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Thailand Tourism » Travel to Mae Hong Son
MAE HONG SON REGION
The Mae Hong Son region, tucked away close to the Myanmar border, doesn’t have the high profile of the Golden Triangle, but its landscape is equally spectacular. The mountains in this region are complete with lost valleys of colourful hill tribe people, strong rivers with sheer-walled gorges, cascading waterfalls and towering crags that rear up from dense jungle, and immense underground cave systems. Local people believe these caves are haunted by the spirits of the dead and won’t venture inside them, so it’s only in the last few years that they’ve been explored. Until recently there was extensive forest cover on most mountain slopes, but logging has greatly reduced this region’s montane habitats and wildlife. There is immeasurable adventure travel potential in this region. These are just some of the best options.
TREKKING: AN ENCOUNTER WITH NATURE
The Mae Hong Son region offers superb trekking through spectacular terrain. For those who want to battle it out with nature, it’s possible to do long, multi-day treks between Mae Hong Son and Pai. The trails wind their way along ridges and down into the valleys of the major rivers, taking you past jagged, spectacular landforms. The whole area is karst country, with underground rivers through limetone cavities and passages — very different from the more rounded ridge shapes and landforms found in other areas of the north.
CAVING: GOING UNDERGROUND
Beneath the hill country from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son and north to the Burmese border are spectacular vistas that at least match those on the surface. The Pang Mapa cave systems, near the village of Soppong, are some of the finest in the world, outstanding for the exceptional beauty of their limestone formations as well as their great size. If you’re interested in exploring these caves, go to Cave Lodge at Ban Tham or Wilderness Lodge in Nam Khong Valley. Both places organize tours. To get to Ban Tham or Nam Khong Valley, take the Mae Hong Son bus from Chiang Mai along the excellent but winding highway to Pai. Get off the bus at Soppong (just after Pai, about 5hrs from Chiang Mai). The caves and lodges are within walking distance of Soppong.
MOUNTAINBIKING: OFF-ROAD ADVENTURES
The densely forested Mae Hong Son region has an intricate web of trails and dirt roads that are ideal for mountainbiking. A great day trip is the trail from Chiang Dao — an area popular with Thai tourists for its showcase caves — to Mae Taeng. The 35km trail is mostly off-road and takes you through forests of pine with stunning grassland flowers, bamboo forests and reforesting teak. You’ll pass Akha, Karen and Lisu villages on the ride.
WHITEWATER: A DISAPPEARING WORLD
A trip down the quiet, burbling world of the Nam Khong and Pai Rivers gives you a glimpse of a spectacular jungle under threat. Although this part of the Mae Hong Son province is a sanctuary, illegal loggers are tearing through the last of its virgin forest. But an even greater threat to this area are the two dams planned by the Thai government as part of the Nam Pai/Mae Taeng Interbasin Diversion Project.
Standard whitewater trips start at Nam Khong village, run past the beautiful Sousa Falls and through the Pai River Gorge and Mong Hin Rapids, and last 1-2 days. During the first half, when the water is flat, you can relax and watch blue kingfishers dive for their lunch and monkeys swing between trees on the bank.The second half is more demanding and requires negotiation of 300m-long rapids.
Rafting these rivers in the rainy season (August to October). when the rapids can swell to grade 4, can be real adrenalin pumping adventure. Winter (November to early January) offers a tamer but more scenic experience — the low-lying hills lose their forest cover and yellow flowers blur into an undulating sea of gold. The only noises you’ll hear out here are the burbling of the river and the alarm cry of iridescent kingfishers darting downstream.
If you like your action to be hard and fast, the Mae Chaem River — which rises southwest of Chiang Mai — is a better option. It offers the most thrilling white-water rafting in the country, but it’s short-lived. The white water section only lasts a few kilometres. Highlights of this very powerful river include running grade 5 rapids in a 100-m deep gorge, and a wonderful 30-40km run downstream from Ob Luang National Park.
The Mae Hong Son region, tucked away close to the Myanmar border, doesn’t have the high profile of the Golden Triangle, but its landscape is equally spectacular. The mountains in this region are complete with lost valleys of colourful hill tribe people, strong rivers with sheer-walled gorges, cascading waterfalls and towering crags that rear up from dense jungle, and immense underground cave systems. Local people believe these caves are haunted by the spirits of the dead and won’t venture inside them, so it’s only in the last few years that they’ve been explored. Until recently there was extensive forest cover on most mountain slopes, but logging has greatly reduced this region’s montane habitats and wildlife. There is immeasurable adventure travel potential in this region. These are just some of the best options.
TREKKING: AN ENCOUNTER WITH NATURE
The Mae Hong Son region offers superb trekking through spectacular terrain. For those who want to battle it out with nature, it’s possible to do long, multi-day treks between Mae Hong Son and Pai. The trails wind their way along ridges and down into the valleys of the major rivers, taking you past jagged, spectacular landforms. The whole area is karst country, with underground rivers through limetone cavities and passages — very different from the more rounded ridge shapes and landforms found in other areas of the north.
CAVING: GOING UNDERGROUND
Beneath the hill country from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son and north to the Burmese border are spectacular vistas that at least match those on the surface. The Pang Mapa cave systems, near the village of Soppong, are some of the finest in the world, outstanding for the exceptional beauty of their limestone formations as well as their great size. If you’re interested in exploring these caves, go to Cave Lodge at Ban Tham or Wilderness Lodge in Nam Khong Valley. Both places organize tours. To get to Ban Tham or Nam Khong Valley, take the Mae Hong Son bus from Chiang Mai along the excellent but winding highway to Pai. Get off the bus at Soppong (just after Pai, about 5hrs from Chiang Mai). The caves and lodges are within walking distance of Soppong.
MOUNTAINBIKING: OFF-ROAD ADVENTURES
The densely forested Mae Hong Son region has an intricate web of trails and dirt roads that are ideal for mountainbiking. A great day trip is the trail from Chiang Dao — an area popular with Thai tourists for its showcase caves — to Mae Taeng. The 35km trail is mostly off-road and takes you through forests of pine with stunning grassland flowers, bamboo forests and reforesting teak. You’ll pass Akha, Karen and Lisu villages on the ride.
WHITEWATER: A DISAPPEARING WORLD
A trip down the quiet, burbling world of the Nam Khong and Pai Rivers gives you a glimpse of a spectacular jungle under threat. Although this part of the Mae Hong Son province is a sanctuary, illegal loggers are tearing through the last of its virgin forest. But an even greater threat to this area are the two dams planned by the Thai government as part of the Nam Pai/Mae Taeng Interbasin Diversion Project.
Standard whitewater trips start at Nam Khong village, run past the beautiful Sousa Falls and through the Pai River Gorge and Mong Hin Rapids, and last 1-2 days. During the first half, when the water is flat, you can relax and watch blue kingfishers dive for their lunch and monkeys swing between trees on the bank.The second half is more demanding and requires negotiation of 300m-long rapids.
Rafting these rivers in the rainy season (August to October). when the rapids can swell to grade 4, can be real adrenalin pumping adventure. Winter (November to early January) offers a tamer but more scenic experience — the low-lying hills lose their forest cover and yellow flowers blur into an undulating sea of gold. The only noises you’ll hear out here are the burbling of the river and the alarm cry of iridescent kingfishers darting downstream.
If you like your action to be hard and fast, the Mae Chaem River — which rises southwest of Chiang Mai — is a better option. It offers the most thrilling white-water rafting in the country, but it’s short-lived. The white water section only lasts a few kilometres. Highlights of this very powerful river include running grade 5 rapids in a 100-m deep gorge, and a wonderful 30-40km run downstream from Ob Luang National Park.
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