The Mae Hong Son loop is a 600km circuit westward of Chiang Mai wich winds through the Doi Inthanon National Park to the half-way town of Mae Hong Son, then East to Pai, a dreadlock paradise and back to Chiang Mai in about 4 days minimum.The loop is popular as much for the mountain scenery as for the "hilltribe" villages scattered throughout the mountains.
The drive is very slow as the road winds up, down and around the mountains, giving us plenty of time to take in the changing landscape. Wide panoramic vistas of lush mountains all the way to Burma give way to sheltered valleys of terraced rice paddies, drawing striking geometric patterns on the hillside, punctuated by a succession of small hilltribe villages.
Hilltribe people are small groups of ethnic minorities who live in the mountains in the North of Thailand. Originally, they come from Burma, Cambodia, Laos, China and are considered fourth world people as they migrate disregarding established borders. They subsist from small scale agriculture , growing rice, garlic and, as we have seen, poppies. A new form of income is drawn from tourism as Hilltribes have an interesting way of life and striking traditional costumes, ranging from colourful geometric patterns to the "long-neck" brass rings sported by the Karen women. Some of the tours seem like outright exploitation and we were glad we could just drive through and get on our way without being a disturbance.
We spent a fair bit of time driving a little Suzuki Vitara which was a good test run since we have been talking about this car for some time. The jury is still out on whether it is too small. We managed to camp every night which finally justified carrying a lot of bulk around (sleeping bags, mats, tent...) and we swam in waterfalls every day which are still flowing heavily despite being the middle of the dry season.
We spent a fair bit of time driving a little Suzuki Vitara which was a good test run since we have been talking about this car for some time. The jury is still out on whether it is too small. We managed to camp every night which finally justified carrying a lot of bulk around (sleeping bags, mats, tent...) and we swam in waterfalls every day which are still flowing heavily despite being the middle of the dry season.
I want to see some photos! We are almost done with business and are thinking about heading to Laos within the next week- what are your plans? Your car trip sounds fantastic. Love to you both- we miss you! Rose
ReplyDeleteSorry about the lack of photos, I wrote this entry on an especially uncooperative computer but I will post some on very soon.
ReplyDeleteWe are now in Chiang Rai and will be heading to Laos the day after tomorrow. I actually think that it might be a pretty short stint (a bit like Cambodia) there before we head to Vietnam. We will be heading as far south as Savannakhet. Keep us informed of how you are going though. If you are travelling North and we are going South...Never 2 without 3 as they say!
And I was wishing I could post of few photos of baby Laura in some of her best "impossible sleeping postures" as recently updated by Rose on her boat ride blog entry. Unfortunately though, we blog followers don't have photo-posting powers. Thank you Rose for this irresistible glimpse of my Sleeping Battambang Beauty.
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