Su Tong Pae Bridge, Mae Hong Son
A long bamboo footbridge across the paddy fields, built by villagers and monks to reach a hillside monastery.
Su Tong Pae Bridge, Mae Hong Son
Su Tong Pae is a bamboo footbridge running for around five hundred metres across a stream and the paddy fields of Kung Mai Sak village, south-west of Mae Hong Son. It was built by the villagers together with the monks of the monastery on the hill opposite, to give the monks a dry route for the morning alms round when the fields are flooded.
The name means bridge of merit, and it is maintained as a communal act - the bamboo decking is replaced by hand as it wears. Walking it puts you at head height above the crop, which changes completely through the year: bare mud, then intense green, then gold before the harvest.
Villagers wait at the near end at dawn to offer alms as the monks cross. It is a working bridge in a working village rather than a constructed attraction.
- Ban Rak Thai, Mae Hong Son — A Yunnanese tea-growing village around a lake on the Burmese border, settled by former Kuomintang soldiers.
- Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang, Mae Hong Son — Two Shan temples side by side on the lake in the middle of Mae Hong Son, reflected in the water at night.
- Tham Lod Cave, Mae Hong Son — A river cave over a kilometre long, crossed by bamboo raft, with prehistoric teak coffins inside.
- Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu, Mae Hong Son — Two white Burmese-style chedis on the hill above the town, looking down on the morning mist.
