At the beginning of December, a small group of us headed up north to visit Pai, which is basically a backpackers dream destination. We had a day off of school so we took advantage of the extra time and traveled a bit further than we normally would. Getting to Pai was a bit more difficult than most destinations, but I could have stayed there forever… It was exactly what I imagined Thailand would look like. If you’re looking to find out how to get to Pai, you’ve come to the right place!
How To Get to Pai
Where to Stay
We stayed at Darling View Point Bungalows and it was fantastic. They arranged to have someone pick us up from the airport. The owner (who goes by Darling and refers to everyone else as Darling), was so nice! The staff is awesome and the rooms were perfect for what we were looking for. We stayed in the private bungalows, but they do have a dorm option available as well.
They had a bonfire one night which was great because the point of staying at these kinds of places is to meet the other guests! There was also a great chill spot with hammocks and places to lay down and sit overlooking the beautiful mountains.
Friends of mine stayed at Circus and Common Grounds.
There are two options of how to get to Pai. If you’re interested in keeping costs low, your best option is to take a bus from Chiang Mai. There are three options, a government bus that takes a bit longer and has no AC, but its cheaper and two different minibus services (that differ in price by 20 baht based on whether or not you want to get picked up directly from your hostel).
If you do choose to take a bus, be weary that the road to Pai is very narrow and very, very windy. There are 762 turns between Chiang Mai and Pai, so please, take some dramamine and do yourself a favor and try to go to sleep. The drive takes around 3 and a half hours.
If you do get motion sickness easily, there is another option! Kan Airlines offers flights, to and from Pai–Chiang Mai, daily. Keep in mind that this is a propellor plane (there are literally 12 seats on the plane). The flight takes about 25 minutes and the take off and landing is a bit scary. Arrange transportation from the Pai airport to wherever you’re staying ahead of time. The flight costs about $60 USD.
I used both options, opting to fly to Pai and take the bus back to Chiang Mai. I thought both methods were pretty good! The view from the tiny little plane is incredible and made the splurge worth it.
