North West Thailand & The Burmese Border

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Hello Everyone!

Us again!! And look we have pictures again!

Mae Sot

We travelled from Sukhothai to Mae Sot near the Burmese border on the next leg of our trip.
The main reason was to cross into Myanmar briefly to the town of Myawadi to see a bit of Burmese life and also to extend our Thai Visa.
We spent a few days here in a beautiful guesthouse complete with our own lounge area and large balcony for around 3 pounds a night, not bad we thought!
We crossed the border into Myanmar and enjoyed some time around the town of Myawadi sampling the sites and the Burmese lifestyle.
Many people write about why people shouldn't travel to Burma for moral reasons but from talking to a few Burmese people they all complained about this saying that the sanctions and tourism bans only seemed to have a detrimental effect on themselves and just widhed more people would come to their country and see for themselves the problems they have to contend with. Cewrtainly the number of tour guides and rickdhaw drivers desperate for work did seem to illustrate his point.
Whether or not you view it as a good thing or not to visit Myanmar under the current regime is a highly individual matter but from meeting locals it does seem that they almost resent the fact that the western world has seemed to turn its back on them in their eyes.
Anyway, sorry that was a little deep but something for you all to think about.
We returned to Mae Sot and enjoyed a few more days there including a Burmese cooking course where we learned to cook such things as Pumpkin Curry, Potato Dumplings and Noodle salad so we will be sure to treat you all to those on our return!!

Mae Hong Son

After Mae Sot we travelled north along the Burmese border to a beautiful riverside town called Mae Sariang. We only spent a night at this little town but it was beautiful. Full of teak houses and bars and restaurants set high above the river looking out towards the mountains taht separate Thailand & Myanmar.
From Mae Sariang we moved North again to the pretty provincial capital of Mae Hong Son.
Mae Hong Son is set round a beutiful little lake, amongst towering, forest clad mountains.
We spent 3 days one of which we spent in a village called Mae Aw high up in the mountains. Mae Aw was beautiful and cool and had a destinctly chinese feel due to most (if not all) of its inhabitants being chinese migrants. We enjoyed walks around the lake and hills in Mae Aw and just enjoyed relaxing!
The rest of our time in Mae Hong Son was spent visting wats or just enjoying the numerous little cafes and bars dotted around the town. It was a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Pai

From Mae Hong Son we moved east to the town of Pai, a travellers favourite destination set in a fertile river valley, surrounded by paddy fields and framed by magnificent mounatins on all sides.
The town itself was full of Cafes & Bars all playing live music and art gallerys showing locally produced work. The place had a great vibe and we enjoyed doing very little except walking in the great scenery and enjoying the live music on offer.

All in all this part of the trip allowed us some quality relaxation and stunning scenery, pretty much what travelling should be about me thinks!!

Anyway better go.

Hope you're all well as usual.
Keep us up to date with things

Love Steve & Laura

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Photos

Mae Hong Son
The Lake and Mountains

Mae Hong Son
Wat Jong Klang

Ban Na Pa Paek
On The Way Up To Mae Aw

Village Life
In Mae Aw

Mae Aw
View From The Hills Above

Mae Aw
The Lake!

Mae Hong Son
The View From Wat Phra Tat Doi Kung Mu (Rolls off the tongue!!)

Monks in The Storm
In Front Of Wat Phra Tat Doi Kung Mu

Mae Hong Son Lake
The Lake at Dusk

Pai Valley
The View From Wat Phra Tat Mae Yen

Pai Valley
A typical view around Pai

Rice Fields
Around Pai

The Pai River
Not a bad Backdrop either!

A Storm in Pai Valley
The weather wasn't great that day (the edge of the cyclone that hit burma we believe)

Pai
Bracing itself for the storm!