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Wat Chan - Mae Hong Son A year back, soon after I wrote in this column about a Chiang Mai backroad from Samoeng to Wat Chan, I got a phone call from a reader who asked me about an off-road trail which allows you to travel from Wat Chan to Mae Hong Son without having to go via Pai and take the snaky Highway 1095. I didn't have an answer for him at that time. But today I do. Unlike the Samoeng-Wat Chan Road which doesn't appear on some commercial maps, this unpaved trail which starts from Wat Chan and goes further west to Ban Hua Nam Mae Sakued, a village just seven kilometres or so south of Mae Hong Son town, is clearly marked. Despite that, perhaps because of its remoteness, not everybody is sure whether this mountain road would be negotiable all the way through. So I waited till another cool season, when the ground is dry and the air is cool and pleasant, to see for myself what it is like. Follow me. From Wat Chan, drive out of the village via the dirt road that goes past Ban Den and continue westward through the pine forest to the Karen village at Ban Huai Tong eight kilometres away. From Ban Huai Tong, drive for another eight kilometres and you'll reach today's Point B, the rice fields in the valley that belong to the Karens of Ban Huai Pu Loey. From Huai Pu Loey, the road climbs up steep mountains until it reaches the ridge where the view becomes even better. About 17 kilometres from Huai Pu Loey, you'll reach an intersection. There, if you turn left, you'll get to Ban Huai Pu Ling, another Karen village. But our destination is Mae Hong Son, so keep going straight. Less than 10 kilometres from the intersection, you'll be driving on a well-paved concrete road. No, this doesn't mean that the Highway 108 to Mae Hong Son is just a few curves away. This concrete surface, which takes you to Ban Nong Khao Klang and then makes it easier, and safer, for you to get through a few very steep points, ends after only eight or nine kilometres. From Ban Huai Hee, the next village, it's a dirt road again. Six kilometres from Ban Huai Hee, you'll reach the fifth forest protection station of Namtok Mae Surin National Park. The Nam Hoo Haijai Cave is about 4.5 kilometres from the station. And three kilometres from the cave, the road surface is paved with asphalt. Three kilometres along this smooth road, you'll find today's Point F, the vantage spot from where you can see the entire town of Mae Hong Son. Well, soon you'll reach Ban Hua Mae Sakued and Highway 108 which can take you to Mae Hong Son in just a matter of minutes. I left Wat Chan at 9:30am and emerged on Highway 108 around 4pm. Trail conditions at this dry time of the year isn't tough but it's a beautiful route and I had no reason to hurry. By the way, my colleagues from the Motoring Section also conducted a road test to compare three 4x4 vehicles on this particular route. Their accounts should be published soon. |