Travelled Kanchanaburi, Tak, Mae Hong Son during Xmas / New Year 98/99

Kanchanaburi:
C&C Guesthouse (located pretty far out of the town center, but they pick you
up from the bus station)
Hut on river, bed, mosquito net, shared bathroom on land: B60 / single
Bungalow on land, with bathroom: B100 / single
Good and cheap food. Nice people.


Notes for cyclists:
1. There is one good Mountainbike Shop in Kanchanaburi. It is in town, on a
corner, on the Northern side of the road to Sangkhlaburi. They can do
qualified repair and have a good selection of spare parts.
2. Road from Erawan via dam to Si Sawat is more uphill than downhill (hilly,
not mountaineous).

Si Sawat:
Accomodation: Coming the 7km from the ferry, enter Si Sawat,
pass the hospital and reach the "city limit" sign at the end of the town.
From there it is 1km further down the hill to the lake.
Before you reach the water, look for a "Resort" on your left.
This consists of rafts with huts towed together.
A basic hut is B120 per night (mat, blankets, pillows, toilet outside), plus
B30 for dinner.
They have several rafts with huts available and seem to be able to float
your group out on the lake, have a mid-lake party !
They can do nice food. No English spoken. Not many people know about this
place. Even not in Si Sawat.
The place looks a bit abandoned but is receiving some maintenace.
It seems to receive only Thai visitors, and it was somehow not the season.
I don't know the name, saw no sign, even not in Thai. Refer to the GPS
coordinates I attach.
A very relaxing spot on the lake.

20km north of Si Sawat the asphalt road ends and a steep, stony mountain
road challenges the mountainbike rider. I returned as a 4WD driver told me
it was 200km north to the next town. The road is said to continue to a town
in Ban Tai / Ban Rai vicinity.

Coming from Erawan Falls, going to Si Sawat, follow the sign that says
"Ferry". This runs 24h and avoids a 20km loop along the lake. A local driver
told me he does not go that loop because there were many wild animals like
elephants and tigers, also this stretch is not yet asphalted but roadwork is
proceeding. Today, mostly heavy trucks use this loop. The ferry seems to be
free for bicycles and pedestrians.

Also other roads around Si Sawat are being asphalted or widened (I wonder
why, there is not much traffic). I bet some folks earn good money from the
bidding process.

Tak:
Panasak Hotel charges B130 for a noisy and dirty double, fan, long house /
bungalow
style, with bathroom.

Mae Sot:
Great place, almost Burma, Burmese tea shops, many Indians, many folks wear
Longy and Tanaka.
Crossing to Burma is US$18, over there they don't let you walk freely, they
watch every step you do, can only walk in a few roads, if you go too far,
officials (who look like normal, poor people) shout at you in a very
aggressive way "you not go !". It seems they are under an immense pressure
to keep you in a certain area. I did not cross over myself, this info is
from an aid worker. Heard similar stories from travellers.
I recommend not to go into Burma, here.
However, the bridge is complete, one could drive right over if they let you.
The Thai side now constructs a portal as if they soon expect a lot of
people crossing.
Burmese people told me smiling that they would have democracy by the year
2000.....
Today, only pedestrians cross to Burma and back.

Locals don't seem to bother, they carry a lot of goods across the river and
seem to walk wherever they want to be.

Mae Sot Guesthouse is OK. Forgot what I paid.


A bit North of Mae Sot, some km off the road to the East, are the Mae Kasa
Hotsprings. Here you can buy snacks and eggs to boil in the hot water.

From  Mae Sot to Tha Song Yang you will pass the MERAK refugee camp (20 km
south from Tha Song Yang, refer to the GPS coordinates from the attachment).
It houses 3000 refugees. Several camps have been moved together to make this
one. It is about 10 years old and entrances / exits are secured by military
posts (don't ask me what military that is). Info from a Mediciens Sans
Frontiers - worker.

I passed the camp at night, incredible how controlled the people are: Very
quiet, a few small fires in the huts, and this stretches along the road for
4 km, halfway up the western mountains, also a few huts on the eastern side
of the road. The refugees I met were very soft and nice people, but they did
not talk much. Also the soldiers will not talk, the will ask you where you
are from and then ask you to go away.

About 5km south of MERAK, after nightfall, a crazy guy shouting for help
came along on the road, a soldier on the other side ignored him. I was
approaching on the bicycle and he went out of the way as I made some speed.

Some Burmese military are said to be amongst the refugees. They terrorize
their own people. Occasionally, the Burmese side surprise-attacks such camps
and the Thai military prefers not to interfere as they are not paid for
dieing.

At the northern end of the camp, a few meters south of the bridge, on the
eastern side of the road, a way leads up to a Refugee-Camp-Market. It has an
Indian tea-shop and a lot of everyday-life non-food articles.

Tha Song Yang:
There is only one hotel, don't know the name. Across the road and a bit
downhill from a gas station (refer to GPS).
Downstairs is B200 / double (I got it for B150), several nice, traditional
bathrooms outside. Cold water.
Upstairs B300 for a larger room.
The owner is a bit strange and mentions that security is the reason why his
place is so expensive. Upstairs is more secure, so the price is higher. I
have to admit, the building is rather solid and you will probably not suffer
if there is shooting on the street as the guest's rooms are deep inside the
house.
Next morning some shots were fired outside. Probably just for fun.

In Tha Song Yang, many of the refugees can be found. They are in the market
or collect rubbish all over the place, in the evening they travel to the
camp with plastic bags full of soft drink cans.

U-Su Cave
is just around 10km north of Tha Song Yang. There is a sign on road 1085
directing you West onto a smaller asphalted road, steep up a mountain and
steep down on the other side. Right when you come down there is a village
where 2 English-speaking cave-guides reside.
Continue straight on and hit the rock of the cave after even not 1 km (the
road ends there).

I reached the village at nightfall and waited until enough people gathered
to stare at me. They called a guide who speaks English. So I entered the
cave in the darkness, Ton guiding me. He has a lot of experience with
tourists, knows where they hit their head, go wrong, slip, and so on.

As it was dark, the cave was not very enjoyable, its beauty relies largely
on the presence of outside light that shines thru the openings. The best
time for U-Su cave is said to be 3pm.

Obviously I had to spend the night somewhere and I considered sleeping in
the cave. However, Ton invited me home and spend a lot of effort showing me
how poor he was. He took me to the river, where we washed. The government
had made a little dam of sandbags so that there was a small pool for the
people to bathe. He had no electricity and had to carry all water up to his
house. He said he had no money for light or for a waterpump, he even has a
rice field that is dry most of the time, because no water there. But his
English was pretty good, though he claimed that he and his kid cannot read
Thai. I got the notion that he tried to make me feel pity for him, so that I
leave some money. I thought to myself: Last time I saw people live like
this, it was the Orang Asli in Malaysia and they are primitive people, Karen
are not ! Soon I learned that the thinking of Tan was somehow "spoiled", as
they say here. He was not productive, not consistent, rather jealously
looking at what other people have. He was obviously one of those who require
the Thai government for making a small dam.

Next morning, all the guides (12) went to the cave and waited for tourists
to arrive. I wondered why they sit around and wait while the rice field has
no irrigation system, yet.
At around 9am a few food vendors set up their stands near the cave. The
place is good for picnic.

There is one more English-speaking guide, his English is a little better and
he is younger, he asked me if I would pay him a scolarship. He is also the
better guide and I crossed the cave a second time with him, measuring it
with my GPS.


Further North on road 1085, there is Mae Salit. Drivers tend to stop there.

Also this is the turnaround point for many songthaews from the South.
Beneath the road, atop a hill, are restaurants and small shops selling local
produce.
Mae Salit Guesthouse is just a few meters off the road, follow the sign.
They charge B100 per person in a dorm and there is no other place in the
near area. It is clean but not too special.

By nightfall I reach Ban Tha Song Yang, so have to stay there as the road
North is said to be risky, at night.
But no GH, no hotel, the police is totally drunk and the military post also
not sober.
I have a communication problem at the Catholic Church, the Padre is French
but he ain't there. I was told that they accommodate travellers, but it is
just too complicated with their big dogs and me not speaking Thai.
I end up at the Wat on the hill. They seem to have a tradition of
accommodating all sorts of folks. The military maintains a radio relay up
there, there I spend the night.

The road from Ban Tha Song Yang to Mae Sariang is extremely scenic but steep
and winding up into the mountains. No fun on a pushbike. I accepted when a
pickup stopped.

Mae Sariang is a small place, with several falang tourists around. Also
there is some choice of GHs.
Riverside: Double B160, Single B100 (bargained down to B80), shared bathroom
outside. Very nice common room / restaurant area with great view of the
lake. Friendly people. I stayed there.
Mae Sariang GH: Single B60 outside bathroom. Nothing special but OK and very
cheap. People also friendly.
See View GH (As the name inidicates, it is hard to find someone speaking
English): B120 / hut, or something like that. It is more a resort-style
thing with a big parking lot and huts beneath a lake. They have problems
telling you if they have rooms, what these rooms cost,... The place is a bit
out of the town center and I met several falang who decided to stay in a
different place. See View GH is more aimed at local tourists.


I skip that long stretch up to Mae Hong Son on a bus.

Mae Hong Son: It is incredibly touristic.
Attractions around Mae Hong Son:
Pha Sua Falls can be reached by a good asphalt road thru forested and hilly
areas. It is a popular destination for Thai-style weekend minibus tours.
Yes, the current in several of the pools is strong, can pull you to the
drain and wash you down. There are signs "No Swimming". This waterfall has
no restaurants.

From the falls to the Fish Cave (Tham Plaa), simply follow the signs, (they
take you zig-zag thru a village) and eventually come back to the road to
Pai, there you turn left (East) and again look for signs.
Again a good place to meet Thais on a weekend trip. The fish are really big
and some folks observe them with hungry eyes. The park is well-maintained
and free !

Soppong (the one on the road to Pai):
Stayed at Kemarin Garden, the place seems to be under heavy construction /
renovation / breakdown. Building material everywhere, restaurant not
operating, no guests apart from me. A hut was B50 / single, external cold
shower. The hut was OK but nothing special. Let's wait until their
renovation is done.

A new resort was recently set up just West of the branchoff to Tham Lot.
German-managed T-Rex Home charges B350 for a hotel-comfort bungalow. Hot
shower, fresh linen, towels, pool, garden. The place is clean and backed by
the river. However, they made me fried noodles from instant noodles.

Tham Lot is a huge and great thing. The park around it is big, I took my
bike in.
Theoretically, you can't enter the cave without a guide (maximum 4 people
per guide), but this time so many visitors were around that no more guides
were available, also the interiour of the cave was well-lit by the gas
lanterns of the many guides and I just walked in with my own flashlight.

The cave is well-developed with walkways, stairs, ladders, warning signs and
explanations both in Thai and English.
The river inside the cave was low because dry season. So they made a little
dam at the exit, increasing the water level so that the rafts can go. A
1-way trip thru the cave is B100 / person. Still it is possible to wade thru
it, the water is less than 1m high. But rafts surely won't stop if you are
in their way.
Once thru the cave and out the back, follow a path and stay left. It will
take you around the cave, over a bridge, and back to the entrance.

Apart from the visitors, the park and the cave, Tham Lot has a car park,
accommodation, possibility of camping and a lot of restaurants and food
stalls.


Pai:
A small town with a lot of tourist devlopment for its size. Resorts all over
the area, trekking everywhere.
A very good GH is Charlie's House, B50 / single, outside bathrooms (two of
them with a hot shower). I never had a place like this for that little money
in all of Thailand. Clean, friendly, nice.
The only place that seems to have motorcycles for rent is "MS Cycles". There
are only few bikes and they go early in the morning. Many of the tourists
you will see on motorcycles brought them from Chiang Mai.
On the western side of the mainroad that leads to Mae Hong Son is a
German-managed Enduro Club. They do several-day tours in the Golden Triangle
and provide the bikes, too. When I was there, they were all out apart from
the injured manager who just saw the pickup truck too late.
Lousy bicycles you can rent everywhere and they are good enough to reach the
two closest attractions, hot springs and waterfall (each 8km away). Bring
your own eggs to boil at the hot springs, they do not sell eggs there ((you
find better words...)). On the way to the waterfall, Lahu villagers offer
you opium.

Nice restaurants in Pai are Chez Swan (not always do they have cheeses) and
Thai
Yai. However, the most popular food-place amongst both tourists and locals
is a lady who sets up her stall in the evening, right in front of the market
(near Charlie's House). Usually you have to wait long and cannot find a
place to sit but the food is cheap and good.
Next to her an Indian guy does fast-selling pancakes.

Some of the people working in Pai systematically cheat foreigners like they
do in Chiang Mai. Be prepared.

Chiang Mai:
Nat GH ist B100 / single. The promised hot shower was defective. Check
before.
Shopping in the night market is not really worth it. You can get the same
items and prices in BKK, Sukhumvit Road.
However, warm winter jackets you may only find in Chiang Mai. One stand had
export quality, beautiful things, priced around B1000. Though relatively
good quality, the cut, the zipper and the workmanship were not up to German
standards. Maybe ok for kids, if you put a better zip.

If you want to eat Chinese: Near the Busstation there is a nice and
affordable Dim-Sum shop (N 018º48.092' - E 099º00.916').
Song Bikeshop (N 018º47.695' - E 098º59.588') is probably the best a
Mountainbiker can get in Chiang Mai. Still their service is poor, they have
bad tools (if any) and their technicians don't know what they do. At least
they put you good material. So I propose DIY with your own service kit,
while you buy the parts there.


Bangkok:
I can recommend Saeng Thong Bicycle Shop, Nonthaburi, to all cyclists. This
shop is cheap, sells good quality parts, does good quality service and has
customers amongst trishaw cyclists as well as mountainbike clubs. After they
finish, you really don't have to check again (well, still I would).
Nevertheless, proper bikes are a luxury item in Thailand, so they cost more
than in Germany.

Regards
Martin