Mae Sot

I finally left Chiang Mai last Thursday, headed for a small town named Mae Sot on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

As transportation I took a public bus run by the Green Bus company. Apparently Green Bus is trying to do the Jet Blue thing -- if you've ever flown Jet blue you'll understand. All the snacks were green - green crackers, green soda, and green packaging. The bus was green too. So was the stewardess' outfit. I arrived in Mae Sot green around the gills from the smelly toilet and curvey roads. Enough green!

Mae Sot is an interesting mix of Thai, Burmese, Karen (hilltribe) people, and farang, as well as a mix of Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist religions. In the morning, I wandered around the Mae Sot day market and goggled at the mix of people. Both men and women wear sarongs...Muslim women walk around with covered heads...Burmese people wear grey colored makeup on their faces...everyone balances large items on their heads...and most are excited to see farang.

The items for sale at the day market matched the diversity of people. I saw the usual mix of pigs' heads, vegetables, and pad thai as well as expensive gems, baby turtles, indian food (yum yum), and smuggled whiskey from Burma. One woman sold me a funny looking green fruit, miming that it was good to eat by simply biting into it. I'd never seen this fruit before and was dubious, but for three baht decided to take the chance. A few hours later, hungry, I bit in...and immediately regretted it. My mouth puckered for the next five minutes. I think the woman was having fun with gullible farang!

After checking out the market I embarked for my next adventure: Um Phang, a very small town that is a Thai tourist destination during the dry season (Nov-Feb) due to its beautiful character and nearness to the biggest waterfall in Thailand, Thee Lor Su. The town is located in a protected area, a wildlife sanctuary that spans some of the last remaining primary rainforest in Thailand. To get to Um Phang, I paid about $5 to ride in the back of a blue truck full of Thai people, luggage, food, and a dog, on the five hour ride through the mountains. The views from the truck were gorgeous, and definitely worth the trouble of standing on the open tailgate for most of the ride. My arms were sore the next day from holding myself on the truck for so long! I arrived in Um Phang a bit wet, a bit hungry, and ready to find a nice guesthouse.

Unfortunately, the town is not set up for tourists during the off-season. It was the first place in Thailand I've been that does not have signs in English. I wandered around the town for about 1.5 hours looking for a guesthouse that was not 1) closed or 2) extremely expensive. All the Thai people in Um Phang are very friendly to farang, because we are such a rare sight -- less than 4000 farang visited Um Phang last year. The school children often waved and shouted "Hello!" when they saw me. The school boys were especially outgoing and friendly, wanting to know where I was going and where I was from. Unfortunately, none of them knew where I should go for accommodation.

I finally happened upon a small garden guesthouse with open rooms for rent for only 100 baht. A bed found, I set out to book a trip to Thee Lor Su waterfall. More on that adventure tomorrow...plus new pictures!