Jungle tour in Soppong (Mae Hong Son)
If you want to indulge in an authentic Northern Thai experience, a trip north from Chiang Mai to Soppong is recommended.
About three hours drive along winding roads through the hills, which gradually deteriorate, but the ride is an experience in itself. Of course, the temperature drops especially at night in the northern hills and the signal for the mobile phone is also slowly but surely declining. But isn't that what we wanted, to get away from the busy everyday life?
Soppong
I went there with three friends and so our base for three days was the sleepy town of Soppong in the province Mae Hong Son. It is part of the Pang Mapha district, where about 8000 people live in eight villages. The villages can all be reached within about 30 minutes from Soppong, but the roads to them vary from bad to abysmal.
The hill tribe population in the region consists mainly of Karen, Lisu, Lahu, Shan, the Thai share is about 20%. Their livelihood is provided by small-scale farming, maize, rice, ginger, sesame and taro, while some buffaloes and chickens roam around and share their lives with the local dogs and cats. The houses may be rudimentary, but a satellite dish on the roof and a four-wheel drive in front of the door are not missing. Of course you have to set priorities in life.
Jungle tour
Our team of four, led by a local Karen guide, headed into the mountains for a 20km trek through the hills towards Myanmar. We walked over rice paddies, crossed shallow rivers, crawled through dense, virgin jungle through lots of mud and camped in the evening along the way. Before that we had our Karen guide, from scratch he built a hut with a floor, walls and a roof of bamboo. Not only the hut, but also all cooking utensils - spoons, plates, kettles, everything - all made of bamboo from the jungle. The Karen tea was cooked in a bamboo kettle and served in bamboo mugs, all handmade for us as our group watched and marveled at how simple life can be.
Soppong River Inn
There is more possible in the area than just a jungle tour. Soppong is not really far from the "civilized world", but it is a different world with its local ethnic traditions and culture. A nice, comfortable base for a visit is the Soppong River Inn, where you can get information and help for other tours, visit one of the many caves, learn about local crafting methods and eating habits.
The Soppong River Inn itself has a great kitchen for delicious local, Thai and "farang" food. Be sure to check out their extensive website www.soppong.com
From an article by Tim Newton in Phuket News.
Been here in 2007, and also stayed at the River Inn, nice memory.
If you are in Soppong, visit the beautiful cave Tham Lot, with the nearby Cave Lodge as an absolute must: http://www.cavelodge.com/
Thanks for the link, Fran. Very interesting.
I once took a long walk there led by a long-haired Lahu guide who knew a lot about the history of the area ('there used to be opium fields here'). Beautiful nature.
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We climbed a rickety ladder along a steep rock face to a 50 (?) meter high cave where two thousand years old large wooden coffins have been preserved.
Just back from a long tour in that region. Fantastic story about Soppong means I will have to go that way again. Thailand has so much to offer!