The jungle of the Thailand’s northwest called to me. Mae Hong Son is so far from Bangkok that it might as well be a different country. Indeed, it nearly is: it’s on the border with Myanmar, and peopled with ethnic minorities. Most folks fly in on one of a handful of weekly flights rather than brave the rugged roads to get out here. Our last domestic adventure in Thailand was going to be a wild one!
The previous month, during one quarantine afternoon, I read an entire guidebook on Thailand. In addition to hot tips about island adventures, I also learned about Mae Hong Son. The description had me captivated: here we could seek rare animals and plants on remote hillsides. We had to go!
But this rough and lightly traveled landscape was not a place for independent travelers. Despite being just the other side of a mountain range from Chiang Mai, it’s nothing like the popular tourist darling of Thailand’s north.
There are no campgrounds or marked trails. I quickly learned that exploring Mae Hong Son’s wilderness would require walking with a local guide. This was no obstacle, however, because I’d also found the perfect one. Mr. Chan’s charming website led me to believe this ‘self-taught naturalist and excellent cook’ was a kindred spirit. We immediately decided to let him lead our adventure.
This is how we found ourselves on an small, Nok Airlines flight into the provincial capital in late March 2022! Plastered to the window, I was eager for a glimpse of the jungle-clad hills we’d soon we strolling.
Expecting greenery, the reality of our flyover was shocking. The forest around Mae Hong Son was shades of charcoal and burnt sienna, and the view obscured by a thick haze. Kent and I shared a moment of deja vu. Were we making a mistake?
Despite the environs, I couldn’t help but be charmed by the miniature airport. And the tuk tuk ride we took to our hostel. My guidebook had promised a step back in time, and it did feel like Thailand from our first visit a decade ago.
Seated in the open air restaurant of our place, we asked about the weather. Our host patiently explained burning season to us. It is normal for the city to look like this around this time of year. But apparently the bleak state of the nearby forest would not extend into the hills.
A little later, we met Mr. Chan in person to talk about our trek! A warm but reserved character, he became more and more animated when discussing the delights that lay ahead of us in the forest. He promised to cook for us and show us local ways of life, as well as be our partner in jungle exploration. Enthusiasm for our adventure was restored!
After gathering a few snacks and supplies to take with us, we hit the hay early. The following morning, we would start our three day nature walk!
Day 1: Outskirts of Mae Hong Son city > Ban Hua Nam village
Our trek actually began with a ride in the back of a truck. A friend of Mr. Chan picked us up in the morning, and we slathered on sunscreen as we drove across town to our meeting point at Mr. Chan’s farm. As Mr. Chan and his friend who would accompany us prepared their packs, we wandered around, admiring his collection of interesting wood and beautiful plants.
Then we set off! We wandered through the farm before rejoining the road. But as quickly as we were on it, we veered off again. Our route was more natural: we’d be following a river upstream!
Although it began as a trickle in a dry, dusty area, the stream soon broadened. The foliage around us became more lush. Crisscrossing the river was cooling in the intense heat of the day.
And the fun was only just beginning! As the morning wore on, our river crossings got more and more exciting. Deeper waters awaited us in dramatic canyons!
Having left farmland behind, we were also now encountering residents of the forest. There were uncountable cool things around every bend in the trail. Here a buffalo beetle with strikingly outsize horns. There a fig tree pollinated only by wasps. Incredible flora and fauna everywhere!
This was exactly why we had come to Mae Hong Son, and we were so happy we had! Mr. Chan (and his friend) were incredible guides and fellow nature-lovers. They shared everything they found with us, from towering tree species to itty-bitty insect behaviors. It was a complete immersion into a new world that our friends knew well.
I liked learning that a loofah is not just an esoteric bathroom tool; it’s also a plant! Inside a dark, hard seed pod is a perfectly-formed, ready-to-use loofah. Who knew?
We were fascinated by watching weaver ants at work, folding leaves into perfect homes for themselves.
We stopped for a long, leisurely lunch on a river bar. I ate with my feet in the water. It was a completely different pace than we’re used to, but I loved it! Instead of speeding through the forest with some completion goal, we were lingering in it with the aim of learning more about it. This made for such a good experience.
Eventually we took a turn and left the river below. Climbing onto a ridge was another chance for long-distance orchid observations!
Despite how dry everything appeared in Mae Hong Son below – up on the ridge, there was rain! The sky darkened, the wind blew, and raindrops splashed down on us as we stopped for a view and a snack in the afternoon. Luckily for us, it was a brief cloudburst.
Our sudden emergence onto a terraced plateau felt surprising, after a day far from the sights and sounds of humankind. But in reality, dozens of villages dot these hillsides. And we had reached ours: this would be our home for the night.
There was still a ways to walk onward from the farm in which we first found ourselves. But eventually we were in the village proper, with houses on either side of the road, as well as a school and remote clinic!
I use the term ‘road’ loosely: it was mostly traveled by chickens and scooters. It is not passable by cars or trucks. Mr. Chan told us that it’s so steep and rough to get up here that he himself would not venture it, even on motorbike. So even though Mae Hong Son is but a few kilometers away from Ban Hua Nam, people seldom travel between. It’s a village isolated by geography.
The village is also distinct linguistically and culturally. Our new friends spoke Karen to our hosts and neighbors. The traffic and consumer culture of downtown Bangkok seemed a world away from this place where calm and tradition still reign.
Before going inside, we were treated to the luxury of a cold shower in an outdoor bathhouse. Knowing we would not have this opportunity the following night, we relished it! But, not knowing we would have this opportunity at all, we’d not brought towels. We dried ourselves lightly with our fresh clothes. A bit of a farang spectacle ensued.
However, we were soon clean and cool, and welcomed inside a beautiful traditional home. We would be sleeping on colorful mats below a mosquito net that had been erected in the living space opposite the kitchen. Nearby, a table was set for tea. The luxury continued!
We watched mother hens scratching for their chicks and the occasional human passerby out the window as we dined. Kent toured the kitchen, and I played with the house cat. Darkness fell quickly, and there was nothing to do but head to bed early.
Below the netting, I felt hot, so I reached up and opened the screen briefly for a breeze. I pulled my shirt up to my chest before falling asleep on my side. Turns out, the netting is entirely necessary! Kent woke up with mosquito bites and I woke up to a dime-sized spider crawling on my stomach!
Day 2: Ban Hua Nam > Ban Huai Po
Aside from the startling spider incident, we had a restful sleep and woke up refreshed. We enjoyed another feast for breakfast before we packed up and set off again.
Once again, the day’s trek began on a road. Heading downhill, we were surprised to find the road partially paved! Mr. Chan explained that the villagers are undertaking this roadwork themselves, in order to have a safer, easier access to their home. It is far from complete, because these same villagers also must tend to their farms and families.
We met some of the road-builders later on, and after that, a herd of water buffalo! One of our favorites, especially after meeting so many friendly ones in Nepal. After passing a few rice terraces and a quiet temple, we dipped back into the forest.
Away from the river, this area was also fairly dry – although nothing quite like our initial aerial impressions of Mae Hong Son. We saw big spiders and a colony of caterpillars, and Kent spotted a lizard with a dramatically long tail!
This day’s walk was shorter than the previous day’s, so we stopped for an even longer and more relaxing lunch in a small gully. Mr. Chan laid out a blanket for Kent and I to sit on while he and his friend cooked our lunch. Refusing all offers of help, he insisted we relax. So we did: Kent even fell asleep!
There are very few things quite as delightful as a nature nap: except possibly the delivery of fresh fried veggies and noodles in a banana leaf! We scarcely felt we deserved such a fancy feast after a few short kilometers. Nonetheless, we loved it!
Time to climb! We had been gently ascending all day, but the route got a little steeper as we approached the remote outpost of Ban Huai Po.
To our delight, we found this little village located on a hilltop, with awesome views of other hilltops for miles around! And, to our surprise, the village consisted of just one family: a tiny, elderly duo whose offspring have long since decamped for the bright lights of Mae Hong Son.
We spent a relaxing afternoon naming the friendly cats (and one cat-dog), watching over a chicken nesting beside our dining table, and admiring the spectacular scenery. What was especially amazing about the view was that all we could see was natural. Mae Hong Son was obscured by a high ridge, and dense foliage hid any farmland or village that might have been below. No wonder our hosts didn’t want to leave: this was a little slice of mountain paradise!
After yet another incredible meal, our host welcomed us into her kitchen. We all sat around on low stools and Mr. Chan provided translation for a kind of cultural exchange. The best part of this was our host’s answer to being asked how she and her husband make it work, all alone up here. Her eyes crinkled and she broke out into a toothy grin. “It’s great fun,” she said.
This really struck me. Here was someone who was in so many ways so removed from me: different generations, different cultures, different lifestyles – but her perspective made sense to me. I could see in this grandmother’s playful smile that she genuinely relishes the adventure of this lifestyle. She and her life’s partner know it’s not the typical, easy, modern-day path, and they’re okay with that. Asked by their kids to come down from the mountain dozens of times – they know that’s not the life for them.
It was a real moment of connection and understanding, and I felt a flood of admiration for these septuagenarians, planting, picking, hunting and surviving on their own terms in this far-off settlement.
We watched a thunderstorm roll in, rattle the thatched roof and pour down on us in fury for a handful of minutes. A brilliant sea of stars was revealed overhead as the storm rolled away as quickly as it had come. Kent and I retired to our own sleeping platform and were soon sound asleep.
Day 3: Ban Huai Po > Mae Hong Son Outskirts
It was bittersweet to leave this lovely spot and its lovely residents behind. But we still had a full day’s hike ahead of us, with lots to see before we returned to Mae Hong Son.
So we bid an adieu to our hosts and headed off into the forest again, following Mr. Chan. Surprisingly, we continued to climb! The true mountaintop still lay ahead of us, through untouched forest inhabited by ancient cycads!
This part of the trek felt the most removed from civilization. Far from town and far from even a dubious road, we were on a light trail that followed a ridgeline. We wove around large boulders above a steep drop-off into the forest.
As Mr. Chan had promised, we gained the mountain top and took a rest there. From here we could catch the breeze – and see Mae Hong Son! It was exciting to see the town from so far above again – but slightly sad to think that it marked the end of our forest wandering.
But the day was not done yet! We wandered on, passing a few more glorious orchids before reaching another scenic lookout that would serve as our last lunch stop.
Our guides made this one extra special: delicious fried rice in a banana leaf followed by a surprise fruit platter! How they managed to get all of those lovely veggies and fruits – and carry them around the mountains – seemed a minor miracle. It was amazing.
Thus refueled, we continued down the mountain on a path which got ever steeper. It was hard to believe that the previous night’s hosts could ever travel such a trail! Then again, their hardy lifestyle and determined nature perhaps made them perfectly fit for such a trek.
Popping out of the forest at last, we found ourselves not back on Mr. Chan’s farm, but in a lively village neighborhood. But this is where we would say goodbye.
It felt like it was all over too suddenly. There was the truck with our suitcase inside, with the driver beckoning us in. It was hard to express all of our gratitude to our two new friends with this hasty goodbye. We’d grown accustomed to walking and talking together, and Kent and I felt melancholy all the way to the hotel.
Afterward: Relaxing in the Rice Field
Although we missed our friends and the natural world, we were soon cheered by the prospect of a refreshing dip. We’d splurged for our final evening in Mae Hong Son, and would be staying at a resort with pool in the middle of a rice field!
This was just as tranquil as you might imagine, particularly with nobody else around! In another virus vacation win for us, there were only a handful of others around and it felt like we had the place to ourselves.
It was a lush, green oasis far-removed from the city center. And, luckily for me, another nature trail nearby in Namtok Mae Surin National Park! Kent, alas, had to return to his work, so I set off on my own little adventure in the forest on our last day!
As I made my way around the loop trail, I tried to channel Mr. Chan. I was early, so, alone, and could stop to linger over fallen Kapok tree seeds and the like. And, of course, I leapt in the pools below the waterfalls! It was a lovely coda to our great Mae Hong Son Nature immersion.
Then, it was time to go. Time to leave Mae Hong Son, and time to leave Thailand. Neither race nor island paradise, this was nonetheless one of my favorite adventures in Thailand.
