Mae Hong Son - Final Days in Thailand

Sawadee Ka.  Sadly, this is one of the last times I will greet you in Thai, as my time in this wonderful country is coming to a close.  Thailand has definitely got it going on…gorgeous natural scenery, delicious food, and incredibly warm and friendly people.  

I decided to spend some of my last few days up in Mae Hong Son, the Switzerland of Thailand.  Rob loves Mae Hong Son and has been talking it up for months so I decided I must see what all the hype is about.  I am certainly glad I did because like pretty much everywhere else I’ve been in Thailand, it totally delivers.   

In the middle of town is a lake and alongside the lake is a……any guesses?  If you said temple, you are correct!!!!    

Shall we take a look inside?  Hello....of course we’re going to look inside.  

Outside the temple there was this huge tree that was decorated with tons of offerings.  I’ve seen this many times throughout my travels in Thailand, but this tree was adorned with some particularly fun offerings. 

Here’s a close-up of that girl in the house.  I love her! 

In addition to the lake temple, MHS is also known for this temple at the top of a hill.  It’s a long climb to the top, but well worth it for the panoramic views of the city. 

Here’s a view of that lake temple at night.

Like Chiang Mai, MHS has a ton of temples.  I spent the next day walking around town to check out the sights.  MHS is a very small town so it’s easy to cover a lot of ground in one day.

Whoa, more stairs.  Do you think I climbed them? 

Of course I climbed them and I can prove it too.

The next day I decided to head out of town to visit one of the local hill tribe villages, the long necks. 

These necklaces are no joke.  I tried to hold one with one hand and nearly dropped it.  The young girls start wearing the necklaces at 5 years old and gradually work their way up to the full set.  They wear the necklaces all the time, even to sleep. 

Here’s a modern long neck texting away. 

One of the things the long necks are known for is their lovely scarves.  Evidently it takes 3 days to make a full scarf.  They are lovely and so soft. 

After the long neck visit, we stopped by the Fish Cave. 

As you’ve probably guessed, they call it the Fish Cave because there are fish.  My cave picture didn’t really turn out that well so this is more like Fish River, but I think you get the gist. 

After the Fish Cave we stopped by this charming Chinese tea village. 

We could sit by the water and enjoy a cup of tea.  My colleague for the day, Tanju of Turkey, is a huge connoisseour of tea and he approved so we’re talking about some delicious tea here, folks.  Plus, it was free!  What a bonus. 

Next it was off to see more of the Switzerland of Thailand.  It didn’t seem like Thailand at all.  Instead of palm trees there were pine trees. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my 3 days in Mae Hong Son.  Thanks for the recommendation, Rob. 

Now it’s back to Chiang Mai.  Upon the recommendation of Teachers Brooke and Claire, I stayed at a lovely guesthouse named Elliebum.  Gade, the owner, made my stay there so wonderful.  It was like hanging out with one of my girlfriends.  During the day she took me around the outskirts of Chiang Mai and to a wonderful lunch with gorgeous scenery.  She then invited me to a small dinner party she was having with some of her friends.  We had a ball!  Her friends, Anne and Karina, are so much fun.  We drank wine, shoveled Gade’s insanely delicious food, and talked and laughed our faces off all night long.  It was such a great evening and such a perfect way to spend my second to last night in Thailand.  

Then it was back to Bangkok for my last night in Thailand before India.  I picked a great time to be in Bangkok too because Chinese New Year was in full effect.   

Next stop is India.  In fact, I am writing you from India now.  I have a feeling my  internet access is going to be pretty spotty during my stay here.  My hotel here in Delhi has internet, but it hasn’t been working very well and the cafes seem to impose time restrictions so I may not be able to update as frequently as I’d like, but there’s always the chance I can pull from a random wireless connection like I’m doing right now.  Regardless, don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for a while.  I’ll be back.  Oh yes, I’ll be back. 

Huge hugs from Delhi.  Day 1 in India is off to a great start, except that I wasn’t able to meet up with my friend, Ley Ley, who was in Delhi for work.  Ley, I hope you had fun.  We’ll have to compare notes. 

Bye everyone.  Please keep in touch!