Mae Hong Son Loop - Part 4

We wanted to be back in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong, one of the biggest Buddhist festivals of the year, so had only one day left to see another town.  Spence wanted to go to Pai so that's where we went.  I'd heard that it was very developed but I'd say that was a major understatement.  I don't think I've ever been anywhere so totally dominated by the backpacker set.  There most have been ten backpackers for every local.  
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqLFbXK9K6s

On the Main Street, the tour operators alternated with farang food places, realtors, cosmetics, etc.

  
We were lucky to find a guest house with vacancy but had to share a room.  After a late breakfast, I rented a bike and set off to explore the countryside leaving Spence to his own devices.  That ride greatly compensated for my poor impression of Pai and it was delightful to ride through the fields on a dirt road I discovered, though very hot.  

I found a nice quiet wat, Wat Sai Khao, and sat alone in the cool of the temple and breathed for a while.  

Temple guardians?  There were four of these nests at the entrance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X80PbDEwf_U

When I'd cooled off, I continued and followed small roads through pretty residential areas until I overheated again and had to stop for cold water. 

There's a big, white Buddha on the hill and, finding the way up, I locked up the bike and continued up the steep road on foot.  Soon there was a nicely shaded stairway leading to the temple 

and beyond that, another unshaded stairway up to the Buddha in the blazing mid-afternoon sun.  But a great payoff at the big Buddha where the view over the valley was terrific.  

and man was it hot - a three dog day













Some bird encounters

and

Then I rode home, had dinner and first thing next day we took the bus back to Chiang Mai. 

Mae Hong Son Loop - Part 3

Of the many activities available around Mae Hong Son, the trip to Ban Rak Thai, a former Komingtang village in the mountains near the Myanmar border, was highly touted so we decided to rent motorcycles the next day and go there. Though these were pretty easy to drive little Honda 125s, 

it had been well over 50 yrs since I'd been on one and as I was struggling to get the hang of it, off I went down the wrong side of the road, reverting to habit.  Wondered why the rental woman was running after me shouting.  It didn't take too long to get the hang of it though and off we went.  



Ban Rak Thai (literally "the Thai-loving village"), is also known as Mae Aw in many guide books and some maps. It was settled by former Kuo Min Tang (Nationalist) fighters from Yunnan Province, China, after the Communist takeover of China. The population is about 800, mainly Chinese-born or Thai-born Chinese. Many signs are in Chinese, and much of the population speaks a heavily accented version of Mandarin Chinese. 

On the way there we stopped at Su Tong Pae Bamboo Bridge that led across rice fields to a wat on a hillside on the other side of the valley.  

Spence

                                             Spence










The 35km trip passed through some of the prettiest scenery I'd seen so far though it was a wild, hair raising trip winding steeply up, up, up, then steeply down, down, down with crazy hairpin turns.  Fortunately, there was little traffic.

bamboo park

                                   

  Pha Sua Waterfall

Nearing our destination we began to see tea plantations as the cool, moist climate up there is conducive to tea cultivation.  

Here again, the town is nestled around a little man made lake and the strong Chinese influence is reflected in the food and signage.  

                         Tea drying

As well as tea, they're known for wine production and sell plum, peach and pineapple wines.  I tried a plum wine smoothie.  It was OK but maybe not a good choice for that time of day. We toured around the town, it was nothing special and I bought some wine and tea and we headed back down the mountain.  The trip there and back definitely outshone the town.  

Rice threshing I assume

Mae Hong Son Loop - Part 2

I was instantly taken with Mae Hong Son.  The town is spread around a pretty little man made lake with another Burmese influenced wat gracing one side. 

We found a nice guest house right on the lake from which my second story room had a a lovely view across the lake to the wat.  

Every night there's a street market that sets up around the wat side of the lake and there were festivities of some sort going on in the temple with musicians and women dancing and monks lecturing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kUVOWGIogg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lntGAue4cOI

After watching some of the festivities going on there, we checked out the market where there was the usual array of hill hill tribe crafts and food stalls.  

Early the next morning, before deciding on the day's activity, I made the trek up the many hundreds of stairs to a wat high up overlooking the town and surrounding valley.  

These trees with orange cloth tied around them can be found everywhere I've been, particularly around wats.  I'm told the cloth is tied on by monks to protect the trees.



The temple is accessible by car, of course, so there were already people up there though the mountains were still socked in by clouds.  As the clouds parted, there were lovely views as the town and surroundings were revealed and obscurred by the clouds; a strip tease show.

I also noticed a honking big PA system up there about which I'd learn more later.......

Mae Hong Son Loop, Part 1

During our trip to Chiang Dao together, Spence and I decided to do what's called the Mae Hong Son Loop, a circuit of small towns to the north of Chiang Mai.  This is a very popular trip through some beautiful, mountainous countryside in the Mae Hong Son province. The loop can be done in either direction and, given the variety of different sights and activities along the way, can occupy a lot of time or, as in our case, can be done in three or four days given time constraints. The first stop was Mae Sariang where we had a hard time finding accommodations as places were mostly booked up.  It was getting further into high season and this would be a recurring theme. There was a small evening market where there was a lot of lovely produce like these 

little piles of soup veggies all portioned out.

 and these little guys, ribbit, ribbit.  It's definitely not easy being green in Thailand.  In fact, I tried one this morning, just a bit of the legs.  Wound up with a frog in my throat.

  


There was an interesting Burmese influenced wat there.

 And this wat by the river.











 


I wasn't hugely engaged by Mae Sariang, maybe it was the poor accommodations but we moved on next day to Mae Hong Son. 

A brief visit to Lampang

Correction:  that loud whining noise I alluded to in my earlier post about Doi Suthep is, in fact the sound of cicadas, not a small bird.  I think "bird" is the only English word that the driver knew for a small, flying animal.

My friend, Sybil, in Victoria recommended that I visited her good friend, Judith, in Lampang for another slice of Thai culture/geography/history.  So I did.  Lampang is about 100mi southeast of Chiang Mai, is the capital of the province of the same name and has a rich history going back 1,000 years to the Lanna kingdom.  Historically and culturally, Lampang is overshadowed by Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and consequently is much less developed.  This was noticeable immediately in that there were far fewer foreigners and less tourist related infrastructure.  After a lifetime of Peace Corps work all over the world, Judith has lived in Lampang for some years, taught at the university and enjoys life there.

In terms of tourist sorts of activities, Lampang is noted for horse drawn carriage tours.  

Brought from Bangkok originally, these carriages were historically the main form of transportation.  



Judith met me and took me off for a type of traditional Thai lunch in a little place full of locals who seemed a bit taken aback at our appearance.  When she employed her fluent Thai, they quickly made space for us and I enjoyed a tasty khao man gai, strips of chicken on rice with a few little cucumber slices and a broth accompanying. 

We then walked along the river around and part of the city admiring the Burmese influenced architecture. 

Judith showed me the shop of a man who has a keen interest / obsession with those old carriages and has a quite quirky and ecclectic collection of carriages in various states of refurbishing as well as all sorts of other stuff.  

Apparently this man carries on this project strictly for the love of it, receiving no funding or income from it.  

And a shop where these beautiful lanterns were made

 
A few hours seemed adequate for an introduction to Lampang so after our tour I caught the bus back to Chiang Mai but very much enjoyed the day and Judith's company.