Going to Mae Salong

Sorry for the hiatus on internet. After leaving Mae Hong Son, we spent a good chunk of the next two days taking the bus-- from Mae Hong Son to Chiang Mai the first day and then up to Mae Salong the next day. In Chiang Mai, we returned in time for the 2nd day of the Intakin Festival, which represents the beginning of the rains. There were festivities at Chedi Luang again, and it was nice to have something to ease me back into the rather abrasive urban reality of Chiang Mai.

On Friday we took a bus up to Chiang Rai and decided we weren't really interested in spending the night there. We took a bus north to Ban Basang and then a saegenaw into the mountains to Mae Salong, which is perhaps the most Chinese town in Thailand. There are tea fields all around the city, and tea leaves drying by the road. Everyone speaks Chinese, and very few people know Thai or English. It's another KMT town, and I even met an 84 year old man who had been a soldier fighting against the Burmese army.

Early in the morning we went to Mae Salong's tiny market. Members of hill tribes from the area sell greens and poultry. We saw Mien, Akha, Lisu and Lahu traders, and for breakfast many Chinese eat fried donuts (basically like fry bread) in hot soymilk.