@travyling Piece of Pai: The fun fellow travelers Thanks to everybody who helped make Pai such an amazing experience for me, I hope we cross paths again. Cheers! #travel #travyling #traveling #pai #paithailand #thailand #tipsytubing ♬ Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) - ABBA
Once awakened by the early alarm, I packed my day pack in preparation of exploring Nam Lod Cave. Staying at Circus, a party hostel in Pai, it was no surprise that I was the only person awake roaming the ghost town-like grounds at 6:30AM. I rode my motorbike into town to meet my friends Brian and Caroline, then we rode for a very cold 90 minutes through scenic hills and fields out to Tham Lod to visit Nam Lod Cave.
Brian, Caroline, and I paid 200 Baht (~$6USD) each for a guided tour through Nam Lod Cave. The cave consists of 3 main chambers, two accessible by hiking and one accessible only by bamboo raft. As we approached, we observed many bats flying around the cave’s mouth and countless fish swimming in the water. We purchased a bag of fish food for 50 Baht at the tour guide station that was well worth it. Throughout the cave exploration we found entertainment in the fish food frenzy.
The first two caves consisted of many wooden steps to navigate through, and several stops to admire many stalactites and stalagmites. Then, we took a bamboo raft through a large dark chamber, continuing to feed the fish up close. Slowly, we could see light creeping in ahead and hear an uproar of bat screeching. We drifted towards the far mouth of the cave, where a beautiful opening into forest lied behind a tornado of thousands of swirling and screeching bats completely captivating us. What a stunning sight! If the bat cave does exist, surely there’s no better lair for Batman than Nam Lod Cave. Some visitors recommend coming in the evening so there won’t be bats in the cave. The morning was my only option, but the bats really made the cave experience more amazing in my opinion. Between Nam Lod Cave and the other landmarks I visited in Pai including Pai Canyon, Big Buddha Temple, the Koh Ku So Bamboo Bridge, and Thai Pai Hot Springs, the cave experience was my favorite and easily a must-see landmark for any Pai visitors.
We left the cave and made the motorbike ride back into town, and then grabbed breakfast together at a local spot. Despite our best efforts of peer pressure and persuasion, Caroline and I were unable to convince Brian to join Tipsy Tubing.
Every Tuesday and Friday in Pai are days for Tipsy Tubing, where groups of people float down the river and stop at a jungle club along the shore for dancing and partying before floating on. There are a few different companies you can sign up for Tipsy Tubing with, however Pai Authentic Travel was recommended to me as the company to go with for the largest group of floaters. For 250 Baht (~$8USD), Pai Authentic Travel provides tubes and transportation to/from your hostel/hotel.
Around 13:00, three TukTuks picked up around 50 people from Circus Hostel. Once we arrived to the river at our launch spot, the workers gave us a safety briefing and told us there were 382 people present in our group. We made our way into the river where a large black inner tube was handed to us. We sat on our tubes, being held in place by the workers who were splashing people in the crowd, until our entire group was together and ready for floating.
Once the workers let the tubes float, the first 15 minutes were madness. People being forced to the sides of the river where you would scrape the shallow rocky bottoms or drift into branches of trees and plants along the shore. My friend Gunnar and I were able to hang onto each other through the chaotic beginning, but we lost our mate Ethan. After the beginning, people spaced out and the float chilled out a bit.
After about 45 minutes, we made the stop at the Jungle Club which consisted of a couple bars, bathrooms, a DJ, and beach volleyball. The DJ was one of the best I had heard since traveling in Asia. There, Gunnar and I were reunited with Ethan and also met up with Caroline on the dance floor, and we had a great time over the 2 or 3 hours spent there. Eventually, we got back on our tubes to float another 30 minutes, before arriving at our stopping point where we returned the tubes and boarded the TukTuks bound back to our hostels.
Back at the hostel, the swarm of people returning from Tipsy Tubing kept the momentum going and took the party to the pool. I enjoyed a swim before joining my friend Ian on his DJ controller and doing my second pool party mix in Pai. Afterwards, Ethan, Gunnar, and I headed to the main strip for food and drinks. While at dinner, Caroline and her friends joined us and then we went to a local bar with a rooftop area. Our group hungout here for some time before one by one we peeled away. Eventually, bed called for me as well.
What an incredible day with the double header Nam Lod Cave and Tipsy Tubing balancing nature, adventure, partying, and socializing. My piece of Pai had been so very sweet, and my final day couldn’t have been better. I can’t wait to return to Pai, and will give myself more than 3 days next time.