North Thailand Adventures

From Chiang Mai we took a small propeller plane north towards the Burma border, landing in the peaceful, mountainous town of Mae Hong Son (MHS). Found a quaint lakeside bungalow hut for a couple of nights with the intent of exploring the region on foot and by car.

On our first afternoon in "MHS" we hiked up to the temple on the hillside above town (the view on the left) and explored the temple grounds.


Later that evening we walked around the lakeside, taking in the lovely surroundings. There's a magnificent Burmese-style Buddhist temple that sat on the lake's edge, and once it got dark, the lights made it look even more exotic and magical.




In the evenings the street that encircles the lake is closed off to traffic and the locals set-up a market, selling art, hilltribe handicrafts, and strange looking foodstuff. The woman pictured here was selling soup and some sort of hardboiled eggs in a clever cooking pan. The streets were filled with local folks and Thai tourists shopping and eating dinner. Not so many travellers seemed to be in MHS, and it felt authentic and Thai-like -- very cool!

The following day we hired a car and driver, Mr. Tu, to take us on a day tour. We cruised up into the countryside and visited a jungley waterfall (pictured at left), then we went to a very well-kept national park area that featured a small cave with sacred fish (appropriately called, the Fish Cave), and finally an interesting Chinese village set in an alpine region very near to Burma.

The next day we found a different driver who we hired to take us up to the town of Pai, and along the way we make several stops.

The day's highlight was our encounter at the Lahu hilltribe village, where we were invited into a local man's hut for tea and a wonderful musical serenade by the toothless, and impish 70+ year-old gent.

We also visited Tam Lot (cave), were we went deep inside the mountain, first by bamboo raft, and then on foot. We were guided by a cute little 14 year-old girl who carried a gas lantern.

Sadly, once we reached Pai, the normally quiet town was over run by Thai tourists who were enjoyng a 3-day weekend holiday - The King's 81st birthday. There was also a film festival going on that weekend, and the entire town was completely booked-up with no rooms available at all. We were forced to retreat back down the curvey road, a not-so pleasant and unexpected extension of our already long day.

We reached the town of Chiang Dao at about 11 PM, and we were exhausted but fortunate enough to locate 2 rooms. We've landed at the fabulous Chiang Dao Nest, a beautiful guesthouse in the heavily forested area. The guesthouse has a brand new swimming pool and a ping-pong pavillion too, as well as a world-class chef - a hilarious Thai woman named Wicha (she and her English husband are also the owners).

A short walk from The Nest is this marvelous Buddhist monestery, set on the jungled hillside (left). It's 500 steps up to the main temple area, and what a view.

We're now hanging here in Chiang Dao for a few nights of rest and relaxation, mainly walking about the area and seeing the local sights. We've met several interesting travelers and eaten some great meals too.

This adorable little girl was standing infront of her family's hut and posed for our camera. Check out her outfit and that hand gesture - priceless.

On a walk to a nearby Golden Chedi (shrine) we encountered these two local brothers, who tried out their English on us - greeting us with a shy "good afternoon." We exchanged names, and then they posed for this classic shot.

Today we'll do some more walking around and we plan on going to the famous Chiang Dao cave which is a short walk from our guesthouse.

Stay tuned!