"Almost Heaven........take me home, country roads" (Mae Hong Son: Mountains, Minorities, Rivers, Waterfalls, Valleys and Villages)

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Mae Hong Son
June 3rd 2011

Published: June 4th 2011

"Almost Heaven, West Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River......... ...Country roads, take me home To the place where I belong West Virginia, Mountain Mama Take me home, country roads" And so this unforgettable refrain goes. When I was around three years old, my parents thought it would be a good idea to move to Third Worldish West Virginia. (An American state where infant mortality... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 42, Displayed: 21

The best of roads

A pretty mountain village

A Karen household

Love the homes made of wood and often bamboo

Ready to work

He set about after this, by hand, cutting all the weeds and small bushes in the field with a scythe.

Ton Saw Oo....construction foreman

Uan, his Thai name, was originally from Burma but took me in to his home in the Musser village I visited. I ate "hill tribe rice" and vegetables (boiled potatoes and bamboo shoots) with the group. Uan and I chatted for hours. He had been all over Thailand and Bangkok doing construction work before making his home here several years ago.

The prettiest of Karen villages I encountered

My Shan tour guide at the Lod Caves

She invited me to stay at her house and to homecook Shan food for me. She seemed to be quite smitten with me as well......I was quite tired so I passed...perhaps to my regret.

Ready to go

Thai soldiers near the Thai/Burmese border

We chatted for a long time before they sent me on my way

A Village near the Thai/Burmese border

A typical scene

The bike and the landscape

Phya Singharat Racha

The modern founder of Mae Hong Son's provincial capital

Lek's guesthouse

Looking out over the valley

The capital

Shan goodies

All for less than $2.00....my breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Long Neck Karen village

This village was boring and too touristed and commodified already. The girls has teen idol posters on their walls and the boys soccer stars. Twenty years ago it might have been quite interesting

Agriculture is here

Gentrification of hills

Valley Gentrification

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"Almost Heaven........take me home, country roads" (Mae Hong Son: Mountains, Minorities, Rivers, Waterfalls, Valleys and Villages)

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