks in between their knees on the scooter!), we were blown away by the serenity and beauty of our next home, the Cave Lodge, about 9 km outside Soppong.
While we were here, we explored a huge, popular cave, participated in some perfect stargazing, went on a few pretty nice hikes and just relaxed in the herbal sauna, meeting fellow travelers from Belgium, France and even California. In a few words, this is what we were looking for: a budget, rewarding vacation within a larger trip.
We were welcomed by the owner, an older Australian man, who we would later learn, had been in Thailand for over 30 years and was partially responsible for discovering a host of internationally recognized caves in the region. The whole lodge is built on a hill sloping down towards a pretty small river; small enough to be clean and free of big predators but big enough to have a couple of swimming holes in the dry season. The main common area is a large, open building facing the stream with teak benches and tables surrounding a large fire pit, all constructed of teak. A kitchen to the rear and dorm wings off to the side of the building down river complete the main building, with many bungalows, benches and even a sauna comprising the rest of the lodge on the hillside. Jake opted for the dorm bed while Megan and I upgraded to a private bungalow overlooking the river. The mountain weather is nearly perfect here - cold in the morning, hot during the day and cool at night.
We knew we had to visit the popular Tham Lod cave during our visit since it was only five min away from the Cave Lodge. At the entrance, we paid for our guide and a narrow bamboo raft to drift us down the stream which winds through the length of the cave. It begins with a gaping entrance, a mouth nearly 70 feet tall and about 50 feet wide with jagged limestone rock piercing out of bare earth. After hopping on the raft single file, our driver pushed us into the slow, shallow current. Carp are everywhere, gobbling up bat guano and begging us for fish food (sold at the entrance). We were escorted through the “main hall” by bamboo raft, stopping at three separate branches of the cave to explore by foot, with the help of our guide of course.
It is truly one of the grandest natural sights I have ever encountered; amazing rock shapes and mineral formations have developed here thanks to an ideal mixture of water, minerals, gravity, isolation and a lot of time. In this cave alone, we saw a spider that could cover a human face, thousands of bats and even ancient teak coffins and cave paintings, dating back nearly 2000 years. At the exit to the cave, a handful of Thai men were sweeping up the bat guano into bags for fertilizer. The smell was horrible and I have to imagine that without masks on they could be breathing in some nasty guano dust. We decided to follow the river downstream on our own to see if we could locate any of the other caves described on the cryptic, hand-drawn cave lodge map. Unfortunately, most seemed out of reach but we did find a few smaller ones near the cave exit that also had unique spiders in them. To cap off the adventurous day, we found a perfect spot to witness swifts (bat like birds) enter the cave for the evening. It was like a hurricane; literally tens of thousands of thousands of shrieking, diving swifts darting into the cave about 50 at a time for at least 90 minutes. It was quite a show and we were joined by a total of eight other Cave Lodgers too!
A few days later, we found ourselves back in Chiang Mai, saying goodbye to Jake as he made his way to Bangkok and then on to Singapore. Meanwhile, Megan and I were still struggling to find the best method to get into Laos from Chiang Mai. We finally decided to bus it up through endless, beautiful rice fields to the border and make our own way into the next country. The border town, Chiang Khong, was a small and easy navigable town perched on the Mekong bank. The guest house we booked for the evening was run by the most hospitable husband and wife. She was from northern Thailand and he was a tall, lanky man from Alabama or Georgia. He told us the best way to see Laos was on the Mekong; its volcanic rock, hill tribes and mountain scenery were supposedly blissful to gaze at along the journey. With his southern grandpa looks and accent, we had to trust him and we booked our slow boat that evening.
Our experience in northern Thailand has surpassed my expectations. The weather is lovely, the scenery is outstanding and the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed and, in some more popular parts a bit more westernized, which certainly can be refreshing at times. There is a great variety of landscapes and people here and some truly amazing shopping potential. I would certainly like to come back to this region someday but for now, we push onward into Laos in the morning and I know our next big adventure is just around the corner.