Chiang Mai and The Mae Hong Son loop

Hello world! Im writing to you from the small city of Mae Hong Son in northwest Thailand near the Myanmar (Burma) border. Before we got here we spent one more night in Chiang Mai where we had a lazy day relaxing and prepping for our journey. At night I got a trad Thai massage and than Amanda and I went to a bar that was a tuk-tuk that turned into a bar. So it was a truck where the bartender sat in the back with bottles wrapping around him. Such a sweet little place smack in the middle of the streets of the old city. We conversed with fellow travelers and a bunch of locals. One of the locals showed me a drink called a Nikkito which is a Mojito but instead of rum it is replaced with rice liquor. She couldn't tell me what kind of liquor but damn was it tasty. After a few drinks we walked a couple blocks back to our guesthouse and got some good sleep. The next morning we got some breakfast at our guesthouse and than got on the road to travel the Mae Hong Son Loop. Mae Hong Son is the Northwestern province of Thailand and also a city. I was told about this driving loop from my friend Mike H,he said it was a must, so prior to traveling I did research on it and decided it had to be done. Amanda had never ridden a motorbike so we decided to head south first which we herd was the easier portion of the trip. As we leave the old city we are in search of a gas station cause I have absolutely no gas. Asking locals for directions is not easy but were told to keep pursuing in the same direction as our trip itinerary. And guess what? I ran out of gas! So what else do i do? I start pushing it down the traffic filled streets in search of gasolina but nothing in sight. After about 10 minutes a young man in a motorbike pulls over and starts trying to tell me something. Im not getting what hes trying to motion me and than i see him point to the seat so i sit down. This man ends up putting his foot on the back of my scooter and excels his throttle to push me down the road. I looked back at Amanda with a grin that was filled with happiness and amazement. These people are absolutely ridiculous. Where in the states would ever find someone doing this. And if someone who is reading this is thinking of specific place than let me know cause i dont believe it one bit. While going about 20-30kmh we reached the gas station after a few miles. I bid farewell to my friend and a he just looked at me with sincere happiness. He made my day and I will always remember that deed and hope to one day return that to someone. After much needed gas were cruising the streets of southern Chiang Mai in search of a Doi Anthanon Nat'l Park sign. We make it to the park entrance and pay the 7usd park entrance fee which was a lot for us. We didnt want to pay it but decided it was gonna be worth it. The next couple hours of driving, waterfalls, and dramatic scenery was well worth the money. We went from a hot mug city to a crisp and cold cloud forest. We leave the park towards the town of Mae Chaem going through some crazy twists and turns in the road. These are some serious turns and some portions of the road are very slick from the occasional rain fall. In the end we make it safe to the town and fuel up. We take a break to talk about if we want to stay in town or head for the small river town of Mae Sariang. Btw, its Amandas b-day! She decides that she wants to go forward and make the long trip. A little ways down the road we find out that its about 135 kilometers away and the roads were bad at this stage so we werent get great speed. This part of the trip ended up being really long and dragged out. We were tired, backs were hurting, and hungry. About an hour down the road we pull off to look at the map and a car pulls over to help. This women jumps out of the car and I can tell right away she is so excited to use her english. She is dressed in tribal wear and helps us with our directions. She ends up telling us to just follow her and she will point out which road to turn off. Now I've been getting worried because Amanda is scared of driving in the dark and the sun is setting quick. We end up getting to the city right before sundown, phew. This day was filled with up and downs so we are in search of food and sleep. With no reservations we stopped from place to place asking for prices. We found a real cheap but run down place and we almost stayed there. Amanda didnt look all that comfortable so I ran down the street to find more. I decided that we would splurge a little for her birthday and I bought us a night stay right on the river at a really cool guesthouse. It had air-con, a balcony overlooking the river and valley, and a real shower (the first one weve seen). We checked in and then walked down the street to a really cool restaurant right on the river. We got 3 dishes 1. Pad-c-eiw 2. Satay 3. Sweet mango w/sticky rice. All so amazing especially the latter. These were all enjoyed with several Chang's and good company from our neighboring table. We woke up late the next day and got on the road by 11am in search of the city, Mae Hong Son. The trip was 160km away and said to be a 3hour drive. It was an incredible drive and took us about 3 1/2 hours. We settled in at a guesthouse in the city center for 6 usd a night and went look at tours into the hilltribes. After looking at multiple tour companies we ran into a few Falangs (whities) and they steered us to not do them and we are so happy that we learned more. After having a beer with them we escaped a drunken repeater with a new friend. Jim, from Nashville was living and volunteering in the hills as a teacher. We left to go listen to the live jazz music being played by the lake but it ended up being american shit. One of the songs was Crazy Town- Butterfly, yeah i know really really bad choice Thailand. Instead we went to a little restaurant down the street and enjoyed some food and laughs. We said goodbye to our friend and than passed out. The next morning we got up early to walk through the markets and than drove into the mountains in search of something new, nothing specific. We found ourselves wondering through a waterfall, a mud spa, villages, a fish cave (filled with giant blue carp), and endless amounts of rice fields. The scenery here as Amanda says, is "breathtaking", lol. After exploring we went back to the city and had a late lunch and napped. And that brings me to the present moment. I hope you enjoyed this blog cause i know i did. See ya!