Around Pai: elephants and waterfalls

We rented a motorbike for two days (more precisely: a scooter, but here everybody calls them motorbikes, or motobike), to explore the surrounding villages and countryside. Renting a scooter in Pai is easy as pie. You just walk up to one of the many rental agents, hand over your passport as security, and drive away. Helmets are optional, as is incurance. Most people don't bother with either, and neither did we. Rent is only 100 Baht (€ 2.50) per 24 hours, and fuel is just over 30 Baht per liter, with 3 liter being plenty for two days of driving.
We set off in a random direction, and were out of town within a minute. We soon passed Pai airport (to my surprise there actually is one, but it doesn't seem to be very active), and circled around until we found the Mo Paeng waterfall. This waterfall isn't very spectacular, but provides a nice natural water slide for local kids, sliding down the slippery rocks propelled by the water before landing in a shallow pool. Over and over again.



After leaving the waterfall behind us, we stumbled upon the rather peculiar Chinese Village, sporting a colourful mock Chinese castle, adorned with flags and red arches. The castle seems totally out of place in the otherwise serene countryside. You wonder what was the motivation to build it at this location (or at all, for that matter). At least the castle provides a home for a couple of good-looking twin cats.
We returned to Pai for lunch, and left town again in the afternoon at the other side of the river. We passed a temple on a hill, some sleepy villages, and a sign for a hot spring, which we ignored, because it was already hot enough. While driving through another village, we saw two elephants parked under an awning, and stopped to take a closer look. We had arrived at Thom's Elephant Camp, and stayed for a while to watch the elephants, in the company of a caretaker and two other tourists.

A bit later, we passed a sign pointing to the Stone Forest, which sounded intriguing enough to turn left onto the dirt road. Sure enough, the road was littered with elephant droppings, so we expected to bump into one or more of them sooner or later. When we reached a small shelter, we parked our vehicle and continued on foot. The forest is indeed sprinkled with rocks, and full of skinny trees, some with very big leafs, scattering the late afternoon sunlight in a beautiful way. After walking for a while, indeed an elephant showed up, carrying a handsome couple on its bare back, sitting behind a well-tanned driver.
After they passed us on the narrow trail, the driver dismounted to take some photos of the couple, while the animal took the opportunity to snatch some of the trees for a quick snack. We circled around, following the trail, until we returned to the shelter, where we found our bike still standing. The elephant with its passengers could be seen in the distance, slowly walking back to camp.
Back on the road we passed the World War II Memorial Bridge which crosses the Pai river, but according to Wikipedia was actually build after World War II ended. Nowadays a newer concrete bridge directly next to it carries all traffic.

The next day we found the Pam Bok waterfall, hidden at the back of a narrow canyon, reached by a small road leading into the mountains. At the entrance of the canyon, a small shelter sells soft drinks and snacks.  Nobody was there, except another couple with a child who were just leaving the canyon, so we had the place to ourselves. The canyon is so narrow that sunlight hardly enters it, which keeps the place very cool. The waterfall drops 30 m from a sheer cliff at the back of the canyon. Small fish swim in the pool, which is shallow enough to allow wading through to reach some scattered rocks to sit on. The water cascades down the canyon, littered with boulders and fallen trees. A very quiet and peaceful place.

Another magnificent site is Pai Canyon, situated right off the main road, near the memorial bridge. It's not really a canyon though, but more like a network of narrow sandstone ridges snaking through the forest for hundreds of meters, separated by steep valleys full of trees. You are walking at or above the treetop level in many places, with the bottom of the valley 30 m or more below you.
The ridges are so narrow in fact (no more than 50 cm wide in some places), that you have to be very careful not to slip and slide down, crawling on hands and feet in some places. There are no guardrails or steps to help you stay on the dusty trail. The landscape is of a magical beauty though, and again with hardly any other visitors. You wonder what would happen if you do accidentally slip and slide down. Maybe nobody will ever notice.