Bikes, Buses, Boats, Beaches and Beer, on a Budget - Noddy's (mis)Adventures in Asia

BACK IN THAILAND - MAE SOT TO UMPHANG

So back to the border crossing from Myanmar and we were now in Mae Sot, Thailand, back to the Pongpicha Boutique House, where we spent just the night, at only 450 baht, before hitting the road again and heading south along the Myanmar border to the small town of Umphang.

Another place, like Sangkhlaburi, situated near the finish of a dead end road, meaning another back track on the bike but we’re already glad we came.

It was a casual day on the bike with us only covering about 180km, with our couple of stops on the way - Pra Charoen National Park and Tara Rak Waterfall. Another wild ride through tight windy roads, I think we went up and over at least 4 mountains to get here with some incredible views and some heart stopping overtaking of trucks along the way.

The journey only took us a bit under 4 hours, I’m thinking this is a good distance to aim for in the upcoming weeks, not so much wear and tear on our butts from sitting on that scooter all day! After a quick rip around town looking at accommodation options we ended up at Umphang House, a great little place with nice rooms for only 250 baht!

We rode out to Tee Lor Su this morning in anticipation of checking out Thailand’s supposed number 1 waterfall, but on arrival were told that no bikes are allowed for the last 26 km section of the journey and that a 4wd return trip would be 1600 bt! Plus the fucking 200bt farang entrance fee – my Thai drivers license no good for the local price here…

Needless to say, I told them to stick it up their ass (not really, but I was thinking it) and we left, headed for a different waterfall in the area – Pa La Tha, a mere 50km from where we were, though only 30km from Umphang itself.

It was a great ride once again, very hard not to have an enjoyable ride in these parts (or pretty much anywhere in Asia) but there were some real nasty potholes for nearly a 10km section, a couple of them very nearly throwing us off the bike, and that takes some doing!

We also stopped at Dot Mua Hoi Lookout on the way, a small pinnacle of rock in the mountainous area that provides spectacular views for as far as the eye can see.

After missing our turn and having to backtrack for about 8km, due to me daydreaming too much and not watching the GPS, we took a very short ride through the tiny village of Ban Pa La Tha and then onto some rough dirt tracks through the hilly forest, before finally reaching the waterfall.

A good ride, if a little rough, my mind couldn’t help but wander to visions of tearing through there on my dirt bike! The waterfall itself was nice, absolutely nobody in the area whatsoever as far as we could tell and although the day time temperatures are fairly hot here, it does get quite cold mornings and nights being up in the mountains, and the water was just a bit too fresh for a swim.

Back to the guesthouse where we Noi caught up on some much overdue laundry and I made some slight plans as to the rest of this journey. We will however be sucking it up and heading back to Tee Lor Su tomorrow, bending over, and taking the exorbitant cost of a waterfall trip, fair up … well you know where.

No point coming to such a remote place and not seeing what we came here for, no matter how ridiculous the pricing is. On the plus side, I have only spent 927 bt yesterday, and 584 today, (inc room) so can afford to splash out a little on our trip to the waterfall tomorrow!! Still pissed about it though!

Tara Rak Waterfall