30 November
Up at 7am to catch the first bus to Mae Hong Son. A very interesting ride because of the mixture of passengers, locals with bags of vegetables, two chickens in a basket, a hill tribe lady, a soldier with a machine gun and a variety of much less colourful characters but no tourists.
We took some time wandering around the lake to choose a GH before finally settling on 'Garden' just opposite the bus station 150B with hot shower but found it not very friendly, a better choice might have been 'Jeans'. We burned our mosquito coils for the first time on the trip, probably due to the proximity of the lake whilst never the less was beautiful with colours from flowers and foliage all reflected in the sill water.
Other than that we were disappointed to be in a totally tourist oriented town, you couldn't move without being offered hire of a motor bike or a place on a tour, but perhaps most of all we missed the fine company of the past few days. We were to late for a tour of the refugee camp at Mae Aw. Joan was inclined to blame the Mekong for her ills and for an unknown reason I was devoid of energy for a few days.
1 December
After a leisurely morning we signed on for an Elephant ride, 300B each for 2 hours. Joan was very keen and thoroughly enjoyed the trip and even managed to sleep on the elephant but I would gladly have got off after 15 minutes when the severe jolting, bottom pain and sheer boredom got to me.
However getting on was a mountaineering feat attacked from a place on a raised grassy bank one clambered over its head. Joan doubted she would have made it but for my assistance in pulling her up.
The ride along leafy paths on a level of the branches gave one a good view of the country. To begin with there was another elephant behind so I turned around to watch his joints noting the foreleg movement being the opposite of its back legs. I tried to photograph but found the amplitudes of motion made it impossible except when halted.
The driver sat on his head and kept vibrating one ear with his foot in order to keep him moving. You obviously steered vibrating each ear as required to make him turn his head. We returned part way down in a shallow fiver bed which the elephant greeted with an enormous fart before the plop plop of great turds from a great height. A reason to beware of drinking river water!
That evening I purchased my first durian at the market for 100B/kg, 140B in total, expensive? - I should have bargained. It is a large prickly fruit which was separated on sale into natural segments by knife to expose the yellow fruit and a large stone inside. The taste is unique and very rich. It is said that foreigners don't like it because of the pervasive smell, best ate outside rather than taken to overnight in ones room.
That evening we again ate at the night market, and observed how the knowledgeable first bought starters from the stalls on the front - we were obviously getting learning to make the most of Thailand. For starters we chose pork slices on sticks sold with a sauce and a dish of sweet and sour vegetables. We then ordered a main course.
Sunday 2 December, Mai Sariang
Our luggage went into the locker that had previously contained fish of the 6am bus to Mai Sariang. There were several lady passengers with large colourful rectangular bags who we thought were going away for the 5 December holiday. They however got off at a small village and we saw the contents consisted of many repeats of the same item, eg bra's, and were full of clothes for resale. We arrived at 10:30 and started to look for a guest house.
This was not a tourist town and in my opinion all the better for that, the Sea View! guest house was 350m from the bus station meant walking across the river. It was newly opened and we had the nicest largest room of the trip for 100B with cold shower. Unfortunately we made the mistake of thinking they were out to make an impression and so stayed for dinner. It was in fact the poorest meal of the trip so I saved my appetite and followed the Lonely Planet to at the Intira restaurant whose chicken fried in holy basil they rated as the best in Thailand, it was very good - almost entirely meat.
We went walk about and found the Riverside guest house beautifully situated by a rapid section and drank beer whilst watching their tame monkey play. The Canadians we kept on meeting were staying there. After a fruit salad at a bir restaurant in f town we bought a whole pineapple for 14B to take back to our room. Ever the watcher for birds Joan spotted a perching Kingfisher but only saw it fly off!
3 December, Mai Sot
Following advice from the Riverside GH we went at 7:30 for the songthaew to Mai Sot, the fee was 500B. We had breakfast on the market before leaving at 8am in a packed songthaew which went round the town picking up and dropping passengers to various local villages, for which the locals never payed more the 25B before reaching Tha Song Yang having covered just a third of the distance to Mai Sot.
Here we transferred to a new pick up truck after our previous driver had presumably passed over a share of our 500B. We initially set off with just two Thai children as passengers.
The road which had been difficult became newly paved and the truck sped off through superb scenery. We picked up several hill tribe people and usually frequently dropped them at the next village, including a lady with two children who smoked a small pipe. She had a fascinating face and I hurriedly took a photo taking the time to focus properly. In fact people don't mind being photographed so I really must learn to be confident and take my time. The hill tribe people were only paying 10 to 15B often for quite large distances clearly we were financing the trip. Nevertheless seemed to be expected at certain stopping points and was presumably essentially scheduled.
Mae Sot was a bustling town when compared with the others we had visited, but there was little evidence of tourists. No GHs were listed in the LP but once we had located the Siam Hotel a local Indian told us most travellers stayed at the Mae Sot GH much further along the same road which we soon found. It was delightful more like a youth hostel, an old wooden construction with a communal atmosphere. Like most we slept in the dormitory with perhaps thirteen others - there were a few private rooms but they were all full.
Our first conversation was with two youngish English lads, one was teaching English in Thailand and the other was photographing the war in Burma. They had just returned from an illegal trip to that country, not apparently too difficult or too dangerous as long as you avoid the air raids, in fact malaria was the main hazard. The whole GH was obviously supporting the rebel cause, with requests to donate unwanted medicines or clothes. About 20 groups, 13 seriously of which the Karen tribe was the largest were fighting the Chinese communist regime in Burma, which the lads said had an extremely poor record in civil rights.
That evening we ate with a Dane who was also staying at the GH. He was a most interesting cultured person who spent last year of his schooling in Wellard, Canada, there is an important canal of that name joining Lakes Ontario and Erie, before failing at Copenhagen University and taking up stockbroking and studying economics. He was now embarked on travelling before settling back in Denmark, his journey had started in Japan, a fascinating country full of very polite people who are prepared to put themselves to a quite embarrassing extent out in order to help with even small requests. Travelling was expensive there but he found accommodation via a friend already living there.
He had come to Thailand via Indonesia and was obviously impressed by the more natural north east of this country - the one part we never visited in what turned out to be five visits over the next twenty years. He advised us to go south to nearby Umpang obviously a fabulous trekking and rafting destination south on what was in the 80's known as the death highway because of the combination of mountainous terrain and guerrilla activity, but we said we had to go to Sukhothai the next morning on our way home.
Joan talked to a chemistry graduate from King's College, London who was obviously impressed with the revolutionary pamphlets, financed by the UN. In fact they had just started a stance against the Burmese Communists because they had been ousted in recent elections but refused to relinquish power.
At some stage we walked to the bridge which formed a crossing point of the border with Burma. On the Thai side there was a spectacular street market selling what we presume were goods originating in Burma. I remember the displays of fine jewelry from which I bought a long delicate necklace of fresh water pearls for Mum, another Christmas present solved. Joan thinks it was worn double and that the oysters may have been from mussels rather than oysters.
 |
| OUR HOSTS FRIENDLY DAUGHTER SAYS GOODBYE |
 |
| A MACHINE GUN for COMPANY |
 |
| THE LAKE SIDE AT MAE HONG SON |
1 December
After a leisurely morning we signed on for an Elephant ride, 300B each for 2 hours. Joan was very keen and thoroughly enjoyed the trip and even managed to sleep on the elephant but I would gladly have got off after 15 minutes when the severe jolting, bottom pain and sheer boredom got to me.
 |
| SEE JOAN WAITING TO GET ON |
The ride along leafy paths on a level of the branches gave one a good view of the country. To begin with there was another elephant behind so I turned around to watch his joints noting the foreleg movement being the opposite of its back legs. I tried to photograph but found the amplitudes of motion made it impossible except when halted.
The driver sat on his head and kept vibrating one ear with his foot in order to keep him moving. You obviously steered vibrating each ear as required to make him turn his head. We returned part way down in a shallow fiver bed which the elephant greeted with an enormous fart before the plop plop of great turds from a great height. A reason to beware of drinking river water!
That evening I purchased my first durian at the market for 100B/kg, 140B in total, expensive? - I should have bargained. It is a large prickly fruit which was separated on sale into natural segments by knife to expose the yellow fruit and a large stone inside. The taste is unique and very rich. It is said that foreigners don't like it because of the pervasive smell, best ate outside rather than taken to overnight in ones room.
That evening we again ate at the night market, and observed how the knowledgeable first bought starters from the stalls on the front - we were obviously getting learning to make the most of Thailand. For starters we chose pork slices on sticks sold with a sauce and a dish of sweet and sour vegetables. We then ordered a main course.
Sunday 2 December, Mai Sariang
Our luggage went into the locker that had previously contained fish of the 6am bus to Mai Sariang. There were several lady passengers with large colourful rectangular bags who we thought were going away for the 5 December holiday. They however got off at a small village and we saw the contents consisted of many repeats of the same item, eg bra's, and were full of clothes for resale. We arrived at 10:30 and started to look for a guest house.
This was not a tourist town and in my opinion all the better for that, the Sea View! guest house was 350m from the bus station meant walking across the river. It was newly opened and we had the nicest largest room of the trip for 100B with cold shower. Unfortunately we made the mistake of thinking they were out to make an impression and so stayed for dinner. It was in fact the poorest meal of the trip so I saved my appetite and followed the Lonely Planet to at the Intira restaurant whose chicken fried in holy basil they rated as the best in Thailand, it was very good - almost entirely meat.
We went walk about and found the Riverside guest house beautifully situated by a rapid section and drank beer whilst watching their tame monkey play. The Canadians we kept on meeting were staying there. After a fruit salad at a bir restaurant in f town we bought a whole pineapple for 14B to take back to our room. Ever the watcher for birds Joan spotted a perching Kingfisher but only saw it fly off!
3 December, Mai Sot
Following advice from the Riverside GH we went at 7:30 for the songthaew to Mai Sot, the fee was 500B. We had breakfast on the market before leaving at 8am in a packed songthaew which went round the town picking up and dropping passengers to various local villages, for which the locals never payed more the 25B before reaching Tha Song Yang having covered just a third of the distance to Mai Sot.
Here we transferred to a new pick up truck after our previous driver had presumably passed over a share of our 500B. We initially set off with just two Thai children as passengers.
The road which had been difficult became newly paved and the truck sped off through superb scenery. We picked up several hill tribe people and usually frequently dropped them at the next village, including a lady with two children who smoked a small pipe. She had a fascinating face and I hurriedly took a photo taking the time to focus properly. In fact people don't mind being photographed so I really must learn to be confident and take my time. The hill tribe people were only paying 10 to 15B often for quite large distances clearly we were financing the trip. Nevertheless seemed to be expected at certain stopping points and was presumably essentially scheduled.
Mae Sot was a bustling town when compared with the others we had visited, but there was little evidence of tourists. No GHs were listed in the LP but once we had located the Siam Hotel a local Indian told us most travellers stayed at the Mae Sot GH much further along the same road which we soon found. It was delightful more like a youth hostel, an old wooden construction with a communal atmosphere. Like most we slept in the dormitory with perhaps thirteen others - there were a few private rooms but they were all full.
Our first conversation was with two youngish English lads, one was teaching English in Thailand and the other was photographing the war in Burma. They had just returned from an illegal trip to that country, not apparently too difficult or too dangerous as long as you avoid the air raids, in fact malaria was the main hazard. The whole GH was obviously supporting the rebel cause, with requests to donate unwanted medicines or clothes. About 20 groups, 13 seriously of which the Karen tribe was the largest were fighting the Chinese communist regime in Burma, which the lads said had an extremely poor record in civil rights.
That evening we ate with a Dane who was also staying at the GH. He was a most interesting cultured person who spent last year of his schooling in Wellard, Canada, there is an important canal of that name joining Lakes Ontario and Erie, before failing at Copenhagen University and taking up stockbroking and studying economics. He was now embarked on travelling before settling back in Denmark, his journey had started in Japan, a fascinating country full of very polite people who are prepared to put themselves to a quite embarrassing extent out in order to help with even small requests. Travelling was expensive there but he found accommodation via a friend already living there.
He had come to Thailand via Indonesia and was obviously impressed by the more natural north east of this country - the one part we never visited in what turned out to be five visits over the next twenty years. He advised us to go south to nearby Umpang obviously a fabulous trekking and rafting destination south on what was in the 80's known as the death highway because of the combination of mountainous terrain and guerrilla activity, but we said we had to go to Sukhothai the next morning on our way home.
Joan talked to a chemistry graduate from King's College, London who was obviously impressed with the revolutionary pamphlets, financed by the UN. In fact they had just started a stance against the Burmese Communists because they had been ousted in recent elections but refused to relinquish power.
 |
| RIVER DIVIDES THAILAND FROM BURMA |
No comments:
Post a Comment