I had a great sleep in my 6 person room- everyone was quiet and respectful. I was up at 5 and had coffee out in the hallway then got going about 8:30. I was hungry so had congee which is rice porridge but it also contained ginger, a few noodles, chicken, onions and shiitake mushrooms. I liked it -
The cook-
is married to the donut man-
They were very good too, like New Orleans beignets, warm and served with an icing dip-
I wondered what today might be like road wise as I heard stories about hasty drivers not caring if bikers are in the way, that they will just pass, but I found the day to be just fine.
My route today-
My first stop was at Pai Canyon-
which is rather underwhelming. Then I stopped at the Tha Pai Memorial Bridge which was built by the Japanese army during the Second World War who wanted a route to attack Burma/Myanmar, a British colony. They used elephants to drag trees to the site and forced villagers to work. After the war, the Japanese burned the bridge but the villagers rebuilt it because they needed it. In 1973 the bridge was again destroyed by flooding so the bridge we see today is the replacement-
The Tha Pai River-
I carried on, riding through a lot of trees-
The view has been the same all three days-
I made two stops: one at a geyser but they wanted $13 to get in and the other at a waterfall for $4. Maybe if I’d have been prepared to swim and spend a few hours it might have been worth it but I only wanted a look. The road to the geyser could be dangerous-
and there was a lot of evidence that they have had a lot of them.
Once I was out of the mountains I had 40 km to Chiang Mai. This is where my motorcycle skills shine, if I can be so bold! Few cars could catch me. I love speed on my bike! Curves, not so much but I realize it’s what one is used to.
I found my hostel easily: Tata House, run by a family. I love it here!
There’s a great outdoor sitting spot where I visited with Micah, an American-
So, the Mae Hong Son Loop is 600 kilometres long with 1864 curves. If I were to do it again, I would take 4 days instead of 3 or ignore the Doi Ianthon National Park-
I took a 6 km detour off the great to see a geyser and hot spring but refused to pay 300 baht, or $13 for something I had no idea of TSN worth. The same thing happened at a waterfall nut it cost 100 baht or $4. I’m not wasting money on ordinary things.
only 762 curves okay-
I veered off the highway to see a geyser and hot springs but they wanted 300 baht (it is no longer the original one with a wooden structure that preceded the one you see now.
During World War II, the Japanese army wanted to have a route from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son to attack Burma which was a colony of the United Kingdom at that time. To establish the route, the bridge was built over the Pai River (Tha-Pai river near Tha Pai village) in 1941 using elephants to drag trees from the jungle and forcing villagers to work. After the war, Japanese soldiers left and burnt down the bridge. However, the villagers was in trouble because the bridge was very important for their daily life, and rebuilt the wooden bridge over the Pai river.
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