About 6 klms south of Mae Sai, you can turn west up a small tarmac road to the Akha village of Bahn PaMee, which is on the wonderful 1149 border road from Mae Sai to Doi Tung. The village is getting developed quickly and several coffee shops and restaurants have appeared in the last year or so. About 1 klm north of the village, on the 1149, is Soi 13.
This is a little loop road that leads to the Boosaw Homestay.
Leading directly west from here and on up the mountain was a rough dirt road.
An Akha lady in a house nearby said "Py My Dy".. cannot go..
Hey, it didn't look that difficult to me... so I said I was just going for a peek.......
After riding up a couple of hundred metres, I came to this..
The razor wire was clearly marking the Burmese border. But the step ladder over the border, was too much to resist... lets go to Burma for a few minutes....
On the other side..... well... whaddaya know.... a football pitch..
Must be the home of the Thai Burmese Akha Football League....
The dirt road here leads down the mountain on the Burmese side.
...... from Burma looking back into Thailand.....
There was no-one around, but obviously it was not wise to linger, so I nipped back over the ladder.... and followed the dirt trail, heading south, on the Thai side.
After some distance, the trail led to a small reservoir which must feed Bahn PaMee.
But just before this point, was a walking trail leading up to the very top of the ridge... so I parked the KLX and started hiking... following the razor wire.
The trail became a wide dirt road, which must have been cleared a long time ago. The original border road I would guess.
The right hand side of the road is the border.
After about 20 minutes walking, the GPS indicated I was directly west and above the village of PaMee and the road intersection. Imagining I may meet some Thai soldiers or Burmese soldiers or drug mules...... I decided to turn back, but the wide dirt road continued along the ridge, I would guess until the tarmac road comes right to the border again.
After getting back down the dirt road and onto the tarmac again, I headed south. Where the tarmac road is right on the border ridge, further on, is a camera post, facing one of many gaps in the razor wire.
We can use our imagination regarding the happenings along this long and porous border....... but, periodically, there are shoot-outs reported up here, at night time.
I had to stop in Bahn PaHee (don't forget to pronounce the tone correctly, otherwise you are being very rude.....), the higher Akha village, further south on the ridge, just below Doi Chang Moob.
I was actually there to pick up 4kgs of coffee from Khun Aran, the Phu Yai Bahn, for our hotel.
It wasn't the best time of year to visit, but the PaHee coffee shop there, has become very popular. There were a couple of minibuses up. That surprised me as the road up is so very steep. I guess they came down from the Doi Chang Moob south side.
In clear air, the views are spectacular, down between the cleft in the mountain karsts, onto the plain, east of highway 1, across to Chiang Saen and the Khong.
Another fascinating ride in northern Thailand.
This is a little loop road that leads to the Boosaw Homestay.
Leading directly west from here and on up the mountain was a rough dirt road.
An Akha lady in a house nearby said "Py My Dy".. cannot go..
Hey, it didn't look that difficult to me... so I said I was just going for a peek.......
After riding up a couple of hundred metres, I came to this..
The razor wire was clearly marking the Burmese border. But the step ladder over the border, was too much to resist... lets go to Burma for a few minutes....
On the other side..... well... whaddaya know.... a football pitch..
Must be the home of the Thai Burmese Akha Football League....
The dirt road here leads down the mountain on the Burmese side.
...... from Burma looking back into Thailand.....
There was no-one around, but obviously it was not wise to linger, so I nipped back over the ladder.... and followed the dirt trail, heading south, on the Thai side.
After some distance, the trail led to a small reservoir which must feed Bahn PaMee.
But just before this point, was a walking trail leading up to the very top of the ridge... so I parked the KLX and started hiking... following the razor wire.
The trail became a wide dirt road, which must have been cleared a long time ago. The original border road I would guess.
The right hand side of the road is the border.
After about 20 minutes walking, the GPS indicated I was directly west and above the village of PaMee and the road intersection. Imagining I may meet some Thai soldiers or Burmese soldiers or drug mules...... I decided to turn back, but the wide dirt road continued along the ridge, I would guess until the tarmac road comes right to the border again.
After getting back down the dirt road and onto the tarmac again, I headed south. Where the tarmac road is right on the border ridge, further on, is a camera post, facing one of many gaps in the razor wire.
We can use our imagination regarding the happenings along this long and porous border....... but, periodically, there are shoot-outs reported up here, at night time.
I had to stop in Bahn PaHee (don't forget to pronounce the tone correctly, otherwise you are being very rude.....), the higher Akha village, further south on the ridge, just below Doi Chang Moob.
I was actually there to pick up 4kgs of coffee from Khun Aran, the Phu Yai Bahn, for our hotel.
It wasn't the best time of year to visit, but the PaHee coffee shop there, has become very popular. There were a couple of minibuses up. That surprised me as the road up is so very steep. I guess they came down from the Doi Chang Moob south side.
In clear air, the views are spectacular, down between the cleft in the mountain karsts, onto the plain, east of highway 1, across to Chiang Saen and the Khong.
Another fascinating ride in northern Thailand.
