Eugene and I like a fair amount of independence when we’re traveling, so if Eugene is willing to battle the foreign traffic, I am game for a drive around the rural areas of Northern Thailand. We found a set itinerary on Wikitravel, rented a snazzy Toyota Vios J, and hit the road.

Day 1: Chiang Mai to Mae Sariang
On the first day we set off southwest from Chiang Mai, down a large 4-lane dusty road. Even on this expressway full of monks on scooters and lined with shops and restaurants of the sprawl leading away from Chiang Mai, the driving was only mostly on the left. “Mostly” because crossing the center line to cut a corner is done by a significant portion of the drivers.

Our first stop on the loop was Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. You can drive all the way to the top of the 2,565 meter mountain, stopping along the way to see waterfalls, do a short hike, and climb some recently built Chedis in honor of the King and Queen. There is apparently some good birding up there as well, but all we spotted were some birders birding. Eugene also violated the first rule of street food – only eat where other people are eating, and had some chicken from a stand.

After we got back on the road to Mae Sariang, the curves just kept coming. We’d read that there supposedly 1,864 curves on the road that we were taking for the next week. I didn’t keep count, but Eugene got to have lots of fun taking our crappy rental car to its max. We also learned that the corner cutting and passing into blind corners isn’t just for the bigger roads. Eugene soon learned that when you see a bus or truck approaching from the opposite way to be ready to see someone come out from behind to pass right into our lane. He also learned empirically that our car lacked ABS…screeeeech! This was the fastest segment we drove — partially because of our naiveté about Thai driving, and partially because the street chicken that was brewing in Eugene’s stomach.

We arrived in Mae Sariang, a tiny little town which is really only just starting to build out its tourist infrastructure (mainly for Thai tourists). The guesthouse we stayed in had been open for only 3 months and was really only one of a few choices. There was a tiny night market and a couple decent restaurants. We unfortunately didn’t get to visit any of them because Eugene’s unfortunate reaction to the street chicken sidelined him for a couple of days.

Day 2: Mae Sariang
We spent the day going to some hot springs nearby. To get there we took the main twisty road to a smaller, twistier road, which suddenly became a twisty dirt road. Finally we parked across a stream from the springs and crossed a very scenic – but a bit rickety – bamboo bridge.

The baths were unexpectedly well set up, given how much in the middle of nowhere they were. They had 2 separate rooms, each with a huge stone tub that they fill with hot spring water when you arrive. Of course, we didn’t realize they were separate when we got there – the woman only could say the price in english – so we surprised a group of Czech men mid-bathe (oops!).

Day 3: Mae Sariang to Mae Hong Son
The next day we set off for Mae Hong Son. Our hosts in Mae Sariang had told us about a cave, village, and coffee plantation on our way. We found the cave, Kaeo Komon, easily, as it was just off the main road. You park just outside the forest reserve and are taken the rest of the way by truck. When we got there, we were given a flashlight and told that we can only be down in the cave for 20 minutes due to the low levels of oxygen. As we climbed down the stairs it also got remarkably hot in the cave, but the incredible calcite crystals were well worth the heat and climb. There were all sorts of formations from large flows to tiny pincushions of crystals.

We continued up the occasionally paved road to the alleged village and coffee plantation. We drove through quite a few villages that clearly don’t have many tourists coming through, and had many kids yelling “Hello” to us as we passed. After many attempts to follow Thai signs that we couldn’t read that had pictures of “I think that’s a coffee plant” and finding just more villages and ever more treacherous roads, we gave up the coffee quest. We didn’t find coffee, but we did get a glimpse of rural Thai living and beautiful roads.

Day 4: Mae Hong Son
Mae Hong Son, a town less than 50km from the border with Myanmar, was our next stop. It is much more touristed than Mae Sariang, but still not too crowded. There is a decent night market with food carts that set up tables right on the sidewalk on the shores of a small lake – dinner and a view.

We spent the day exploring the city and driving within a kilometer of Myanmar. Like so many Northern Thai cities, Mae Hong Son has a wat on a hill overlooking the town below. This one, Wat Phai Doi, was small, but busy with monks and all sorts of people selling offerings. Again similar to other Northern Thai areas, the views were hindered by the smokey haze in the air.

Our drive up to the town of Ban Rak (right on the border with Myanmar) was full of all the curves and hairpins we’d come to expect going anywhere in Northern Thailand. The town is populated by a Shan tribe – refugees from Myanmar – and is beautifully set on the banks of a reservoir and has many huts for tasting their main industry – tea – which has replaced opium with some help from the government. Two Shan women, with gestures and a few words of English, served us some very tasty green teas.

Day 5&6: Jungle Trekking near Mae Hong Son
Read about this adventure here.

To be continued…