Mae Hong Song

18th Nov - 20th Nov... Mae Hong Song

Johnnie Guesthouse single room shared bath 150Baht
Pai->Mae Hong Song: 3 hours by bus, 70Baht - 120km
Almost running away from Pai, as the place was a bit like an itch that I could not reach (Annoying!) - it exist solely for the purpose of tourism and I did not like that much...

So on the 18th I jump on a bus from Pai to MHS at 11am after a long and winding road we get to MHS at 2pm. For the first time since I started travelling, I find it hard to find a guesthouse. After lugging around my bag for 20 minutes (never done that before!) I decide I need to dump some more stuff to make it lighter...

Finally, I find Johnny Guesthouse - where do they get these names from!?!?

Anyhoo, I immediately prefer MHS to Pai and around 6pm, rent a motorbike for a day (that's 24hrs until the next day you dopy;) ) with the intention of hitting the road nice and early at 6am!!

I wake up at 7am on the 19th and hit the road, 1st stop natural hot springs about 10kays out of town. These are ok - I am dissapointed to find out you cant just hop in to the natural part and I couldn't find out why.. There was a clue for me later on though - coming to that shortly... You have to rent a small room with a tiled concrete bat tub for 50Baht. I do so, and after an hour, not sure if it makes me feel any better... So I get out and dressed and once I step outside, I stink of sulphur or whatever it is in the natural hot spring water (at least I know it's not chlorine) SO I guess if you jump into the natural part of the spring and gulp down some water, you'll be suffering... Mental note for next time: take some body spray when you go to natural spring...

Next Stop: Elephant rides...
Without upsetting anyone, I decided not to do the ride and just paid to feed them some bananas.. Main reason being, I saw the evil claw that they were using on the elephant to ride it and control it: ouch! Elephants, along with dolphins and horses must be my favourite animals..

Next stop, "Karen Long Neck Village"
Name says it all, see the photo. They are refugees from Burma, but have ended up staying in Thailand for a long time...

Next Stop: Some waterfall, I forget the name...
It's not a biggie, but it was a nice break from the 50km I did on the moped...

Next Stop: ....
I come across a field full of lambs aimlessly MMMmeeeeeee'ing. I discover that it is a wool-producer and there is a cute baby lamb to take photos of yippeeee.. There were some deers too.. I think they should open up a restuarant up there...

Last Stop: Rak Tai Town..
This is almost on the border with Burma and funnly enough, it is a town of Chinese people! I need to find out the full story of how and why they were there - this is the problem of not having a guide :)

I cruise along the road back to MHS. The moped they gave me was no way 125CC as they told me, more like 25CC which only manages to work with gear one on all parts uphill!!!???

My round trip of around 150km comes to and with a hot shower back at home..

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