Khun Yuam & The Pratu Muang Road

[DavidFL]

West of Khun Yuam on the Mae Hong Son loop is a super deserted road that runs through the forest & the way to a local border crossing with Myanmar.

On Google earth the loop looks like this

It is a magnificent winding steep undulating loop with no traffic .

The start at the north end is called R3007

Wat Tor Pae is a famous classic old Shan temple 6 kms out from Khun Yuam

more to come..

 

[DavidFL]

16 kms out is the village of Pratu Muang, but the main village with a a significant police station.
You turn sharp left by the police station & head south on Route 1337.
Miss the hidden turn & the road continues straight on & it is a beauty indeed

I carried on joyfully..then

Then I realised I had missed the turn at Pratu Muang.

So back to Pratu Muang & turn onto R1337.
Not all the bridges are in place yet.

but the road is still deserted & a sensational ride

Going down a steep hill, there's a "hidden turn."

The road to the border. ...

th e concrete only goes in for a couple of hundreds metres & you're at the checkpoint

Stop here are the instructions!! Farang cannot go.

It's 9.7 kms of steep & winding dirt to the actual border, but you cannot go.
No amount of sweet talk was successful.

The Google Maps location of the checkpoint
Google Maps


So here's to hoping that

this comes off & it maybe possible for this special one off trip.


The Ton Nun checkpoint is on the GTR Mae Hong Son Lop map.
Officially this is a locals only border crossing.
People of both sides have been hoping for a couple of years now that this border crossing would become full international.
It certainly would be a massive boost for Mae Hong Son & Loi Kaw in Myanmar, but it is still away off until the government in Myanmar can conclude a peace deal with Kayan state & implement the official rule of law for international border crossings. This is a similar problem for the proposed border crossings at Arunothai & Piang Luang, areas that are not under the full control of the central government of Myanmar.
Stay tuned.

 

[DavidFL]

Sadly no approval for farang from the relevant governors on both sides has come through. So it is locals only for the 13-16 January caravan event.

 

[ianyonok]

I was there in July 2014. I'm pretty sure that I rode the 10.8 klms dirt road to the border.

From here (same sign as in your photo above, but it was all dirt then);

It was a smooth wide dirt road but very steep in places.

I came to the border crossing at the actual border. There was no-one else on the road at the time.

Then looking back from this point;

I recall thinking at the time that it was a beautiful road, through big forest, but that many people would have a hard time driving along it, as it had many steep hills up and down.

Actually, the loop you did is really only half the loop... The full loop starts north of Khun Yuam and runs about 25 klms west and then south to Pratu Muang.
All lovely stuff, indeed.

 

[DavidFL]

Time for another look, next trip to MHS after the wet season has finished...

Thanks for the report Ian. I somehow missed it.

 

[Guzzibs]

I did the dirt section last week which loops back to the main road north of Khun Yuam. Very peaceful bit of bush pretty easy going although the gravel is a bit loose and rocky. Sorry no pics.

 

[DavidFL]

I did the dirt section last week which loops back to the main road north of Khun Yuam. Very peaceful bit of bush pretty easy going although the gravel is a bit loose and rocky. Sorry no pics.

Thanks for the update.
You have to wonder how long before they asphalt that section, because it would seem long overdue.