After such an excellent first day of riding, Bryden and I were excited for more. The next and last two days of our trip would take us up north from Khun Yuam where we spent the night through Mae Hong Son, Pai, and eventually back to Chiang Mai.
On January 4, looking forward to heading out, I woke up not feeling very well. My stomach was in a little pain, my head hurt, and I felt like throwing up. This feeling was miserable, however after eventually throwing up I decided that I wouldn’t let anything defeat me. I took some Ibuprofen, drank some extremely strong and bitter tea that the woman working at the hotel gave me along with some other homeopathic-type herb medication that she was kind enough to share, and headed out, hoping I would feel alright. The hotel we had stayed at was excellent. It was called Khun Yuam Resort, and it definitely wasn’t a conventional resort. We had to navigate steep, muddy hills to find it, and the rooms were somewhat barren. What made up for these shortcomings was the beautiful views of a valley that it was situated over. After waking up I sat on our deck and drank some tea while editing photos and looking out at the view. Although I wasn’t feeling well, it was as pleasant as could be.
Eventually we decided to head out, so we hitched our backpacks to our scooters and hit the road. I thought that the roads we encountered on the first day of the loop were as good as could be. I was quickly proven wrong, however. Once we left our hotel we headed north towards Mae Hong Son, a small provincial capital we aimed to stop and rest at, and the road was spectacular. It was extremely well paved, wide, and full of constant switchbacks and interesting hilly corners.
The drive to Mae Hong Son was very quick. After fueling up and grabbing a quick bite to eat (although I wasn’t particularly hungry) we continued on.
When planning this day’s ride, we looked at a map and noticed some small lakes situated near the Myanmar border that we would be able to access. After this stop, we headed north for about thirty minutes before turning off the main road and heading north-west. This brought us through some really interesting rural areas, where we were forced to ride slowly and observe all the beautiful farmland and towns that the northern Thai mountains hosted.
Eventually, we made it to the first of the lakes we wanted to see. Not knowing what to expect, we were surprised to see how crowded the lake was. It wasn’t overly crowded, but there were a number of Thai families there, camping and having a picnic. It felt a lot like Phoenix Lake, and was extremely beautiful to walk around.
We left this lake and headed towards another further north, on the Myanmar border. This lake was surprising as well. When riding into this remote area, the first thing we saw was a large, French-inspired, yet modern, castle situated on a vineyard. We then entered the beautiful little touristy town and realized that it was full of a hugely eclectic mix of Thai, Myanmar, and Chinese souvenirs and restaurants. We walked around for a little while, admiring the views.
We then headed further north on our bikes and eventually came to a dirt road that brought us through a small rural neighborhood. We followed this road further north, thinking that it would end at some point, as we were near the Myanmar border. Eventually, however, we came to a military check point. It seems that there was an accessible border! We parked our bikes to look around the Thai side of the border, but then a guard approached us, and very politely told us that we could walk though into Myanmar for a couple minutes. We walked through a small gate and looked over a small village below. It was an incredibly peaceful place.
After this cool experience we returned to our scooters, retraced our steps back to the excellent highway, and rode on to Pai, where we would spend the night. We checked in to a hotel which had a very strong bohemian aesthetic, and chatted with some other travelers before falling asleep.
The next morning I woke up feeling much better, happy that I hadn’t really gotten that sick. In an effort to get going early we hopped on our bikes at about 8:00am, and found a breakfast place that my brother recommended. After an extremely good and large western-style breakfast, we hit the road, aiming for Chiang Mai.
Next, Bryden and I discussed where we wanted to go for the day. I wanted to go on the main highway back to Chiang Mai, which wasn’t too long, branching off near the city to explore but ensure we had time to return our bikes in the evening. Bryden wanted to ride up north on a quiet highway that would take us on a much longer, 250 kilometer loop back to Chiang Mai. Eventually, I was able to get my way, ensuring that we would return our bikes in time, but I made the promise that we would still get tons of off-the-beaten-path adventure that Bryden was craving. As we were about to depart I looked through my maps as quickly as I could, hoping that I would find an adventurous route.
We rode on another perfect highway for about an hour before turning off to get fuel and find some backroads. After we turned off, I realized that Bryden would be happy. The fuel station was small and run by a family that came over to say hi. The road was covered in dirt and poorly paved. After filling up, we headed out through a small village full of young kids who waved as we rode by. Zig-Zagging through small dirt covered streets, we realized that we had entered a part of Thailand which had been virtually untouched by tourism.
We spent the rest of the day riding through small streets and poorly paved roads that led us back to Chiang Mai. We were then able to return our bikes and check back in to our hostel.
We went out for an excellent dinner at one of the markets. I had some unbelievable sticky rice with mango, corn of the cob, and potstickers, all made and cooked fresh in front of me. Bryden had a wide assortment of seafood and sushi and fruit. It was a truly excellent meal.
We returned to the hostel and chatted for a little while with a new resident. It has been really interesting seeing what kind of people travel. There are many people like us; students or young workers who are able to take a short break and come to Asia for only a couple weeks. Many people are very well educated. The new hostel resident is currently working on his master’s in finance at Yale. Others, such as Bryden and I, are hard working students too and just find this type of travel to be a good way to have a break from school. There’s also the type of traveler that seems to fear commitment. We met a guy in Pai who had been staying and working at the same hotel for four months, and said, “Maybe next year I’ll go to school, or find a better job.” There are many families in Thailand as well, which I really like to see. I’m sure that it’s amazing to come to a place like this as a young westerner. The hectic and crazy nature of the country would do a great job showing other parts of the world and views to young people. There are older expats, retired professionals, honeymooners, and more. Any type of person can be found in Thailand. The great thing is that although everyone is different and comes from a different background and has a different reason for traveling, we all get along. All the people here are very open minded and friendly, so it is easy to start a conversation with anyone.
Tomorrow we will head to the Elephant Nature Park, which I am looking forward to a lot. This extremely ethical elephant sanctuary has been recommended to me by many people, so it should be a great experience. As always, feel free to leave comments or questions below!