| Part 3 - The Longish Way Home |
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| The last part of our road trip we decided to go the longer way via Mae Sot, Mae Sariang, and Mae Hong Son. After driving all the way around Isaan it was ironic that the best scenery is in our back yard nearer to Chiang Mai. It was also nice to see some hills and corners and forests after so many days of endless flat rice fields. The road from Mae Sot north follows right along the Burmese border, with Yangon only about 150km away at the closest point. It's one of the most scenic drives in Thailand, espcially in the rainy season when it's all lush and green. |
| Cliffside temple between Tak and Mae Sot. I've driven past several times, but this time had to stop for a quick piccie. Everyone always honks their horn wildly as they pass to show respect. |
| We stopped at a temple in Mae Ramat to see a rare marble Buddha and found this school group of young kiddies there on a field trip. Most of them are Karen refugees and come from the Mae La village to the north. They were extremely polite and well-behaved. |
| We stopped at the Mae La village on the way up and it was rather fascinating. The younger kids were very shy, but when some of the older (16-17?) guys started talking with me they got a little braver. They were really polite and had decent English skills. I've since found a large mosaic of the camp on Google Earth which can be seen here. It's a huge place with evidently thousands of refugees. |
| We had many more of the same encounters with kids on the way. This group even seemed to know we were coming and had lined up like soldiers to wave "hello". |
| If you like this kind of scenery (endless small villages with teak-leaf roofs and dense sub-tropical forest) then this drive is for you. |
| I saw this girl in Khun Yuam. She looked interesting with the pipe sticking out of her mouth and was very agreeable being photographed. |
| We did a side trip up to the Mae Surin waterfall which is allegedly the highest in Thailand. Not exactly the most scenic one I've been to and it's a long very steep drive up here from Khun Yuam. |
| In the common Burmese style, you always see two chedis together like this - one made of wood with the lacy trimmings and one in white with a gold top and lots of bells |
| Many times I had a nice picture blemished with power lines. You can PhotoShop them out, but that would be cheating. |
| ...and speaking of the road, people often ask about conditions along this drive. Well most of it is superb and I was surprised at how good it is. However there are a few sections where it gets bad, but never more than a few kms. |
| ...and more of the same... beautiful countryside between Mae Sariang and Pai |
| At a roadside Hmong market, this man popped out and started playing his flute. The sign indicates that this is the 1,548th corner on the road. I don't doubt it - you get in the rhythm of turning hard left then right again and again for hours at a time. |
| This was one of those days when it rained cats and dogs. During the heavier downpours I had to drive at walking speed because visibility was down to near zero. Very heavy rains indeed. Seriously though, almost all of the roads between Mae Sot and Mae Hong Song are excellent! |
| Along one section south of Mae Sariang, the road gets a little more primitive, but not worse than this. |
| ...and then there other kinds of roads, some leading to nowhere. |
| ...and then it can be sometimes downright nasty. We had to plow through this section of mud on the way to the Mae Surin waterfall. Looks like someone is getting ready to fix it though. The main roads are very good. |
| Looking south on the road leading out of Mae Sariang. The sign says "Chiang Mai" straight, and it would be the straightest way "home" for us, but Mae Hong Son bekons. |
| Imaginary friends in Mae Sariang. |
| At last at last! Arrival in Mae Hong Son - a pretty welcoming destination after days of lonely road. |
| Lots of cows and their bovine cousins, the water buffalo, on the way |
| Also seem to have fluffly caterpillars by the millions. |
| There are great views of the city and surrounding countryside from Wat Doi Kong Mu |
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| Wat Chong Kham by night... |
| Of course the time you're meant to come here is November, when all the scenery is peppered with Dok Bua Thong ("golden lotus flower") which is a small yellow daisy-like bloom. All you have to do is drive by and see just what a plague this plant has become to imagine the phenomenon in flowering season. You'd also be contending with several thousands of Thai tourists who flock to the region in November. See all the parked cars? Nice but no thank you. |
| It may seem anti-climactic, but our trip does not end with pictures of Pai. We planned to spend one night there and then go home to Chiang Mai, but after two weeks of seeing virtually no other "farang" touists, I just didn't have the stomache for all the backpackers we shockingly encountered in Pai, even in low season. The place really has gone tourism-mad. It's a beautiful region of course, and if it's your first time there it would seem pretty nice. I checked a few riverside guesthouses and got either "full" or "thousand-and-something" baht, then glanced at my watch and realised I had time to drive back to Chiang Mai before dark. We did stop at the Nong Beer restaurant for what I think is the best Khao Soy anywhere. Bye Bye Pai! After 4000km of driving around the north, we arrived in Chiang Mai - Home Sweet Home :-) |