Another Mae Hong Son Loop

Lone Rider

Blokes Who Can
Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Location
Chiangmai
Bikes
4 Wheels
Needed some fresh air after having spent a whole week behind the computer and went for an overnighter to Mae Hong Son via Hot, Mae Sariang, Khun Yuam and Pai - kind of a traditional MHS loop. The weather was not very good and I had quite a bit of rain along the way (actually from time to time it was pissing down). Just a few pictures taken in between the rains and a few from an earlier loop I did with family. No pictures from the first part of the trip but later in the day, the sun finally came through a bit which made the trip much more pleasant. Somewhere before you reach Khun Yuam a new Buddhist shrine has been constructed along the road

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Khun Yuam now has a Thai-Japan Friendship Memorial Hall which is a kind of fancy memorial/museum. It has some displays on weaponry used by the Japanese when they occupied Thailand during WW 2 as well as other displays related to the Tai culture, opium trade in the past, etc.

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After the museum I had a quick look at the sunflowers and although some of the sunflowers along the road were in full bloom, the fields itself were still mainly green. I was told by the police and army guys that it would take another 10-14 days before the fields would be in full bloom.

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More army and police than visitors

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Plenty of cabbages though

Some sunset pictures from a previous visit (taken from Wat Doi Kong Mu) as the sun was hiding behind the clouds
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I stayed the night in Mae Hong Son and had a look at the night-market but there were more sellers than buyers except for the food stalls

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And the sunrise from Wat Doi Kong Mu (again from a previous visit)
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The Sunflower Restaurant has undergone some modifications and now looks a bit out of place at the Jongkham lake with its temples
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I had planned to have another look in Ban Na Soi (one of the long-neck Karen villages located at N19.37323 E97.86591) northwest of Mae Hong Son but again the weather was not cooperating so just a few pictures from a previous visit
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The younger generation in Ban Na Soi
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So, instead of going to Ban Na Soi I had a look at the 500 meter long wood/bamboo bridge (N19.38729 E97.95540) between Wat Kung Mai Sak and Wat Sue Tong Pae at the other side of the Sa Nga river. You can get there on a paved road off Rd. 1095 (turnoff to Ban Ban Kung Mai Sak at N19.37868 E97.96273) or along a dirt road a bit further north along Rd. 1095 (turnoff to Wat Sue Tong Pae at N19.38435 E97.96397). In the good old days the people and the monks walked between these two temples through the rice fields but during the rainy season they had to make along detour as the ricefields often were flooded

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Flooded ricefields between the two temples (apologies for the bad quality of the pictures as I took them from large pictures on display at the temple)

They did have here also heavy rain and storms and the ripening ricefields had been damaged and farmers were busy trying to salvage as much as was possible
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Wat Su Tong Pae at the hill on the other side of the river
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and the view from Wat Su Tong Pae towards Wat Kung Mai Sak
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Not sure which dictionary was used here
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Just a question and I don't know the answer: The first three statues from left to right are: see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil but was does the 4th statue represent?
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The 4th one is rubbing his hands together, so could it be that the 4 th one is not a evil..... but is happy taking your money must be a corrupt government official or maybe a off duty police man

:lol
 
Shame you had shitty weather Auke , lots of places you photographed I haven't seen before
 
The 4th one is rubbing his hands together, so could it be that the 4 th one is not a evil..... but is happy taking your money must be a corrupt government official or maybe a off duty police man

:lol

Got an email message from a friend who suggested more or less the same as according to him the 4th statue represents Do No Evil.
 
Looks to me like the fourth one has his hands near his heart... so it would be like 'have no evil in your heart'
 
So, instead of going to Ban Na Soi I had a look at the 500 meter long wood/bamboo bridge (N19.38729 E97.95540) between Wat Kung Mai Sak and Wat Sue Tong Pae at the other side of the Sa Nga river. You can get there on a paved road off Rd. 1095 (turnoff to Ban Ban Kung Mai Sak at N19.37868 E97.96273) or along a dirt road a bit further north along Rd. 1095 (turnoff to Wat Sue Tong Pae at N19.38435 E97.96397). In the good old days the people and the monks walked between these two temples through the rice fields but during the rainy season they had to make along detour as the ricefields often were flooded

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Last week while on a trip with family, we had another look at Wat Su Tong Pae and the bamboo bridge. The bamboo bridge over the Mae Sa Nga river collapsed about a month ago during the ceremonies for the end of the Buddhist lent (28 October) when there were far to many people on the bridge.

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Source for these two pictures: Online News Chiangmai

The bridge has now been repaired and people can use the bridge again to walk from Ban Kung Mai Sak to Wat Su Tong Pae.

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Note LR - Not sure if the new part of the bridge will survive the next rainy season as it is quite a bit lower than the other parts of the bridge. In August this year the bridge was in danger of collapsing as there was a lot of driftwood coming down the river. The monks had to remove the driftwood to prevent the bridge from being swept away.

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Source: ASTV Manager Online
 
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