How we spent our time in Mae Hong Son

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Our last entry was made on Dec 20. We spent time in Mae Hong Son from Dec 21 to Dec 25.

On Dec 20, we relaxed in Mae Sariang and tried to go to the hotsprings, but did not succeed.

On Dec 21, we travelled from Mae Sariang to Mae Hong Son. It took 4 hours and 90B (Just over US$2 each). The bus was not too full. From the bus station, it is less than1 KM walk to Mae Hong Son guest house. Phyllis complained as Gary refused to pay 40B each for a tuk-tuk to take us there. The guesthouse cost 150B for one night, bueatiful garden, with shared bath and no sound insulation in the thin wooden panels between rooms.

At dinner time, we strolled around and found a food stall that served Hainan chicken on rice for 15B. We also had satay and BBQ pork on skewer. Right next to the food stall, there were performances by the Thaiyai hilltribe people and we enjoyed their "Butterfly dance". A child dressed in a butterfly costume and danced to gongs and drums. The performance is part of a 10-day cultural festival in Mae Hong Son ending on Dec 24.

On Dec 22, we moved to another guesthouse (Jeans House) for the same price, but with a private bath. We strolled around at the lake ( this lake is situated in the center of Mae Hong Son and has a lot guesthouses around the lake) and unexpectly met Nick, who went to the same 2-day trek with us in Mae Sariang. We walked up the hill to the temple (Wat) and saw a beautiful view of Mae Hong Son. At dinner time, we met up with Nick and went to the same food stall we visited the night before. There was no performance tonight. However, Nick told us there was a fair with a ferris wheel and so we walked there.

At the fair, there were many vendors, but one sold insects. We bought 2 bags of assorted insects (grasshopper, cricket, bamboo worm, and bee larvae) at 10B each. Nick and Gary had fun with eating the worms (took some interesting worm-in-mouth photos), while Phyllis tasted a couple. The worms go great with beer.

On Dec 23, we slept in. We later visited the two temples by the lake. At around 5 pm, we walked to the "Healthy Park" and had a thai massage, in a temporary shack. This is also a venue of the Mae Hong Son festival. The massage cost 100B per hour.

In the last few days, we did not do much, but ate a lot. Here are a few that we remembered:
Hainan chicken on rice 15B
Satay chicken on skewer 2B
BBQ pork on skewer 5B
Guava 10B (Peeled and cut up, and chilled on ice)
Roti (5B to 15B, depending on flavour)
Bitter vegetable green
BBQ fish 25B
Insects 10B
Spring roll 5B
Pad Thai noodle 20B
BBQ chicken 25B to 45B

On Dec 24, we rented a motorcycle (150B) and visited Mud Spa, but we did not stay for any "treatment". They offered a mud mask for 60B and a 20-minutes dip in the hot tub for 50B. We later visited the Pasua Falls, where there are fish trapped in pools.

We later went to the Pa Tong Palace. There was little description, but we suspect it once was a summer home of the royal family. While parking the motorbike on a slope, Gary tipped over the motorbike and broke the left side mirror.

The last destination is Mae Aw, where the Kuomintang Chinese moved here from China more than 50 years ago. Mae Aw (in Chinese is Mee Wor -- Secret nest) has a lot of tea plants. The locals sell tea (at a pretty high price).

The trip to Mae Aw is 40 KM, very hilly and twisting and steep. Gary often rode in first gear.

From Mae Aw, we rode back to Mae Hong Son and stopped for coffee and green curry on rice.

After that, we visited the Tha Plaa (Fish Cave). The Thais believed the fish were sacred and bring vegetables to feed them. The fish are some kind of carp and are pretty big, and green in colour. The biggest fish that we saw is about 1 meter long.

When we returned to Mae Hong Son, we replaced the broken side mirror, for only 40B (US$1).

At night, there was supposed to be the closing ceremony of the Mae Hong Son festival. It took place at the Cultural and Folk Art centre. We saw a rehearsal of some of the performances. We stayed to watch the ceremony, but left shortly after the two long speeches (45 minutes in total) as we were hungry.

We looked for the food stall that sold Hainan chicken, and tonight it is in a different location, near the lake. Seems like all the vendors in the city were all concentrated around the lake and were a lot more activities there than the closing ceremony.

On Dec 25, we left Mae Hong Son.

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