Blogs from Soppong, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

Mae Hong Son and Soppong Mae Hong Son – Let’s start with the ride there from Chiang Mai. This was one of the few times we decided to take a van instead of the public bus to get to our next destination. Too bad the driver we had was a frickin’ animal behind the wheel! We couldn’t tell if he was just mentally insane, watching too much American Nascar, or if he just wanted to see how fast we could take the turns in the mountains without flying off the edge or flipping over the side of the road. I mean, we’re already getting used to some of the “rules” of the road. Basically, the law is optional. Red means stop? Only if you have to in order to avoid hitting someone. Solid white or yellow ... read more

Baan Yeii (Grosses Haus) In dem grössten Haus das Aussieht wie ein Schweizer Chalet wohnen der Vater Wirod die Mutter Marleen mit den 3 eigenen Kindern (Pla, Save, Nathan). Die meisten aufgenommen Strassenkinder in diesem Haus sind fast alle älter als die anderen mit wenigen Ausnahmen.. In diesem Haus fühle ich mich sehr wohl. Vor allem deswegen, weil die älteren Jungs am ehesten Verstehen können dass es für einen Ausländer nicht ganz einfach ist auf Thai zu kommunizieren und sich deshalb auch Mühe geben beim Reden, so dass schon einige lustige Konversationen entstanden sind. Zu den Eltern habe ich auch einen guten Draht, auch wenn ich nicht mit allem Einverstanden bin mit dem was sie machen. Das betrifft vor allem die Erziehung. So werden die eigenen drei Kinder stark bevorzugt im Gegensatz zu den Strassenkindern. Zum ... read more

After such a brilliant time in Pai and for that matter, the whole of Asia, we both felt that we needed the detox. After the obligatory feed on junk food the night before we were ready to have our body and mind cleansed. When we first arrived I have to say we were both more than a little shocked. We were expecting it to be a detox in a nice enough place, near a traditional Thai Village. Instead we were to stay in a Lisu Hill Tribe Village called Nong Tong, in Mae Hong Son province. It is near the town of Soppong in the picturesque mountainous Northern Thailand. Our hosts were Susannah a traditaional Lisu Villager and Albert an american who had taken up residence with the family. The house was a two story basic ... read more

I wanted to go to Soppong to visit the Cavelodge, I´ve heard from a lot of people that it is a great place to stay and they have hiking, trekking, caving and kayaking trips. I wanted to go there for trekking for a day or two. I arrived Soppong, and that´s really just a few guesthouses and a small market by the road. I tried to get a taxi from there to the lodge, but it was no way I was paying 300 baht for a car. I asked a nice woman at a restaurant where I had lunch, and she fixed me a taxi for 70 baht. It showed up to me a motorbike taxi - and a motorbike is actually what we call a scooter at home. I asked the guy if he really ... read more

So we woke up early, and went to the scooter place. Admittedly, we were both a bit nervous because neither Marieke nor myself had ever ridden before. We got some breakfast, and set off pretty quickly though. After a few minutes we began to get the hang of going forward/turning/stopping/etc... you know, all the important things, and we were off. The trip to Soppong (near the cave lodge we were to stay at) was extremely curvy and we went through numerous hills and hairpin turns. By the way, my white helmet made me look more like a god damn Storm Trooper than anything else... that or I was about to get shot out of a cannon. The scenery was absolutely fantastic, though, which made me extremely glad we decided to take this mode of transport. Northern ... read more