Mae Hong Son, the Town, the City, it's Temples and Walking Night Market

   
     Ploy and I recently took a road trip from Chiang Mai all the way to Mae Hong Son. The road is famed for having over 1000 hair pin curves. In actuality, the road has over 1,800 sharp corners. It a majestic ride through the northern mountains of Thailand. We ran into some rain along the way, and had two close calls, when the front tire of our bike hit slick spots.    That will wake you up for sure, if you have never experienced it before.  Still, we persevered, and made it the rest of the way to the small city nestled in the mountains.

     Please enjoy this post, and look at all of the pictures. We have detailed everything you will find in Mae Hong Son, from the temples, to the lake and the park, to the walking street, and its food vendors, as well as the guest house scene inside the town.

    Above the city is a most revered "Wat," or temple, which has stood looking down and protecting the city for four hundred years.

     The first evening we arrived, after checking into a nice little hotel along the edge of the lake, we drove up to pay respects to the two Pagodas on top of the mountain at the edge of Mae Hong Son. Here are the two Pagodas, in the dwindling evening sun.

   

I love the Palm tree alongside the temple.

     Here is a guard at the temple's entrance. It is a giant stone lion, in full battle armor. The mountains surround the valley of Mae Hong Son.

Visiting a Traditional Lisu Village in Mae Hong Son Provence

     Ploy and I just traveled to Mae Hong Son Provence. It was a dangerous 4.5 hour motorcycle ride from Chiang Mai.

    The locals have affectionately called it the road of a thousand hair pin curves. That is not accurate, there are over 1,800 tight turns over the course of 175 miles. The jungle surrounds both sides of the road, and mountains tower over most of the sky. The scenery is spectacular, however the drive is not for anyone who gets motion sickness. I promise.

     One of our very good friends recently had his first child. His wife is from a small Lisu Village, outside Bang Mapra, Thailand in Mae Hong Son Provence. Lisu People are a hill-tribe group most distinguishable because of their traditional clothes, or costumes. They wear very brightly adorned shirts, and with many colors, and make all of their own clothing.

     The village of our friends wife is home to about 200 people, most of whom are related. I was accepted to join the festivities, and talked with both the old and young. Lisu speak their own language, as well as Thai. My friend does not speak Thai, so I was able to talk with his Father in law and translate for him. Lisu are an an extremely kind and hospitable group. It was a special occasion to meet so many of them in their own town and not to feel like a tourist who was just shipped in for a brief photo op.



     Please enjoy these pictures from a Lisu Village we spent some time in, and celebrated one of our close friend's having a new born son. In honour of having a firstborn son, they held a large party for everyone in the village to come.

     A full grown wild boar was killed and cooked for the dinner's feat. It was made into four different meals.

     The raw pig meat was cut into many tine pieces and pounded by the ladies of the village, into a raw pig meat and chili spicy appetizer.

Here is nice girl that we met and talked with a little. She is in 10th grade.
That is traditional Lisu clothing that she is wearing.

Cave Exploration in Northern Thailand, at the Bang Mapra Tham Lot

   
     The cave at Bang Mapra is far more extensive than one would predict before entering it. This cave is close to one mile long, and is only accessible by floating downstream on a tiny rickety bamboo raft, with both a guide and raft-man.

    As we approached the cave, there was a back board set up in all its glory, as a wary hazard for first time spelunkers.

    This is Thailand, so we knew it could be rough, as we climbed aboard out small bamboo craft and drifted into the mouth of the cave.

    The original cavern is about 50-60 feet tall, and filled with both stalactites and stalagmites.

Bamboo rafts awaiting their riders.

Approaching the cave's mouth.

     The main cave has three offshoots, one to the right, which is easily manageable, and two off to the left, both of which are only accessible by climbing up a very tall, very straight ladder set all the way up to the top.

Here I am, on the raft as we entered the large cave.

 Thank you for looking, and please enjoy these pictures of teh Bang Mapra Cave in all its splendor

A Village Market, in Mae Hong Son Provence. Fresh Vegetables, and local organic produce.

   
     Recently Ploy and I were traveling through Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son Provence when we stopped off at a small local market in the town of Bang Maprah.

     The vendors were very nice and I talked with a few of them. They let me take pictures of their fresh vegetables, some of which I was not accustomed to seeing even in Chiang Mai.

      Check out this post to see what the local Lisu Villagers grow and sell at the market. These vegetables are fresh off the farm, and their sellers likely helped to plant and harvest them. Your money is going directly to the source. The farmer himself. In this case, himself and herself. Enjoy the pictures and plan the next Thai dinner you make at home.

Nice size brown potatoes.

Small green pumpkins.

White and red waxy chilies.

Very spicy green peppers.

Parsley.

Chinese Cabbage.

Pak Bung.

Chinese kale.

Cabbage.

Pai Walking Street Evening Market, Pai Thailand

     This past week Ploy and I visited Pai, a 200 kilometer drive north west from Chiang Mai.

     The road is nicknamed, "The Road of a Thousand Hair Pin Curves." The corners are one after another, and the ride is spectacularly treacherous and majestic at the same time. I know that most travelers tend to get on a yellow truck and sit in the back as it winds its way up and up and around.

Enjoy our photos of the trip and the Pai foodie experience.

 I will continue to label the pictures soon.


I am very tired from the long trip and the drive.

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