Thailand: Mae Hong Son Loop Day 3- Top of the world moments and postcard picture perfect Ban Rek Thai
Just a leisurely stroll they said, it’ll be fun to get up before sunrise they said. Actually, it was and the view whilst not perfect today certainly got the heart pumping.
Hang on, what’s with this getting up early shit, I’m supposed to be on a protracted adventure, one of leisurely sleep-ins and lazy brunches. Not this up before sunrise two days in a row. Have I gone mad and lost my faculties. Probably you say but in this case I dragged my sorry arse out of bed in order to seek a wonderful sunrise on a mountain overlooking Mae Hong Son.
Arriving in the dark after some very slippery riding up a dirt road that almost saw Ploy pay homage to the dirt divinggods, we embarkedon a leisurely stroll through the forest. Now when I say leisurely I mean quite the opposite. More like straight up a fucking mountain side that a goat would have nightmares over. Well of course I exaggerate a little, but it was a bloody steep climb and 10 minutes, no 5 minutes into it I was like a kid on a road trip with his parents. All be it huffing and puffing kid incessantly sayingare we there yet? are we there yet ? how far to go?.
Meanderthals in the mist, what’s not to love
Top of the world moments are my favourite part of hiking and adventures. The rat race far below, time has little meaning, problems just melt away like the mist and life is just chilled.
The answer was simple- not far now. Not far now translated to a good hour climb through magical country that was both lush and dry at the same time. The changing of the season could be best described as autumn like from the Northern Hemisphere where trees shed their leaves in preparation for winter. Except here the trees drop their leaves when the rainy season is over and it’s hot and supposedly dry. This shedding of leaves from a tree unknown to me resulted in massive leaves carpeting the forest floor so densely that the trail was all but gone. Couple this with the mist that enveloped us from the cloud cover and the dampness from the overnight rainfall and it was a surreal experience. At times the mist from cloud cover creeping into the Mae Hong Son valley below was quite thick.
99 Street coffee in Mae Hong Son, was a nice little pop-up coffee place that our local guides (Yim & Kung ) frequented. Well worth stopping by. Its pretty chilled and the coffee is fine.
in essence we climb up this ridgeline through the cloud cover to await the morning sun to burn off the low-lying clouds. Well, that was the plan anyway and like all good plans mother nature can mess with them. Arriving at the rocky outcrop we were totally fogged in, so sat down for a picnic and had to wait for a good hour or so to catch glimpses of the valley and villages below. It was truly top of the world stuff just watching the valley and the villages appear below. After a solid hour or so it became apparent that we wouldn’t get to see a magical sunrise, but this temple kept peeking out of the clouds so we decided it was a must go and see.
Clamouring down the mountain was easier than going up it, mind you it was pretty brutal on the knee, but we made it to the bikes with only a few minor slips
The Clouds finally parted and revealed Mae Hong Son in its splendour. Though the local airport runway doesn’t leave much room for error.
A short ride later we arrived at the temple we’d seen earlier; the mist had burnt off and we were rewarded with an amazing view over Mae Hong Son valley and township. The airport looked sketchy as hell and only had a one way approach with a mountain at one end. So if the pilot messed up the approach then it was only going to end in tears. Fortunately our local guide tells me this has not yet happened. The Temple was quite big and Kung Fu’s friend taught us how to give merit to the temple to facilitate us safe travels. I’m not a very religious man but I did enjoy the experience and I’m still here to tell the tail so who knows maybe it worked.
Making friends on top of the mountain
After coffee at a local shop with our newfound friends we thanked them for their hospitality and returned to the motel to hit the road, destination Ban Rek Thai about 143km away. This Chinese influenced village on the Myanmar border is reported as stunningly beautiful. With that kind of wrap I knew it was a must see. Technically it’s not part or the Mae Hong Son loop but the divert proved to be well worth it.
Pang Tong Royal Forest park. A lovely little diversion off the main road to Ban Rek Thai
The road from Mae Hong Song to Ban Rek Thai is best described as scenic with plenty of twists and turns through the mountains to keep it interesting for the peeps on bikes. It passes through plenty of sleepy villages and past many waterfalls, hot springs and a multitude of other activities to keep you occupied. One beautiful little diversion is to a lake about 10km off the main road (Pang Tong Royal forest park). It’s more a reservoir than a lake but is beautiful none the less. Here you can camp, stay in huts and take a bamboo raft around the lake in a truly beautiful setting. Just don’t try and take the national park back roads through the villages to Ban Rek Thai on scooters as it’ll end badly. Ploy took a little dirt nap here as the terrain is just too harsh for scooters but perfect for the Grey Ghost. That’s an adventure for another day to explore these trails I dare say.
It’s simple moments like green fields, viewpoints or pending rain clouds that make road trips like this all the more interesting.
Arriving at Ban Tek Thai I was blown away, it truly is a postcard perfect kind of place huddled around a small lake in the mountains. It’s very influenced by the Chinese and is essentially what we’d call Chinatown in an Australian city but in the country. The only down side of this location is it’s quite a bit more expensive than other regional towns. Whether this is because it sees a lot of tourists or whether it is from the Chinese influence remains to be seen. However, I cant complain too much II liked the place. Whilst here you have to take a boat ride out on the lake for 40min it’ll cost you about 400 Baht but is worth it. Just be sure to take some sunset beers of course. Accommodation can very pricey with a manky old tent on the waterfront commanding an exorbitant 600 baht. But go back from the waterfront or shop around and you’ll find a better deal.
Lake views will cost you a pretty packet for accommodation this humpy cost a whooping 600 Baht which is a total rip off but I guess the view is the premium
They’re just price gouging because of the location. Food can also be a little expensive if you want something substantial beyond street food. But the Chinese restaurant that is upstairs and overlooks the lake is worth the inflated prices. We ordered a banquet for 1700baht but it was a pretty amazing meal for the 3 of us in an idyllic setting so I can’t complain too much.
A Chinese version of a gondola will set you back about 400 Baht for 40 minutes… expensive by Thai standards but worth it for a chilled experience.
Overall it was an amazing day on the road, with good company, new found friends and fun experiences. Oh I forgot to mention, walking down the main street at night we were huddled around a fire that was cooking some sticky rice sweet treats and low and behold who did we run into ….. Mark and Ann our Aussie mates from a couple of days ago. We had a right old impromptu catch up and planned to meet the next day to convoy together for another adventure on the Mae Hong Song Loop.
