Walking (Partway) to Mae Hong Son

I am now in Mae Hong Son, Thailand. I got up pretty early this morning and started walking along the highway to get a ride. I started by the highway marker saying my destination was 111 km away. By the time I arrived at the 106 km marker, I still hadn't gotten a ride.

Seen in font of a military base while walking along the highway.

I kept going and finally a motorbike stopped for me. It was none other than Brian, the Canadian guy I met at my hostel last night. He had rented a motorbike and was just riding around when we crossed paths. He told me he would take me a few kilometers ahead and I hopped on the back of the bike. Unfortunately, I was wearing my heavy backpack so it really hurt my back. After ten or so minutes, I had to get off the bike. I got off in front of a restaurant and there were two other backpackers standing on the side of the road. I walked up to them and learned that they were from Spain and were also trying to hitch to Mae Hong Son. We decided to join forces and in ten minutes, we found a ride in a four-seat pickup. We threw our stuff in the back of the truck and got in the seats. The ride was a couple hours long and we made some conversation with the driver, who spoke pretty good English.

He dropped us off by Mae Hong Son Lake, where there are a lot of guesthouses.  I walked around and asked for prices. I quickly learned that guesthouses here don't have dorms like in other places so you have to rent an entire room. I ended up getting a room in the cheapest place I found. It's a tiny room and while it's still pretty cheap, it's the most I've paid for accommodation since Bangkok. I got lunch at a nearby restaurant then took a nap because I was tired from all the walking I had done.

Panorama of my room.

I talked to the Spanish backpackers a bit during the ride to Mae Hong Son. I had planned on going from there to Burma but they informed me that I couldn't because I didn't get my visa in Bangkok. I'm going to do some of the touristy stuff in Mae Hong Son tomorrow then try to figure out where to go the next day. It seems like there aren't many options that don't involve backtracking. I may end up having to go all the way back to Chiang Mai to take a bus to Chiang Rai or somewhere else. Frustrating.