Pai; Hippies Gone?

 I left Mae Hong Son and drove back to Chiang Mai, finishing the Mae Hong Son loop, more or less in

With all the passing of trucks and slower vehicles around the constant hairpin turns, I felt like I was in a car race but without a race car. Exhilarating in a strange (and stressful) way.  But the Yaris made it-

In any case, I stopped along the way at the town of Pai, a well known hippy/backpacker place since it was discovered by indigent western travelers in the 70s and 80s.  I was looking forward to male ponytails, grungy penniless backpackers and a cloud of marijuana smoke so thick that one could hardly see down the street.  In other words, the authentic hippy experience.

It started out promising enough when I drove down the main street and saw what I thought was hippy/backpacker laundry overhanging the street-

On closer inspection, however, it appeared to be.... some sort of festive stuff.. As I walked around the pleasant town I was somewhat shocked and disappointed to see a mostly normal (clean???) looking young crowd...appearing even a bit affluent?   

And then a crushing blow to my hopes when I saw quite a few of these-

What self respecting backpacker from the old days would have any use for a  pay for laundry service?? 

The only thing authentic I saw was this travel agency-

There were a few vestiges of the old hippy days, but even those had a slightly upscale whiff about them-

The final blow came when I saw a young woman wheeling a suitcase down the street.  Mon Dieu!   I don't blame the old timers if they have. as it appears, decamped to a more hospitable (and cheaper) locale. First the Buddhist monks now the hippies  

After consoling myself with a (ubiquitous here) fruit smoothie, I went to hike Pai Canyon a few miles from town.  It was indeed something of a canyon and came with a very narrow, knife's edge type trail (as well as a canyon trail within a canyon) with sizeable drop offs on either side.  Not at all comfortable for me with my fear of heights-

I finished my 5 hour drive to Chaing Mai and went to the street market for dinner where I met this gardener from Japan named Yammi 

He was an excellent dinner companion and we had a very pleasant conversation.   Whereas I usually start most conversations, he initiated this one, which was a pleasant change.  I thought it funny when he asked me my age- few are so direct and it seemed ironic coming from a Japanese fellow. 

Onto Phuket and the famous Thai beaches of the south.