In Pai I rented a motorbike (again) and rode the 109km (68 miles) to Mae Hong Son. Those 109km does not take about an hour like you might guess. Take a guess how long it takes. I'll give you a minute.
OK? Four hours minimum. Why? Because one, I am on a motobike. That means any accident is a bad one and that going any faster than 80kph (50 mph) is near impossible and a terrible idea. Two, the curves. Mae Hong Son is nicknamed "The land of curves." They sell t-shirts there with "Mae Hong Song" written on them in big letters and "1864" written in a smaller font below referring not to the year but to the supposed number of curves in the area. Going 80kph was only possible of those short stretches of straight. On the curves going 10-40kph (6-25 mph) is realistic.
The ride was stellar. If the roads did not force me to go slowly the scenary would have and going slow gave me a chance to enjoy it.
Mae Hong Son is a weird place. When I arrived and was exploring the the place and looking for accomodation I saw only one other white person and he gave me a look like, "I do not know you. What are you doing here?" But at night time there were white people everywhere. I cannot not explain this. And, there is almost nothing in the town. While looking for a place to sleep I heard some locals playing music. I walked by and did not want to take pictures in case it was a relious ceramony but did rubberneck. They noticed me and invited me in. Soon I was being handed a glass of orange Fanta and having my photo taken. One guy spoke a little English and called me his friend. I resipicated. He said something in Thai and everybody laughed. Some woman tried to set me up with her daughter (I think that is what she was doing). All this lasted 20 minutes then I thanked them and left. It was weird and random and cool. The nightmarket is lame and the wats (temples) are mediocore and the lake can be circumscribed in about 20 minutes on foot. All this and my failed attempt to find accomodation that I was willing to pay for lead me to sleep outside.
On my way into Mae Hong Son, about 11km (7 miles) outside the town, I saw a small platform with a covering in the middle of a field and decided it would be my bed for the night. After dinner I got some water and snacks (breakfast) from 7-11 and rode from the town to the kilometer-marker that I had committed to memory. Finding it the darkness was a bit of a challenge but after some double-backing I found the path I needed and was making the arrangements I needed to (putting on a long-sleeve shirt and pants to hinder bugs, setting an alarm, etc) and was on my bamboo bed in no time. Falling asleep was not quite as easy but soon enough I was out and awoke with the sun in the morning.
Then I got back on my motorbike and headed back through the gorgeous surroundings headed to Pai to return the rented motorbike and catch a bus back to Chiang Mai.
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