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Tak and Mae Hong Son provinces reward visitors with pristine mountains, challenging roads and a brush with ethnic minorities
The remote border region in Thailand's northwest, particularly the stretch from Tak to Mae Hong Son, woos visitors with its pristine wilderness, waterfalls and a blend of ethnic minority cultures that will make them stop and wonder if they were still in Thailand, or some other country.
 Nowhere is that feeling better captured than at the market in Mae Sot by the Moei River that separates Thailand and Burma, where Burmese vendors arrive at the crack of dawn to hawk farm produce, goods and handicraft native to the region. Wearing colourful, traditional costumes and the fact that they communicate in dialects totally foreign to our ears, it's enough to make even Thai travellers ask if they had crossed into a land other than their own.
Mae Sot attracts loads of Burmese who cross the Moei in search of jobs and better life. Women vendors have their faces painted with yellow powder, while men wear sarong, a wrap around the waist. They sell everything from clothes, Burmese books and magazines to tanaka herbal powder, fish caught in the river, beetles and local delicacies.
"What is that?" I asked one of them in Thai pointing to the item before her. The message didn't carry because all she did was flash a smile. In fact, most of them don't speak Thai (the few who do are employed in big shops). Then I heard her say, "Two baht."
The universal language of money and hand signs is understood everywhere, and this market was no exception. I paid her the amount. It's some Burmese snack and then I sampled a few more before hitting the road.
I took Highway 105 and headed north to Sob Moei district of Mae Hong Son. The road was empty for most part of the five-hour ride during which I counted less than 20 cars moving in the opposite direction. Check points or road blocks were in place at regular intervals, prompted perhaps by the presence of a large camp for Burmese refugees in Ban Mae La of Tha Song Yang district.
The camp which stretches five kilometres along Highway 105 currently shelters 20,000 refugees. Not long ago it had some 80,000 of them living in huts built on mountain slopes. Women in tube skirts held umbrellas for cover against the sun and kids frolicked, while men in sarong were out enjoying a stroll by the roadside as we approached the camp.
To most tourists travelling to this part of the country, the refugee camp is the end of their road. Little they know that beyond the camp the road opens up to some stunning vistas as it snakes up and down mountain slopes side by side the Moei River cutting through verdant forest interspersed with green paddies and waterfalls.
Driving this stretch of the road riddled with potholes, steep climbs and hairpins is a challenge because the altitude and bumpy ride leaves passengers sick in the stomach accompanied by, in some cases, nausea and vomiting.
Along the way is Thi Mor Po, a waterfall that cascades down limestone rocks in tiers that can be admired from the comfort of your car. Further down this road is Mae Sariang and 30 kilometres north of this small but busy town is Mae La Noi, a district famous for a system of natural caverns, delicate and extremely sensitive to light and human touch, in Mae Hong Son Province.
Kaeo Komol, five kilometres off the main road on a mountainside, comprises five cavernous chambers with white walls and calcium carbonate crystals that radiate in the dark. A path 120 metres long running up and down connects the chambers. At its deepest point the path is 30 metres under the ground. Most interesting is the last chamber boasting calcite crystals in the shape of corals and ice flakes.
 Visitors are barred from touching or training their torches or cameras on these crystals but still there are the odd tourists bent on breaking the rules with little knowledge of the damage they are inflicting "because the environment inside the cave is delicately balanced," said a cave staffer, "and even a slight change in natural conditions will induce the crystals to switch off."
He explained that crystals exposed to light or touch turned from shinning white to dull brown or black, as was evident when I visited the last chamber, although most were still in good condition.
Next I took Highway 108 to Mae Hong Son town that basks in Burmese _ notably Shan _ ambience through its myriad temples, although the winds of change can be felt in this once remote community.
One of the best places for a picturesque view of cultural-rich Mae Hong Son is a pond called Nong Chong Kham, and temples Chong Kham and Chong Klang built side by side. The hill-top Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu is another good point for a bird's eye view of the sleepy town.
Love couples would fancy romantic moments at Pang Ung or Ban Ruam Thai, a hilltribe village north of the town, where a royally-sponsored reforestation project has turned it into picturesque destination. Swans idle in its crystal-clear lake that in winter, when the temperatures hover around zero, is covered in a thin film of ice.
A few kilometres away is Ban Rak Thai, a village of ethnic Chinese famous for its cuisine, earthen houses and most importantly tea and dried fruit its shops lay out for visitors and sold at bargain prices.
Ban Nai Soy, some 20-minute drive from downtown Mae Hong Son, is another ethnic community comprising the Padaung, long-necked Karens, the Kayaw and Karens with long earlobes. They are friendly people who make a living posing for tourists and selling souvenirs.
There I ran into Ma Play, a long-necked Karen selling CDs, who also seemed an accomplished guitarist. When I asked her how many CDs she had sold that day, she flashed a tired-looking smile and said: "Not a good day, I sold only four CDs today." She then proceeded to strum a Thai song to cheer herself up or to entertain me, I don't know. All I'd say is it was the first time during my journey that I didn't feel a stranger in this part of Thailand.
MoreINFO
- Mae Sot in Tak is 512 kilometres from Bangkok and Mae Hong Son 444 kilometres from there. Self-drive is recommended. The Transport Company (02-936-0199) operates VIP coaches on these routes from the Northern Bus Terminal in Bangkok. Fare is 610 baht one way between Bangkok and Mae Sot.
- The Tourism Authority of Thailand's Northern Region IV Office (055-514-341 to 3) has all information travellers may need about destinations worth visiting in Tak, while it also operates a coordination centre in Mae Hong Son that can be reached at 053-612-982/3.
- Kaeo Komol, a calcite cave, sits on Doi Tham mountain about five kilometres off Highway 108 in Mae La Noi district of Mae Hong Son. Visitors are not allowed to take pictures inside the cave. Due to inadequate parking space, tourists are required to leave their cars at a point from where they can commute to the cave in a pick-up. Visitors enter the cave in batches of 20, each for a duration of 20 minutes. For more information, call 086-184-4637.
- Ban Rak Thai and Ban Ruam Thai are 40 kilometres from downtown Mae Hong Son.
Thai citizens are advised to carry their identification cards and foreign travellers their passports.
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