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This is the first of three pages describing a trip me and Jackie did around New Year 2005/06. We hired motorbikes in Chiang Mai and headed off to the Myanmar border at Mae Sariang. Here we found a guide and he took us up to a Karen hilltribe village where we stayed for New Year's Eve. It also describes our trek back to civilisation.
A six lane highway is not quite what I expected from a trip to the Thai-Myanmar border, but that's how it started. Thanks to a booming tourist industry over the last 20 years Thailand now has the best infrastructure of South East Asia and that means plenty of motorways and plenty of traffic. Great if you are in a big bus, but not so great if you’re biking around – especially on the best touring bike in the world – the Honda Dream. Don’t laugh - it’s cheap, reliable, goes like a …dream, and can be fixed anywhere.
Me and my partner Jackie had hired a couple of them in Chiang Mai and intended to explore the area around Mae Sariang on the Myanmar border. It was supposed to be less touristy and quieter than the more well known area around Mae Hong Song. If time, we also wanted to do a little trekking up into the nearby Karen villages. But that was all in the future, for now we were hurtling down the motorway at 50kms/hour.
This particular motorway I think had been built for the tourist hordes on their way to Doi Inthanon – one of the most attractive national parks for weekending Thais from Chiang Mai. The turnoff was near the town of Chom Thong and therefore unsurprisingly after here the road got quieter and more scenic. This is what we were after.
We stopped in the not unpleasant small town of Hot for lunch – the usual tasty rice and curry and then after a short rest off again. A few kilometres further on we were in the national park of Ob Luang, which pretty much marked the end of habitation. From here it was all rolling hills and jungle encroaching on either side of the road.
Six hours after leaving Chiang Mai, we reached our destination - Mae Sariang.
Mae Sariang is one of those strange towns which is bigger than you think in terms of houses and population but still has very much a village feel about it. Many influences are immediately apparent. On entering the town we saw the Burmese style roofs of a wat, but further in near the market there is also the mosque. Apparently there are quite a few Bangladeshi families in town who arrived via Myanmar. Approaching the river there are a number of places to stay. The River House Resort, River House Hotel and the Riverside Guest House. Sheepishly located on the other side of the river was the more imaginatively and optimistically titled Sea View Guest House. We decided to split the difference between the posh resort and the more run down guest house and went for the hotel. It was modern in styling, comprised totally of teak. From the road you could see all the way through the hotel to the wooden balcony which in turn looked out over the Mae Nam Yuan River, perfect for a cold beer to revitalise those tired limbs. The rooms are pretty good as well. We had one with a small balcony overlooking the river.
Foodwise, apart from eating in the hotel, there are a couple of decent restaurants on either side of the main road in town, a short walk from the hotels. (Main road only in name as traffic is light in the extreme). The Remu and the Inthra restaurants. We tried both during our stay. Interestingly the Inthra seemed more popular but we thought the food in the Remu just as good and had the added distraction of photos of the king playing in a jazz band.
It only takes a couple of hours if that, to explore the town. The only real highlights are the two adjoining Burmese-Shan temples, Wat Jong Sung and Wat Si Bunruang. Both are pretty small and while we wandered around didn’t see a soul.
Wat Jong Sung
above and below. Wat Si Bunruang
view from the River House Hotel
As we were wandering we met Mr. Adul, also known as Salawan tours, by all account the only trekking guide in town. As luck would have it, he was going up into the mountains in a couple of days to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a Karen village. Apparently the hilltribes from all around converge on one village for a festival which combines Christmas and New Year. It would seem that most of the Karen people had been converted to Christianity in the latter part of the19th century. He offered to take us and we gratefully expected not knowing quite what was in store.
It also meant we had a day free so for this we decided to visit the river Mae Nam Moei which formed the border between Thailand and Myanmar. The countryside around here was stunning. Soon the tilled fields and teak stilt houses around Mae Sariang gave way to jungle and the road started climbing. Up and up we went until we were soon lost in the clouds.
Down the other side we came to the river village of Mae Sam Lap. Spread along a narrow road the houses cling to the side of the mountain while outside old ladies idly puff on their pipes while dogs laze in the road in the sun. Here the river was wide but swift flowing. We followed signs to the harbour. Here the river was fairly narrow but flanked by large sandbanks. The harbour was a small bite in one of these where there were a few longboats ready to take passengers, eggs, chickens and plastic toys to who knows where. Here my bargaining skills were tested to the full but eventually we forked out 400bht ($10) for an hours trip on the river. On either side there was thick jungle but no sound – just the gently chug of the engine under a clear blue sky and over a thick brown swirling river.
now go to page two for the first part of the trek...
