Mae Salong (Northern Thailand Part Two)
Chiang Dao may have been scenic, but three hours further north into the mountains we are ensconced in the beauty of Mae Salong. Twenty miles from the border of our old stomping grounds of Myanmar, this is also the region where refugee Chinese soldiers fought back against the Chinese Communist regime, and were subsequently welcomed to settle in Thailand as a thank you for their service. The result is a part of Thailand with a strong flavours of China, Myanmar (Kareni), Laos (Hmong) and various indigenous tribes. Nary a pad thai plate to be found, but some yummy kha moo nam daeng (Yunnanese style braised pork leg).
We hire a car and driver for the day to explore various hill tribe villages, including his own. In each place he lets us know which ethnic group lives there. Honestly, the differences are too subtle for my one-day eye.
This was once the opium-growing centre of SE Asia. Since opium was banned (and mostly eliminated), the government and non-profit agencies have been diligent in teaching and supporting sustainable agriculture techniques. This has been even more crucial since the government made the impressive decree to preserve all forested areas, even further limiting the farming and grazing areas.
Tea Plantation
Another day we walk 40 minutes down (down, down) to the international award-winning 101 Tea Plantation. Mostly I just discover that I truly don’t like matcha, but it’s beautiful countryside, and the giant tea-inspired Alice-in-Wonderland installations are one-of-a-kind.
Temples, Of Course
Much to the amazement of our young hotel workers, we hike up (up, up) to the temple that overlooks the town (“We could never walk that far! We just go up on our motorbikes!”) We may be old, but the ancient local man who follows/leads us all the way never loses his breath. He frequently takes long breaks for us to catch up, enthusiastically gesturing with hands and face how far we’ve come (I think that was the intention).
Before leaving us at the shrine at the top (which it turns out is actually a monument to commemorate the Queen’s visit - Queen of Thailand, just to be clear) he somehow communicates that we should follow the back road further into the hills to another other temple. This shrine turns out to be much smaller and, to judge by the number of offerings at the base of the many statues, more frequented and actually used for worship by locals.
We’ve passed the time when the stairs back down are officially closed (with large signs warning of large fines), so we gamely follow that back road as it goes higher and further away before finally winding back down and around to our town. Along the way we happen upon our old friend again at the sunset viewpoint. He once again “follows” us -- Tigger-style, 20 paces ahead -- all the way home, past the night market and finally to his front door where we had seen him emerge a few hours ago at the start of this epic hike.
Rubber Tree Plantation
On our final morning, I set out to find the path down to the smaller village we see from our hotel balcony. It’s in the same direction as the tea plantation but much steeper. After passing through the 20-house cluster I find a smaller path heading straight down, through a surprising rubber tree plantation, to the valley-bottom river.
The path eventually becomes non-existent so I cross the almost-dry river (thankful we came during dry season) and scramble up a steep coffee field, grabbing onto roots and rocks to keep from sliding all the way back down. I figure someone comes here to care for the coffee, so there must be a trail at the top. Thankfully it eventually levels a bit, a tentative path emerges, then widens, then a motorcycle is parked and I’m back onto a motorbike-worthy path that leads me eventually back through our comfy-quirky town.
Two Murals For Every Boy
As I’ve done for Albania, Philadelphia and elsewhere, I’ll end this post with a documentation and appreciation for the art work of Mae Salong. This is a small town, and with very little tourist traffic, but the murals per capita is the highest I’ve perhaps ever seen (hence the the catchy Beach Boys / Jan & Dean reference in this last subtitle). Note the strong Chinese flavours - this is still Thailand!
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Currently in...
Hoi An, Vietnam for Feb-March
Heading to...
North Vietnam, Bali (April), Philadelphia (May). Please share any sites, people or ideas by email.
So awesome! You are a great storyteller. Thanks for capturing it all and sharing your pov.
Thanks for sharing it with us (and for some of the photos)
Love this! Beautiful photos!