Authour: Laura Hennings

Pai exudes awesome-ness, romance, and adventure. I can easily say that my stay at Pai has been the highlight of my trip. I actually gained the courage to rent a motorbike! I was a little nervous driving on the left side, but I quickly got the hang of it. I had a love affair with my cute pink motorbike. Once I rode it I became OBSESSED with it and found every excuse I could to ride it around. She was named “Sexy Bitch”. Haha I don’t know why but it sounded pretty awesome and fitting at the time. There was so much countryside to explore and the greenery took my breath away.

Pai is a small town and we became friends with the locals in no time. The crew’s ultimate favorite is hands down Sarah Applebum, the “lady” bartender at the Bamboo Bar. I think she even had a crushy crushy on our fellow Canadian gentleman, Mac Daddy. Sarah is completely out of this world, and we always enjoyed her company. In fact, I envied her wicked fashion sense. Our standard night consisted of Burger Queen (the best damn burgers I have ever had!), mojitos at Almost Famous Bar, a round (or two or three or four) of “Never Have I Ever” with buckets at Ting Tong Bar, then rocked the night away at Bamboo Bar until dawn. We played at least a dozen rounds of “Never Have I Ever” until we lost count of how many buckets we consumed. Let’s just say we were all feeling pretty saucy after our first night of doing that. I actually blacked out at 10pm, but luckily started remembering things around midnight. Anyway, we had a great time and the locals even liked us so much that we got offered jobs at the Bamboo Bar!

The third day at Pai, the crew headed over to the Chinese Village outside of town to go tea tasting. The tea was OUT OF THIS WORLD! We tried jasmine tea, green tea, ginseng tea, and many others. In the center of the table we had sweet plums of all colors that complimented the warm spices. After playing around on the four person ferris wheel swing and visiting the mini “Wall of China”, we had the best Chinese feast. The table was overflowing with tender pork breast, spare ribs, grilled mushrooms, sweet bread and other amazing entrees.

Another amazing thing happened on the third day at Pai. My crush from the Chiang Mai train came to surprise me in Pai! Danny, one of the LBW family members, busts in my door while I’m napping and says, “Laura, he’s here!”. Lo and behold the man of my dreams walks in and says, “Ello darling!” in that British accents that makes me melt. As if you didn’t know, British accents are my weakness. The Pai trip became heaven from there on out (as if it wasn’t amazing enough already). Since the crew was hungover from our night festivities, we all did our own thing during the day. This was easily one of the best days of my life! My boy, his friends, and I rode our motorbikes all over Pai visiting waterfalls, exploring Pai Canyon, visiting the natural Hot Springs, and enjoying the good company. We easily used up half a tank that day just cruising the beautiful jungles and green countryside. At night, I had the pleasure to see his sing and play guitar at a local bar.

Hanging out with the boys was a breath of fresh air. I felt so free that day, with no obligations and no plans…just enjoying the good company and positive energy. I’m so blessed that these amazing people keep coming into my life from my travels. You meet people who travel around, free-wheeling it for months and sometimes even years! It’s inspiring to say the least. I feel alive and my soul is at ease when I travel. I can honestly see myself traveling for years and turning the whole world into my home. It’s so hard because especially in America I feel that pressure to go home and get that “big girl/boy job” and “start making a living for myself”. But is that really living? This trip has expanded my mind so much and has showed me that happiness is what you love. It means acknowledging your passions, and not being afraid to follow them. Traveling is my love, passion, and ultimate joy. After graduating in two years, I’m purchasing that around the world ticket and just GOING, just LIVING. That thought gives me something to look forward to and keeps my spirit alive. I love the world, and am freely accepting the love that the world is shining on me. Thank you Thailand for giving me inspiration and motivation to follow my dreams.

I think we all left a little bit of our heart at Pai. It was heartbreaking to leave that beautiful town, especially my British hunk. I know that Mac Daddy was sad to leave, especially after running a 5,000 Baht tab at Bamboo bar and getting married to Sarah. Hahahaha…Right now we are in Chiang Rai and head out to Burma and Laos at the Golden Triangle tomorrow. I can’t wait to see what these countries have to offer. Until next time!