Hitchhiking in Thailand: Tak
12th and 13th October, 2023.
I quickly find someone to whom I ask about camping by the temple. A very nice man, instantly, shows me a large hall where I can camp. He shows me around the toilets and ask me a few questions in a very small English vocabulary. He then leaves me in the huge saloon all by myself.
The hall seems quite abandoned, and I cannot understand why. Wat Phra Borommathat is a very famous and popular temple around here, and up North, so it doesn’t make sense to me why everything seems so neglected. The toilets also are quite dirty and as have never had any maintenance. It is not that I am complaining per se, I am happy to have a place to camp and with a toilet where I can bath, I am just truly curious why the reckless regarding the care for the place.
I pitch my tent, without its rain cover, under a fan. The windows are also open so hopefully it will be bearable to sleep. Before going to sleep, I start reading my next book: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson.
Early morning, I wake up with quite a lot of people at the temple: visitors and workers (?). There is a huge Buddha statue, and from up there you have gorgeous views of the mountains around. The temple area is actually massive, with many buildings and other places which I have no idea what they are. Also, many shops selling food and souvenirs.
Walking around I noticed that almost everywhere has this abandoned tone, as the same in the big hall. Under the Buddha Statue, there is a whole saloon which I have no idea what it is supposed to be, also completely neglected.
I take my way back to Tak as soon as possible because I am hoping to get rice soup at a famous spot. Apparently, they open at 6 o’clock in the morning and close around 9, when the food is finished. I couple gives me a lift to the exact point where I thought to be the stall. But I was stupidly mistaken by the directions (as I easily realize later), so by the time I figure that out, they are already closed.
Asking information about this stall at 7-eleven, I get help from a lovely young girl who works there. She seems truly happy on helping me, and together with a friend of her, I realize that the famous stall is actually far from here, downtown, and near to the Great Shrine Monument. But I still cannot find out the exact location. The lovely young lady from 7-eleven drives me in her motorbike to another food stall which she considers to have also a great rice soup. Can you believe how sweet she is?
Now, this place is really nice! It is called Pa Mali Rim Ping Thai Noodle, located just by the river, so you can either eat in or grab your food take away and sit by the river, where there are some benches on a small floating pier. It is also abandoned, and a bit destroyed, but it still gives a nice view of the river, and it has a lovely shade from a tree to protect you from the strong sun. The rice soup is delicious! I also grabbed some of the local snacks, and after asking for some hot water, I go to the river to make my coffee and have it with some Thai cornstarch cookies.
Rice Soup
There is another spot I want to visit, which is also very traditional. And it is related to food too. It is a small food stand called Pad Thai Trok Ban Chin. It is located in a super cute alley, full of traditional Thai and Chinene style wooden houses, all adorable! It is all very simple but the atmosphere is so amazing! I get one vegetarian Pad Thai take away. It costs 40 THB. Read more about this restaurant here: https://www.tourismthailand.org/Restaurant/pad-thai-trok-ban-chin
I then walk to the road which will lead me to Mae Hong Son. I searched online before and it is considered to be a scenic route but because it is also tortuous, it makes the driving longer and slower, so it is a much less popular route among travellers. I just didn’t know that it would be so hard to get a lift by it, on my first day there.
10 Years Around the World 