Ban Mae Salong Noi Favorites

Favorite thing: In all, the thing that I like most here was that Mae Salong is one town in Northern Thailand that still has a relatively authentic air about it... No big hotel developments yet, and you still see a more than a few hill tribe people around town. (I'm sure that being so close to the somewhat unstable border area with Burma helps keep down the number of tourist a bit).

That said, though you can see mass tourism starting to creep out this way. The road into town is now paved, and the bus tourist crowd is starting to make the rounds here from Chiang Rai. Also a few of the signs about town point to tourism development, most omniously this Karaoke place right on the main drap through Mae Salong... . .

Favorite thing: With the history of this town, it should come as no surprise that Chinese influences abound here. Most of the houses in town are built more in a Yunnanese style, and as you look around the area, it's not hard to find other remnants of the KMT past here...

Here in this picture is a Chinese pagoda, which is located in a park up in the hills on the west side of town...

Favorite thing: I have to say that , although I wasn't planning to get up to see the sun rise (Roosters and prayer calls not withstanding) it was definately worth the effort, since the sunrise over the hills surrounding Mae Salong on this particular morning was quite spectacular....

Here is the view from the top of the hill, with a dragon detail from the paya in the foreground..

Favorite thing: The weather up in Mae Salong can be quite chilly during the winter, so if you are heading here, and you are on a back packer/cold water shower/bunk bed type budget, it might not be a bad idea to stop at the small hot water spring that is on the way from Chiang Rai. This will afford you that one last chance for a hot soak before heading up into the mountains...

Interesting place, they have a geyser type thing shooting off rottten egg smelling hot spring water in front. (not sure if it is natural, but I didn't hear no pumps running so who knows....)

Favorite thing: The road to Mae Salong is quite scenic, and now that it is paved it is also quite bearable. It winds up through very pretty mountains scenery and cuts right through two or three hill tribe villages along the way...

Where once the hills were filled with poppy plants, you are more likely to see tea plantations these days up in these mountains....(though not exclusively, or so I am told...)

Favorite thing: The nice thing about the morning market here is that it is completely devoid of any tourist hustle. Although I saw maybe two or three foreign backpackers here, 99% of the crowd was just the local mix of Chinese and Hill Tribe people milling about trying to scare up some breakfast...

In this picture, the Akha lady with the silver beads on her head is actually the customer trying to buy some local vegetables...

Favorite thing: While wandering around the outskirts of town I came across this statue of a Golden child, with umbrella and walking stick...

Its purpose ? I know not, though, who knows, it may have been the inspiration for one of those old mediocre Eddie Murphy pictures..

Favorite thing: There is a tourist market that caters to the buses and tourists who day trip out here from Chiang Rai. It is located just at the entrance where the main road comes into town.

Here many of the hill tribe come down to sell their wares. It seemed to me that the most prominent group was the Akhas.