Sjennon sees the World #3 - Traveling the Death Highway by Songthaew to Umphang, Thailand

in #travel6 years ago (edited)

How far do you go to see something?

I guess, I go pretty far. 1219 curves and turns-far to be exact.

Hello, hello, hello! It's been some days but I am back and writing from Bangkok! In the last couple of days a lot has happened and I will happily break it down to you.

As I mentioned earlier, was that I was going to the J U N G L E. And this was going to be the start of our wild adventure.


Dem Danish peeps.

Getting to Mae Sot

Super psyched and excited, we made our way to the Chiang Mai busstation where we would board a bus which brought us to Mae Sot, a city near the Thai-Myanmar border. Being picked up by a nice mister and his truck, we were brought to a hotel. We slept, sorta nicely (honestly, I haven't had proper sleep ever since I stepped on the plane from Amsterdam). The next day, we were picked up by a Songthaew.

A songthaew (Thai: สองแถว, RTGS: song thaeo, pronounced [sɔ̌ːŋ tʰɛ̌w], literally means "two rows";[1] Lao: ສອງແຖວ, [sɔ̌ːŋtʰíw]; Malay: dua baris) is a passenger vehicle in Thailand and Laos adapted from a pick-up or a larger truck and used as a share taxi or bus. - Wikipedia

So, basically, it's a truck which has benches and a roof in the back where they are able to stow people. In our case, nine people, including our luggage.

Traveling the road less traveled

We spend a wonderful, ahum, four hours going through 1200-something curves and turns to get our dizzy asses to Umphang.

While it sees few visitors, residents use it every day for work and to access services. Most of these are in Mae Sot, four hours away by road. Patients who need emergency treatment are ferried by ambulance to Mae Sot, while farmers transport crops such as corn there to sell, though transportation costs eat into their profits. - Nation Multimedia

Why go here? Well, my main attraction is to see the Thi Lo So Waterfall, the largest and highest waterfall in Thailand. And apparently, this is the only way to get there. Besides that, that jungle hike still intrigued me.


Anne was very amused


I was even happier

On our way, we saw several monks walking the whole thing, or a family of cows just chilling in the grass nearby a curve. On our way back, we also found some monkeys strapped to trees or abandoned scooters. I mean, what is this place? :o

As an Asia-N00B, these things definitely catch your attention and you put some question marks behind it. However, I've been told one too many times that you just have to accept things and go on with it.

Also, remember. There's this way to get there. But don't forget that you also have to go back the exact same route.

Means in total, we went through a nice 2438 turns. And trust me, with eight other people, you see some green faces more than often.

Real roads have curves

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My name is Shannon, I am a digital designer and I am currently on my world trip which I am exclusively blogging about on Steemit! :D There is not a specific goal to my trip other than to have fun, discover places and unravel the secrets of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia (for now). Follow me on my adventures!

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These kind of stories are what make traveling great. There are beautiful views, amazing cities and awesome food but the parts that stick out for me are the ridiculously long bus rides, jamming 12 people into a land cruiser, or riding on the back of scooters on twisty mountain roads. These are the types of experiences that solidify you and your resolve to see more, do more, and generally interact with other cultures. Good on you! Great post

For sure. Exactly my thoughts! The destination is wonderful and which is what everybody wants to see, but I think actually getting there is more memorable. Not necessarily because it was awesome, but because it was so awful/crazy/funny/ridiculous/long.

Thailand is in my bucket list. I will take there lots of #goprophotography

Ah go pro is awesome! I am really considering getting one here too

Urgh, I hate the green-face-curve-journeys! I would be jumping off the back and laying in the grass near a monkey strapped to a tree until a wandering monk comes and laughs at me and picks me up with one arm (even though he is about a third of my size and looks like he is made of twigs) And then he would take me to train up a mountain and I would never return. Thats how much I wouldn't want to feel sick on the truck. But kudos to you, it looks like you're both REALLY enjoying the ride (haha)

Well that sounds like a very creative alternative too and I am really curious to see how that scenario works out in the end xd

It wasn't a fun road, but stay tuned as i have some results to share with you planned for the upcoming two days!

sweeeeet! Im tuned!

Wonderful travel..I like thailand..I appreciate culture.thanks share..

Awesome blog @sjennon!! Love 2 visit Thailand someday. I myself am a photographer, if you are interested than check out my work and give me your opinion!
https://steemit.com/photography/@whohow36/colourful-jungles-of-kashmir
20161227_153039.jpg

Did you vomit or feel dizzy after those 1219 curves and turns? :-) Safe trip.

I did feel nauseous! My friend Anne unfortunately had to ask for a plastic bag half way through the trip!

Okkk dr i follow you.

Waaa it looks so fun, i'm needing that in my life right now! (lol)

Aaah, this part specifically, not really! Haha!

Ur making me J

  • evil laughter *

Following you cuz after watching this post i don't want to see any of your posts ;)

I can imagine :p Thank you and welcome to my life!

your welcome :p happy to be a part of your life :p

Cool article!

(To be totally honest actually, all this mention of ‘curves’ and I was ever so slightly intrigued to see if there was an allusion/allegory/pun to possible something else😂, but still hey, curves on roads are cool too (if you like driving!))

Thanks! I appreciate it a ton! Sending hugs from the almighty and nice-internet-providing Bangkok.

You know - real roads have curves. I just figured I didn't need to argument that even more :D

Stay tuned to see where all these curves turned to!

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