Doi Mae Salong

Doi Mae Salong, the final destination of a long day on the road. It probably should have been the first and only destination. One that merits a few nights, rather than just one. After nearly a couple of months of traveling, a place like Doi Mae Salong is needed to remind you why you are traveling. Maybe to re-asses how you are traveling and consider it when you continue on your road.

So much of the last couple of months has been sightseeing. Hitting up all the spots that the guidebooks recommend. Is that really why I'm spending 4 months on the road? To see, and go, and see and go, ect. While I enjoy sightseeing, thinking back to the only other long trip I've done and what made that memorable, maybe I could go for a couple changes in routine.

Looking back, I can see that I mapped out a route that, all things going perfectly, would have been great. We would leave by 7 am and ride to the Golden Triangle where the borders Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet up. Maybe stop somewhere for breakfast on the way and visit the opium museum when we get there. Next, make our way to Mai Sai where we would pick up the windy road along the border to Doi Tung. There we would visit the royal palace and the temple. Next, more windy back roads would take us to Doi Mae Salong where we would eat and relax for the evening on the top of a mountain. The following day we would trek to see some hill tribes and finally complete the loop back to Chiang Rai.

Things don't always go as planned. Leaving time was more like 10 am than 7 am. On the way to the Golden Triangle we stopped by some nice tea fields, a temple with monkeys and a cave, and a Karen Long Neck hill tribe village that we decided not to go into. Something about paying 10 bucks to walk into a village and take pictures of villagers didn't seem right at the time. The words “human zoo” repeated in my head. Maybe I'll eventually think differently about it, as the income eventually goes to help out the people. With all the stops, we rolled into the Golden Triangle with enough time to wander through but not enough time to check out the opium museum.

When I turned onto route 1149 to Mai Sai I was hopeful because I knew that it was the same route that would take me along the border with Burma to Doi Tung. The road was way nicer than the AH1 “superhighway” that we took out there. It slowly wandered through small villages with miniscule open markets along the main road. All hope was lost in Mai Sai when the lack of signage led us to the highway. After asking a couple folks, we were directed to the highway and to a different route up the mountain.

The morning route out to the Golden Triangle took us along AH1 to the Myanmar border. Though flat, and mostly straight, to the left mountains shot up out of the Mekong floodplain. To the right, rice fields taking advantage of the abundance of water in the rainy season about to arrive. Heading to Doi Tung, we were in those steep mountains taking all the twist and turns up to the viewpoint looking out over the floodplain. From there we tried to turn onto a road that would take a direct route to Doi Mae Salong. Mountain villages, winding roads, beautiful views of peaks past peaks, ridges and village life. The checkpoint stopped us. The men asked where we are going and insisted that we go back down to the highway and take a different road to our destination. Imitating the winding roads and gesturing toward our scooter we got the point. The bike isn't good enough for the roads. It was a total bummer for me. I had had enough of the highway. Later we learned from a Polish guy, also traveling those roads by motorcycle, that those roads we missed would have been a challenge for our weak bike.

Eventually, we arrived at Doi Mae Salong. After the last stint on the highway, we headed into the mountains again for a jaw dropping hour or so to our destination. It took over an hour to go 30 kilometers. Not long after leaving the highway the views began to appear with limestone outcroppings, like those at Ninh Binh in Vietnam, rising up out of the rice paddies. The road climbed higher and higher past villages. Mihai and I laughed, imagining that scene from the first Dumb and Dumber movie when the two of them are crawling, ever so slowly on that mini motorcycle. We were going that fast up the steep slopes to a ridge. Riding along the ridge we viewed the most beautiful sunset yet in Southeast Asia, a reminder that mountain views beat beach views any day. But the road continued on down off that mountain and up another. Rising up the next mountain we began seeing signs that told us we were near. Once again, slowly climbing. We could have done it faster walking but that would have been more work. The scooter climbed up steep slopes covered in tea plantations. Another exquisite view that we just couldn't stop for, we were racing the setting sun to get to a room before dark. At the top of those steep slopes we finally found our destination under the cover of night. Doi Mae Salong, a village at the top of a mountain, and Shin Sane guesthouse, a cheap and nasty room to try to catch peace in.

By the time we reached our guesthouse, hunger had long since set in and subsided. We needed to eat. Just down the street was a nice little cafe with a large selection and very acceptable prices. Mae Salong is a small yet diverse village with Thais, Akha hill tribe people nearby, and many Chinese. The Chinese in the area were known for fighting against the communists in China and they settled in northeastern Thailand. I took the chance to try some authentic tasting Chinese food there even it was just the rice. I had the Yunnan fried rice and it was delicious. That evening we stayed up at the restaurant chatting with a traveling Pole and a working Virginian over Chang beers for a while. Conversations would continue the following morning after breakfast and before our ride back to Chiang Rai.

Up there on the top of Doi Mae Salong I realized something about this trip. After two years of living in Korea, I can see the stars here, I can breath the fresh air, and I can relish in the laid back village lifestyle with views as a bonus. This only happens if I get out of the city and leave those guidebook sights alone. Furthermore, it would have been a nice change of pace to stay a few days there. To just be on vacation, rather than have a schedule, to catch the next bus, to get to the next place, to see it, and move on. I'm not saying that I'm counting out sightseeing. I'm saying that I'm counting in relaxing and nature. Nature is needed and it is something that I think shouldn't be missed in this part of the world. I hope to find a Doi Mae Salong in Laos, Southern Thailand, and Myanmar as the trip continues.