Wonderer Cosmos

I would have never imagined that the place that Broke my body and paused my life (see below how this happened) was the one that I fell in love with. And I felt the need of starting this “Travel stories” blog by writing about THIS place.

I had traveled for years….and my expectations about this place were low due to the mixed opinions that I had heard of it. But once there, all changed. What place is this? Well……it is hard to imagine for some, hard to understand for others, hard to agree for some, and surely others had an absolutely different experience here.

But finally it all is not about what you see in there, what you visit, what you do around. It is about how you experience it, how you live it and how you move around that place.

Where I’m talking about it Pai, in the north of Thailand. It gave me the best of my travels. But it also made a tragic ending. When about to leave Pai for the next place, a car crash left me with both ankles broken. Needing surgery and later repatriation to my home country as I was left totally dependent of others. Just 2 hours before a planned hitchhiking out of Pai…..but maybe this is a story for another time (and trust me it was not a bad story to add to my records).

Before I came to Pai, or considered going there, I heard much about this place. Many people that I crossed on my travel path, fully recommended me to go there. That I fully matched it. That it was a hippie paradise. Others said, that it was place that used to be good. Some 10-20 years ago it was such a hippie place. Where people went to sell their handmade things, perform with their arts, singing, fire-showing, dancing… But I heard that now it fully changed to a touristic paradise in which all has been affecting by so many people. Like it was now over-exploited in a way.

Once I arrived…..well I could totally understand the comments. I was not feeling well there. Many people. Many tourists (I’ll explain in other post my perspective difference between traveler and tourist). It was just one more town of Thailand full of touristic places and activities….

BUT once there for some time, I felt that actually….BOTH are true. I can see how many activities have reshaped what probably this village used to be. Cause Pai is just a village of 2,500 people. In which probably the visitors triple this number. Activities for people to get drunk going down a river in a floating doughnut, big parties organized just to have pure fun, and tours that will take you all around to visit places. And trust me, over my month there, I joined some of this even if not my style.

However, Pai still keeps its essence if you look for it. If you know how to find it. What I learned, after expending over a month there, is that you don’t visit Pai, you have to experience it. You need to live there. Interact with those who live there. And slowly discover its remaining soul behind the touristic surface that has obviously developed to monetize the place.

You’ll discover where the people still perform their singing and dancing. Where they do fire-shows. Where they sell their handmade things. And sometimes this places can be found by anyone. But other times they’re not so easy to discover… I’ve met people that were there, visiting for a week, doing the activities that they offer you, overwhelming you while you walk in the typical streets. Companies or hostels that will be on the top of you to convince you and sell you what to do. And after I talked to those people, I told them about these “other” places, that they had not heard about at all. And most of them were really mind blown cause they didn’t believe that they almost left Pai without knowing that THAT was part of it.

Pai is not a village with activities. Pai is a whole Valley between mountains in where the village is situated. Pai is its people. Pai is its culture around all the things to do there. Pai has essence on its own. In this valley you’ll find many things to do. And from Pai most things will take no more than 20 min by scooter. Most things you can do for a small entry fee or for free. But you need to do them yourself, rent a scooter and go there, find them out or ask around. Live the adventure of finding your way there. Cause yeah…roads are sometimes not the best. But just going to a company in town, and pay them to put you in a sardine-like filled car and take you there….not a good way of living it. you’re treated like sheep in a herd. With no personality. It’s not about visiting the Pai Canyon. No. it is about how you do it.

So, yes. Maybe some people have been there for a week, instead of a month like me. And they have visited the same places than me…or maybe even more. But I can ensure you they haven’t experienced them in the same way. It’s not about quantity, but quality.

It’s the same about when I’m asked “How many countries you visited in the last year?”. Hey, stamps in a passport look good as a tourist. But experiences in your memories are way more fulfilling as a traveler.

But after all, what Pai (and simply traveling in my way) taught me, is that you don’t have to visit places, but experience them. And surely some places make it more necessary or accessible than others. But you can always find your way to make it different to what the touristic flow makes you do.

I’ve traveled and experience most of the places like this. Being “criticized” by some or asked by others for now having visited THE places that are famous. But I know that I’ve lived things that most haven’t. And all thanks to the way I chose (maybe subconsciously) for traveling. But I’ll tell you more about each of them in future post. Trust me, you’ll be surprised by some, and intrigued by others.