1,864 Curves to Mae Hong Son

Sawatdee Kha!

So much has happened in the past month that I got behind in updating on my Thailand travels. I will start from where I last left off which was about a month ago.. on Christmas! Christmas day was a Friday for us and we had no school. We pretty much relaxed all day and prepared for our big trip to the North, which was an entirely un-explored area for us.
We were going to travel with our homestay mother, PiTuk and about 10 of her friends. She arranged us to travel by a minibus. We honestly were kind of bummed about this idea. Mini buses in Thailand are ideal for short-medium distances. Taking a VIP bus on a long journey is a lot cheaper and you have tons more room to sleep over night, and a toilet etc. So at the time we didn't quite understand why we were all cramming in a minibus but we just went with the idea. When we first got in the bus I was prettttty miserable. We were operating on THAI TIME which meant that we were supposed to leave about 3 hours before and it kept getting pushed back further and further. When we first got on the bus Felix and I were crammed into the back and our seats couldn't go back at all because all the luggage was behind us. A little boy was asleep in front of me with his seat all the way back also so I had to put my legs on my seat. In Thailand it is not uncommon also for the driver to BLAST music. It doesn't matter how many people are in the car or if anyone is trying to sleep, the driver can play music as loud as he wants. This driver had a CD complication of english songs that while we consider terrible if played on repeat, but all Thai people seem to love. It was a kind of oldies mix with "Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini" and songs of that nature on MAX volume. At the time, I couldn't muster up any happiness about the situation seeing as we had 12 hours to endure on the tiny bus and we were still only in the parking lot..

We somehow made it through the night though. It was the bumpiest ride we have been on yet. The highway must have been strewn with potholes because we were flying down at full speed and while I tried to sleep we would hit holes and it would make my whole body jump out of the seat. The curves had already begun also.. For this trip to get to Mae Hong Son there are 1,864 curves. And those are actually packed into the last few hours of the trip. There were many more before this just maybe not as gut-wrenching. Between sleeping I would open my eyes and see we were driving on cliff edges with the giant red sun blazing beside us. By this time we were high on a mountain so it was all lush green jungle below. I was so tired I would have to close my eyes again but I kept seeing this beautiful scene between snoozes. Finally a little after sunrise, we found ourselves in a parking lot on the outskirts of Mae Hong Son. We all ate some lunch that the ladies had packed. No one spoke much english so Felix and I had no idea what the itinerary was for the day or what we would be doing. After eating fish, sticky rice, sugared bread and oranges for breakfast we visited a museum across the street. The museum it's self was not that interesting but he architecture of the building was beautiful and very much what you think of "asian" style houses.

We soon realized just how awesome it was that we had our own van. While we assumed the van would only be for the journey there, it turned out that the van and the driver were for our own personal use for the next 2 days. They really worked him too. When we crossed the road to visit the museum they even made him drive from the parking lot on the other side of the road to pick us up when it would have been quicker for us to just cross the road again. They really wanted to utilized the COMPLETE curb to curb service. So I guess this was a small lesson for me, while I was so irritated of the idea and discomfort of the van the night before, it turned out that it was all for a great reason and to our benefit for the rest of the trip.

SO, after about an hour at the stop we piled back into the van for a new destination that was unknown to Felix and I. Each stop seemed to have about an hour between each other so we mainly were in and out of sleep at these times always awaking to a new place. When I was awake, I could already tell the North was entirely different than what we were used to. The air was very cool and immensely refreshing after always being in the humid thai heat in Inburi. It was overcast (we rarely even see rain where we live) and we were much more isolated, with woods and jungle as far as you could see on both sides. I loved it. We arrived at what we were told were CAVES! We piled into a song thaew, an open air kind of truck with benches, and went a little ways up a mountain to the cave entrances. We couldn't take any pictures in the caves but it was a pretty long cave full of stairs going up and down and crystals of all kinds of the walls. They told us that this was a famous cave for you couldn't find these crystals anywhere else. After exiting the cave we fell quickly into the tourist trap, with our first purchase of MAE HONG SONG cave t-shirts. We couldn't help ourselves..
The next stop we made was a clearing surrounded by mountains that was full of natural hot springs! With the cool air, and the sun shining now we couldn't have been happier with this stop. The air smelled thick with sulfur and steam was circling our of the springs which had stone built up around them for sitting around. PiTuk placed a net with eggs in one of the springs and we went to our own spring complete with a leaf covered hut shading it. The water was so hot each spring had a cold water faucet to help you regulate the temperature. And what can be said except that it felt amazing after feeling pretty grimy from being in a van for around 14 hours by that time. Once the eggs were cooked, Felix ate some and said they were the best hard boiled eggs he has ever tried..
After having a leisurely time at the springs, we once again..piled back in the van for the next destination. The drive to the next place was beautiful (but maybe it was that I was actually awake this time) and still curved up the mountain. There were huts made of wood and vast fields very different from the rice fields we have become used to in Inburi. We ended up at a very nice temple that seemed to be in the middle of no where. I have to say that after seeing my expanse of temples, I was more interested in the scenery outside. We sat on the benches for awhile and looked out on the fields surrounded by mountains and took all of the new scenery in.



After this trip we continued on to go to have lunch and then visit the areas LONG-NECK TRIBE. The women in this tribe wear the golden rings not only around their necks, but also above their knees and various other places. They are said to wear these because long ago the women of the tribes were being killed by tigers in the woods. The tiger tended to strike at the same places on the women so these rings were placed there to protect them. The weight of the rings actually pushes down the women's collarbones which make it look like their necks are being stretched. I guess the women don't need to wear the rings anymore, but they still do maybe for tradtion..but I think more so because the money they make from the tourists coming to see them. It was much different than I expected. The village was all shops with them selling their hand made crafts. Many silk scarves where here and a style and design of clothes we saw all over the North, that had many colors and an knitted look to them. We took a picture with one of the famous longneck women who was older so had been wearing the rings for a very long time. Her neck were insanely long. Many of the women had babies who only wore one ring and they would add more rings once they got older. All the women had very round faces that sat high above their towering necks. Despite the long necks, and peculiar features, the women had a look about them that drew you in and I found myself saying how beautiful I thought they all were. Perhaps the best word to use is that they were enchanting. Many of them had lived in Thailand their whole lives but never left the area they live in because they speak their native tongue and not Thai. Despite this they had very warm faces and inviting smiles. They had open rings for tourists to buy or try on and I was amazed at how heavy they were. I only had them on my neck for less than a minute but I could immediately feel how the rings were pushing down on my collarbones. I am glad I am not a long neck.




















We headed back into the van and started to our final destination of the day, Mae Hong Son city. By time we arrived we were BEAT! We stayed at a very simple hostel. The room only had a thin mattress on the floor and the showers were the do-it yourself kind where you dip cold water our of a barrel. Despite this we were more than happy to be there after the exhausting day. We went into Mae Hong Son on our own for the first time all day to explore. We walked around a bit and saw the night market was in full force all around us. We needed to eat first so found a busy place and ordered a delicious Indian curry, which never seems to fail us. It came in a giant metal dish with the lit fire below it to keep it hot. We walked around the market with full stomachs and fell in love with the city. There was soft guitar music being played at various places and a calm and peacefulness to the city that we hadn't found in any other bustling thai cities before this. All the vendors were selling the colorful handmade clothing native to that area and it was refreshing to see winter hats and coats being sold! A golden retriever ran past me holding a basket in his mouth and made it all perfect. As we walked we got closer to a night temple that was covered in twinkling golden lights and bordered a serene lake. The sky was full of floating lanterns that people had lit and sent soaring into the night. The guidebook called Mae Hong Son, "a place that dreams are made of" and we had started to believe it.

The next morning to woke up, before the sun, and got ready for a new day of travel. Before leaving Mae Hong Son, and heading towards the next closest city of Pi (sounds like By) we went up to a temple on top of the mountain that looked down on Mae Hong Son. We had seen the lights way on top of the mountain the night before, but didn't think much about what it was, as the city at ground level was enchanting enough. As soon as we got to the top we realized this temple was literally up in the clouds. The sun was starting to rise and the air was crisp and cool. A group of children were dressed in fancy native outfits with bells and all had instruments that they sat and played. In the middle was a towering temple that had lit candles placed around it and draped monks hurrying around doing morning business. The view from here was remarkable. Mountain peaks pushed their way through a thick blanket of clouds so only the tops were revealed. Behind the peaks the sun pushed through in rays of orange while the fog rolled in and surrounded us. It was all so incredibly peaceful. Hot tea was brewing in a giant pot that you scooped out and put in bamboo cups. It was the perfect way to say goodbye to Mae Hong Son before starting a new day..


Our first stop of the second day was at a spa in the forest that again, seemed very isolated from anything. Apparently this was a very nice spa and as we walked through we saw open rooms with people covered in mud on their faces and bodies. They were all taking pictures of each other covered in mud which was funny. After bargaining for some clothing (PiTuk and her crew of friends were experts at bargaining and buying some sort of clothing or funny hat from EVERY stop we went to..and we thought we were the tourists..) we headed to hot spring pools. We had to pay for these ones but it was very nice and refreshing way to start the day. These were so hot your skin turned red, but considering hot water is few and far between for us, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Felix and I wandered around and found the "Mud Pit"..which smelled awful but didn't stop people from wanting to cover themselves with the "natural mud minerals".

After this we went to a FISH CAVE! This was a park in the woods and at the end of it there was a river with giant blue fish. They were so blue and pretty they reminded me of the magic fish in children's stories that grant wishes. The fish all swarmed together and were headed under a rock under hanging. We kept walking along the path and saw they were swimming to a cave. The cave had a hole in it where you could see the water and it was THICK with fish. There was a kind of shrine up there with a Buddha and incense etc. It was strange, but the blue fish made me happy!

We trudged on for awhile in the van and it was mostly filled with sleep for me as the curves were finally starting to pay it's toll. I felt verrry nauseous, and I wasn't the only one as the little boy in front of me kept throwing up in bags :/ We stopped for a bathroom break at a beautiful cliff filled with stands selling things for tourists. It overlooked all of the mountains and honestly, it would be hard to see the difference from these mountains and the ones in North Carolina or Virginia! Our next stop was in Pi and kind of confused us. It was a coffee shop that overlooked a beautiful valley that had many giant balloons like things advertising Chang beer on them. The stop was FULL of tour buses and visitors and in big red and black cursive were the words "Coffee in Love". All of these trendy Asian teens were posing like models in front of the words. PiTuk our housemother wanted us to take her picture in front of each word. Hmmmm... we found out that apparently this was a big "Hollywood" spot where many movies were filmed. When we started to think about it we remembered seeing a preview for a movie with the same valley. It was a love film which meant LOTS and lots of slow motion running to each other, and even more crying. The kind of thing in America we think is a joke, but Thai people love more than anything. Anyways, the coffee here was supposed to be very good. Coffee in Thailand usually consists of a generic 3 in 1 packet (coffee, sugar, milk powder) so while we didn't try it, I don't doubt that it was much better than usual. I guess the Chang balloons floating in the valley were advertisements since so many films are set there.

From here it was already the late afternoon so we started heading towards Chiang Mai. The rest of the group was mostly teachers who had school the next morning and still had the 12 hour trek in front of them. Thankfully, we had the week off since it was exam week and we had 2 days in Chaing Mai to enjoy, which they intended to drop us off in before they headed home. When we got to the outskirts of Chaing Mai we were surprised to pull into an alley and then what looked like a neighborhood. We stopped beside a house and one of the ladies in the car said "This is my house!". Hmm..ok... so we got out! She had a beautiful thai style home with two sides that were connected with a bridge..which we thought was prettttty neat. She then told us we were going to have a giant meal. Again..we just kind of went with the flow of things. We sat down at a little table and watched the sun go down while they filled the table with about 6 different dishes of food for us. They had hired help that was serving us which we weren't used to.. but everything was mak arroi (very delicious). There were a few thai men (one was her husband maybe) who were drinking liquor at another small table and were very happy to have us there. They turned the music on full blast because they said they wanted to make us happy with happy music! Although only a few words were exchanged..the man took quite the liking to Felix. By the end of the meal I think he was pretty drunk, but even if hadn't been, Thai people like to show their affection to foreigners so he was telling Felix that he loved him haha. We said goodbye and got in the van and before the door shut the man was running out and gave us a GIANT basket of oranges ahah. We secretly knew we would have to give many of them away since we would be traveling for the next week but it was yet another nice gesture from a thai stranger.


And so the journey to Chaing Mai began....