Mae Hong Son Loop: Sop Poeng to Pai

Saturday, 10 January 2015

This morning at 1.30am, we were awoken to a tap dance recital given by the native critters on the roof of our villa.  What they were, we could not tell.  Quite large animals; we wondered if pine martins could be found in Thailand.  The running went on for an hour or so.  Guess that comes with the romance of living in a wooden house in the jungle.

As we slept, we were conscious that it was raining continuously.

Undeterred by the rain, we put on our waterproofs and left the resort at 7am.  Stopped on the main road for some breakfast.  While David adjusted the stem of his handlebar, Irene organised some food.  Watched the ladies prepare a big batch of kuay tiew which they tossed in a large round tray with sauce.  After we were served, they made many small packets which they folded carefully in origami style.  These were placed into larger plastic bags, takeaway lunch, no doubt.  In the background a Thai rendition of the theme song for 'Frozen'was playing on the radio.  The delicious kuay tiew and drip coffee sweetened with condensed milk set us up for the day.  It was expected to be hard, 90km with plenty of climbing.  Also, we have not had the preparation which we would have liked.

Although the sky was overcast, it did not rain.  Up and up we climbed.  As cars, vans and trucks pass us, some waved, gave the thumbs up, others including a monk with a nice digital SLR took a shot of these crazy people on bicycles.  We passed an orange grove and many strawberry plantations.  Then we cycled in the Mae Lao-Mae Sae Wildlife Reserve.  The climbs went on and on until 30km from Pai.  The highest point was 1426 metres above sea level and we had climbed a total of 2,042 metres

Late lunch was a simple affair of noodle soup at a stall by a police checkpoint.  Because of the area's proximity with Myanmar, there were frequent checks for illegal immigrants.  

Hill tribes make up 63% of the population of the Mae Hong Son province. The ladies who prepared our lunch were Shan (the Thais also call them Thai Yai) and they can be found on the northern border with Myanmar.  We also saw some Lisu people with their distinctive dress.

After lunch, we had an exhilaration 17-18km of descent.  The last 12km into Pai seemed to go on forever.  We were tired.  Our hotel, Phu Pai Art Resort, is 2km away from Pai itself, set among paddy fields.  Coincidentally, it is a sister hotel of the Baan Rai Lanna, although we did not know of the connection when we made our reservations through different sources.

We went into Pai for dinner and visited the street walking night market.  Very much the same and selling the same stuff as elsewhere.  So we have decided to have a good night's sleep and move on tomorrow.

Distance: 91 km

We were cycling through strawberry-growing country today, hence many references to the fruit

It is said that there are 972 curves on the route to Pai; we managed to keep our food down.