Popular Post Jambo Posted March 6, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted March 6, 2020 On Monday Sai says to me "We are going to go somewhere you have not been to before - you might get wet." 😀 That was all I knew when Sai, myself and assorted family members packed into sister Joy's Asuzu station wagon and set off heading north east from Mae Sot. After about an hour we turned off the main road and after being vetted at an Army check point started what turned out to be a 40 minute drive through the jungle virtually all of which was on an unpaved dirt road.                                                                                     This was by far the best of the road surface and there were a lot of steep gradients. It felt very lonely as we only saw one motorbike and one truck in the whole journey. The last few hundred yards was down the steepest hill imaginable and all I could think of was how the hell are we going to get up that on the way back. 😀 Eventually we reached the end of the track and found a car park of sorts and several other parked vehicles which was a relief. We followed the path and arrived...........at the top of a cliff looking down on the Moei River which is the border between Thailand and Burma.                                                                                                                                                                               You are looking down on a "community" that have set up homes etc etc quite literally on the Moei riverbed. Once the rainy season starts again they will have to shift the lot.                                Behind us, into the cliff itself is the entrance to a cave complex.                                        There is quite a spectacular cave in the Mae Sot area which is one of the local tourist attractions. This is not that one!    This is one for nutters who like risking themselves crawling underground. It is just like the one that the Thai youngsters had to be rescued from. There is a map on display outside which details the chain of tunnels throughout the cave. It looks like the London underground map. I looked for the Northern Line. Sai said: "Are you going to go in for a look? This is the photo I took of the entrance.                                                                                                                                           Two chances of me going in there and you know what the second one is! 🤣                              Once we had negotiated the hike down the hillside you come to the "bridge" taking you from Thailand to Burma. It is basically made from bamboo and you have to try to walk on the slats that have a pole underneath.                                              That is the main "restaurant" which serves food to the customers sitting over the river. We brought our own but several portions of Thai food were bought and apparently enjoyed.  When you have negotiated the bridge (safely) you are confronted by the following sign.                          This stretch of the Moei river contains some of those very big fish that Thailand is famous for in angling circles. You have to let them know that you are going to fish in advance. Sai say it cost you 1,000 baht if you catch one and they have to be released back into the river.  Now the highlight of the day. For the grand sum of 300 baht we get a trip down the river and it was worth every single baht.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The wee boat boy looks scared stiff. He cheared up when Well gave him 20 baht                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   A most enjoyable trip down the river and we have a number of video's as well.                                             Then it was time for lunch and a sleep.                                           We had some guests for dinner.                                             The very healthy looking dog ( he belonged to the restaurant) is called "Go Go" and he is a real water dog.                                               He was catching wee fish in the shallows                                                                                                   And so the end of a very enjoyable day with me looking absolutely knackered although I don't know why. 🤣                                                                                      15 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 thank u for your efforts. a very interesting report. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murchie Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 An out standing report which really shows what any amazing country Thailand is. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boydeste Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Looks like a great day out for sure! There is something about being on or beside the water. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegrogmonster Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Looks a great day out and thanks for the photos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skalliwag Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Yep. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yessongs Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Cool pics....good decision on not entering that cave. Is the humidity deathly up there? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyajn Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 What a great day out thank you for taking the time to post. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krapow Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Thanks for taking the time and posting, kinda thing i'd certainly enjoy doing. Indeed, an idea for June/July trip! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nampla69 Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Great report Danny. I've been to that river but not where you were. Looks great time. Fascinating that border with Burma. Hop your day is ruined tomorrow at around 5pm UK time ..... we are playing you at the Library known as the Emirates. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forcebwithu Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Amazing Thailand, and I mean that in a good way this time. Some beautiful places to see in the remotest parts of the country. TFP. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 9 hours ago, Yessongs said: Cool pics....good decision on not entering that cave. Is the humidity deathly up there? I am not sure I could have got through the first bit and I was certainly not going to try! 😀 The climate is different up here in the north west of Thailand. We had about a month or more when it got COLD at night but still around 30c during the day. That has changed and it is uncomfortably warm at night and up to 35c or so in the day time. Very lttle humidity, thank goodness, because there has not been a drop of rain for about 3 months. The rainy season starts and ends earlier up here but when it starts it rains virtually every day but rarely all day long. It is likely to start before Songkran, maybe towards the end of this month. Until it breaks it is likely to get very hot. This is a main agricultural area but they clear the land before replanting by burning the old crop. There is often a haze which takes the heat out of direct sunshine but has given me a periods of having a cough. That is now largely over for another year. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy dee Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 wow.. whats the location Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 2 hours ago, nampla69 said: Great report Danny. I've been to that river but not where you were. Looks great time. Fascinating that border with Burma. Hop your day is ruined tomorrow at around 5pm UK time ..... we are playing you at the Library known as the Emirates. In your dreams! 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roobob Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Excellent report.... thanks for posting. cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayray Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Jambo, how was the drive back the hill?loved the pics,the bush is a place I loved all my life. regards grayray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 10 minutes ago, tommy dee said: wow.. whats the location A very good question but difficult for me to answer. Mae Sot is a border town to Burma. The border itself is the Moei river and the offficial crossing is "The Friendship Bridge". The unofficial crossings appear to be if not numerous certainly available for Thai's to visit specific "attractions" on the Burma side of the river. We left Mae Sot travelling north east for about an hour then turned left at a check point which appeared to be an Army one. We then joined this "road" which soon became a dirt "track" and drove for about 45 minutes through the jungle. What I didn't mention in the Report was that after about 30 minutes we suddenly came to a Town of hundreds of old teak houses. The only modern building was a School. I say a "Town" because of the number of houses that we could see stretching downhill from the "track" we were on. This was housing for a very very specific community right in the middle of the jungle and we made no attempt to intrude. It just so happened that the school had been built right next to the track which for that small stretch became a real single lane road then immediately back to the jungle and dirt surface. Without Sai to point out the place to leave the main road I doubt if I could find this location again on my own. It has to be 20 miles or so upstream from Mae Sot on the Moei river. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, grayray said: Jambo, how was the drive back the hill?loved the pics,the bush is a place I loved all my life. regards grayray I do so wish I had taken a photo but I genuinely have never driven up such a steep hill in my life and this was dirt not tarmac. I don't think I could have kept the camera still. Sai's sister Joy was driving and she is young enough just to play the adrenaline junkie whilst I went very quiet waitng for the crash. All credit to the Asuzu wagon which is a monster which got itself and its 7 passengers to the top 6 of which were taking the piss out of me! 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
code_slayer_bkk Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Cool Bro .. really cool ... Â 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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