Mae Hong Son

• Jong Kham Lake: ideal for a morning or evening stroll around its edge to enjoy the mountainous skyline round town.
• Wat Jong Kham and Wat Jong Klang: the town’s most photographed temples sit beside tranquil Jong Kham Lake.
• Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu: this hilltop temple has excellent views over the town and valley.
• Wat Hua Wiang: features a dramatic, multi-tiered roof.
• Mae Hong Son Morning market: start the day with an assault on the senses at the fresh market.

Mae Hong Son is nicknamed ‘muang sam mork’, or the ‘City of Three Mists’, which refers to the three distinctive seasons. During the cool season, from November to February, the valleys of the province are filled with a sea of mist each morning before the rising sun burns it off.

From March to May, the ‘mist’ is actually more like a haze as the smoke from burned-off fields cuts down visibility. The mists of the rain season (June-October) naturally refer to the clouds that pass overhead during the monsoon.

The best time to visit to be able to see the province at its best is the cool season, with November being the best month, as all waterfalls are at their most impressive and the sunflower fields of Mae Surin National Park are in bloom.

Mae Hong Son is a small and unhurried town, so the best way to enjoy it is to slow down and take life at the same pace as the locals. In terms of sightseeing, there are some splendid Burmese-style temples with intricately carved and multi-tiered roofs that just make you reach for your camera, so you won’t be short of souvenir photos to remind you of your stay.

If you can drag yourself out of bed early one morning, head for the fresh market on Panitwattana Road, where you’ll find a throng of Thais and hilltribe people buying and selling produce from the hills around such as fresh honeycombs. Though they know foreigners are unlikely customers, vendors always oblige with a beaming smile for the camera.

In the evening, a street market sets up running from the post office on Khunlumprapas Road to Jong Kham Lake, where you might pick up some memento of your stay or a tasty snack, though it isn’t busy outside the high season (Nov-Feb).

Once you’ve seen the town’s main temples and had a stroll round Jong Kham Lake, it’s time to start exploring out-of-town attractions such as Fish Cave or Pha Bong Hot Springs.

Hilltribe Villages

Besides the natural attractions around Mae Hong Son such as Fish Cave and Pha Sua Waterfall, there are lots of hilltribe villages scattered in the hills, and several travel companies in town can arrange guides for trekking tours. Apart from the usual hilltribes that you see in other parts of the north, near Mae Hong Son are a few villages of the Padaung, or ‘long-necked’ tribe, as they are known for the multiple brass rings the women wear round their necks.

Though it’s possible in theory to find your own way to these villages, in practice isolated visitors are not encouraged, as the tour companies levy an entrance fee to all visitors, some of which is passed on to the villagers. Many tour companies combine a visit to one of these villages with boat trips on the Pai River, and sometimes an elephant ride as well.

Some people might not be put off by the ‘managed’ aspect of the ‘longnecked’ villages, but be warned that many visitors leave saddened to have witnessed little more than a human zoo.

There are several tour companies in town. One of the longest-standing, most reliable and conveniently located is Rose Garden Tours at 86/4 Khunlumprapas Road (Tel: 053611577; www.rosegarden-tours.com).

Mae Hong Son has a small airport that handles daily flights from Chiang Mai when the weather is agreeable. Public buses also ply the long and winding road from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son, as do private tour minibuses from Chiang Mai. Another great option is to rent your own car or bike and drive the entire Mae Hong Son loop, continuing south from town to Mae Sariang.

The easiest way to get to Mae Hong Son is to fly there, either from Chiang Mai or Bangkok, though flights are occasionally cancelled due to storms or haze limiting visibility.

The cheapest way to get there is by bus from Chiang Mai, with routes going via both Mae Sariang and Pai; either way you’ll swing around hundreds of bends and arrive after 7-8 hours with your head in a spin.

However, since the main attraction of this province is its stunning landscapes and variety of ethnic groups living there, the most enjoyable way to get there is with a rented car or motorbike from Chiang Mai, which allows you to stop to rest or take photos wherever you like. If you don’t feel confident enough to drive yourself, it’s even worth considering hiring a driver with a car, which doesn’t add that much to the cost, to get the most of your time in Mae Hong Son.

Mae Hong Son is so small that it’s easy to walk everywhere, which makes it a pleasure to explore this town, though you may find that some places, like Wat Doi Kong Mu, perched on top of a steep hill, leave you puffing and panting.

If you plan to visit some of the attractions outside of town by yourself, it’s easy to rent a motorbike in town, though you’ll need a good map of the area and clear instructions as to how to find the places you want to see.

Even if you’re not the kind of person who enjoys the company of tour groups, signing up for a day tour with one of the town’s many tour operators enables you to visit several out-of-town attractions in a day without getting lost.

For such a small town, Mae Hong Son has an extremely good choice of accommodation, from fancy top-end hotels and resorts to basic budget lodgings. Some places cater more for tour groups, though there are also plenty of places more geared towards independent travelers.

There’s a kind of budget enclave in the streets around Jong Kham Lake, and another to the west of town in the shadow of Doi Kong Mu, though the latter area is a bit of a trek from town. Mid-range and top-end places can be found scattered all over town and in the surrounding hills and valleys—some with gorgeous locations.

If you’re traveling with a rented vehicle, we suggest you take advantage of one of the idyllic out-of-town locations, while if you don’t have your own transport, you’d be better off in the town center, where you’re just a few steps from the town’s main sights and restaurants.

Mae Hong Son has several excellent restaurants. In fact, there’s so much competition that it’s a wonder how they all survive through the low season when there are few tourists in town. There’s also a lot of variety among them, with some places serving Northern Thai and Shan dishes and others providing Western comfort food such as pizzas and salads.

Besides the places listed below, it’s worth visiting both the morning market to enjoy a local breakfast and one of the evening markets for local specialties like gaeng hang lay, a pork curry with ginger. There’s one between the morning market and the airport terminal on the north side of town, another at the southern end of Khunlumprapas Road, and yet another between the post office and Wat Jong Klang.

As in many Thai towns, it’s often difficult to distinguish between bars and restaurants in Mae Hong Son as restaurants tend to fulfill both functions. Besides serving a wide range of food, most restaurants also serve beer, spirits and in some cases wine as well.

Restaurant owners also know that live music attracts customers, so there are several places in town where you’re likely to be serenaded as you eat, including Fern, Sunflower Cafe and Crossroads. Of these three, Crossroads has a bit more of a bar-type atmosphere and gets very busy from 10pm to midnight, especially in the high season. The downstairs bar at the Baiyoke Chalet Hotel is also popular among locals and stays open till midnight or 1am.

Since Mae Hong Son is in such a remote part of Thailand and is surrounded by hilltribe villages, the most obvious products to look out for are hilltribe textiles and jewelry, or the cute conical hats worn by Shan farmers.

While there are a few shops along the town’s main street, Khunlumprapas Road, that sell such items, the selections are not always well displayed. Though it’s worth taking a stroll down this road and looking in any likely shops, you’ll probably have more success at the daily night market that sets up at sundown between the post office and the lakeside temples of Wat Jong Klang and Wat Jong Kham. In the high season, this market is lined with vendors selling all kinds of quirky stuff, but in the low season it can be very quiet.