Pai: Hiking to Mae Yen Falls

We decided to hike to Mae Yen Waterfall as it is one of the few hikes that can be done out of Pai without the need to hire a bike or moped. It's a fair hike though, 9km from the town center to the falls.

We set off from Pai in the late morning after eating breakfast in the slowest restaurant in the whole of Pai, where plates were painstakingly cooked one at a time. A short walk out of town and the concrete path was soon replaced with a mud path that cut across the rice paddies at the foot of the mountains. At the end of the mud path is a parking area for those lazy souls who didn't walk the whole way, from here it's an adventurous 7km hike through thick jungle to reach the waterfall.

The path crisscrossed a stream for most of the 7km before climbing steeply up a slippery bank. It was a beautiful shaded walk under a thick canopy of jungle and we were privileged (and slightly alarmed) to spot a 2m copperhead rat snake slither into the river right in front of us.

Sliding down a steep muddy bank in flip flops, no problem.

The waterfall, although beautiful, was not the highlight of the trip. Unfortunately, instead of suggesting tourists carry their litter out of the jungle with them, two huge black bin bags sat overflowing with empty water bottles, food wrappers and decaying half eaten fruit. Where there is food, there are flies; the area around the waterfall was swarming with them. We took a quick refreshing dip in the small pool at the base of the falls before hotfooting it out of there away from the infestation.

Mae Yen Waterfall.

Just after setting off away from the waterfall we were alarmed to hear voices calling for help. Two Dutch girls had taken a wrong turn and wandered down the wrong side of the mountain. To us it was clear that the overgrown path they'd taken was not the way we'd come, but it served as a reminder for us to take care, especially as the sun had already dipped behind the mountains and we still had a 9km walk back to our hotel.

We emerged from the jungle just in time to see the sun set and walked back along the mud path in darkness. 

Hike Facts:

Total distance: 18km from Pai center. 14km if you drive to the end of the mud road.

Total time: 3 hours 15 minutes from town to the falls, going at a slow-medium pace.

Difficulty: low - only one steep climb of about 100m.

Footwear: as most of the time you will be walking in the stream, don't wear your best leather boots! Trainers or walking sandals are best, although Ric did it in flip flops as usual. 

Hitch Hiking Around Pai

Pai is a little tourist town in the north west of Thailand, close to the border with Burma and a three and a half hour drive from Chiang Mai. It's easy to see why so many foreigners arrive here and never leave; the town is situated in a valley surrounded by lush green mountains, thick jungle, waterfalls, caves and canyons. The scenery is stunning.

The town earned itself a reputation for its live music scene that started about 20 years ago. Now, however, it seems any fool with a guitar can star in their own acoustic night at one of the many bars, many of them not such good musicians. For once I would have preferred Ric's singing.

View over Pai from a hillside temple.

While Pai has a lot to offer in terms of bars and restaurants, we were more interested in getting out into the mountains and enjoying the nature. Most tourists who come to Pai hire a moped for several days, this allows them to drive off into the hills and explore. Unfortunately we don't have a very good track record with scooters and have avoided them throughout the trip. It's a shame because you really can get off the beaten track and see a lot more on a scooter than on a bus or a bicycle, however we've seen so many injured tourists that it's been easy to resist the temptation.

Without moped and with no intention of cycling up any mountains we came to the conclusion that we would hitch hike around the valleys surrounding Pai. We set our sights on a nice loop that goes down one side of the river and back up the other into Pai. Armed with our tent and a few layers of warm clothes we set off to see where the universe would take us. As it turned out, the universe had some nice surprises in store for us.

Once we'd walked to the outskirts of town we stuck our arms out and thumbed a lift - Thai style. In Asia, instead of waving or holding out your thumb like we would in Europe, you attract a driver's attention by doing a limp-wristed hand flap, it's the same as in Korea.

After only a couple of minutes of being gawped at by Chinese tourists who almost crashed their scooters staring at us, a pick-up truck slowed down for us and we approached the window. The driver turned out to be John, not only was he British, he was also a Northerner!

Showing true northern hospitality, John dropped us right on the doorstep of Pai Canyon and invited us back to his guest house to cool down in the pool once we were done exploring.

Pai Canyon.

The Canyon is incredible; breathtaking views over pai, vertical plunges down the sandstone edge of the narrow paths and some tricky scrambles down steep crumbling rock faces. In the midday heat we were soon exhausted from our brief climb and we headed down out of the canyon to John's guest house.

Balancing on the narrow ridge of the canyon.

True to his word, John welcomed us to his home and left us to enjoy his swimming pool, set in beautiful gardens with a beautiful view of the mountains. After a few cold beers we were ready to head off and find a pitch for the night but John invited us to camp in the orchard behind his house, for free! He even offered the use of a bathroom in one of the empty guest rooms. Talk about landing on our feet. 

Not a bad spot to spend an afternoon.

With the rest of the evening to relax we returned to the Canyon and watched the red sandstone ridges turn gold at sunset. 

As the sky turned to dark we ate dinner in a local restaurant and walked back along the pitch black country roads, our necks straining from staring at the starry sky.

Sunset over Pai Canyon.

After a peaceful sleep in our little green tent we did a spot of gardening as a thank you for John's kind hospitality, before a final dip in the pool. Then John gave us a lift down to the river where we set up our tent in an elephant trekking camp next to the river.

For the small fee of 200Baht (£4) we were invited to camp at Thom's elephant camp and use the on-site thermal hot springs, showers and tea and coffee making facilities. As we sat eating dinner by our tent in the evening a herd of elephants trudged past us on their way to the jungle to spend the night; not something you see at camp sites back in England!

In the evening we sat around with some eccentric German hippies singing songs and playing guitar. The Germans knew the chords but sang "na na na" to a host of well known songs.

River in Pai.

We hitch hiked back into Pai the next day and jumped straight on a bus for Chiang Mai. It was a much easier and relaxing two day adventure than we had anticipated thanks to the kindness of the people we met. If we'd had hired scooters we'd have had a completely different experience. Hitch hiking and camping was a fine way to discover the area and meet some lovely people, away from the noise in Pai town.

How To Get To...

Pai Canyon: About 8km out of town on the road to Chiang Mai, easy to find with a free map from any Pai guest house.

We Stayed At...

Thom's Elephant Camp 200Baht to camp with our own tent, rooms are also available. Many resorts will allow you to camp in their grounds and use their facilities for a small fee.