My first impression on Mae Salong (美斯乐) consisted of the following:
- it's very much like Cameron Highlands with tea plantations
- there are Chinese
- the people there can speak Mandarin
Mae Salong, located in Chiang Rai, is cool enough for the Japanese cherry trees to bloom.
It's more commonly known as Sakura (樱花).
We headed towards Doi Mae Salong after hill tribes visit. Prior to that, the driver said his friend informed him there were Sakuras on the way up (depending on the season). I hereby kept reminding him to stop when he saw any Sakura.
Mae Salong is very reminiscent of parts of China. Much of its history has a strong Chinese connections. Nowadays, a strong Chinese heritage is still very much apparent. Besides having Mandarin as a common spoken language, Mae Salong residents do have Chinese satellite TV.
The lady tour guide, Aof, bought 10 jasmine soaps for her friends and herself. Out of curiosity, I also bought 2, but my mum never uses any till now.
I was served different types of tea upon arrival. Actually I didn't plan to buy any, so I tried to shorten the tea-tasting period.
They look like Thai, speak both Thai and Mandarin. That was the first time I could speak Mandarin in Thailand!
Chinese words were expected. This is a school.
Adam writes a simple and nice-to-read history overview about Mae Salong:
The mountain is beautiful – lush and green, peppered with pretty little villages and occupied almost entirely by ethnic Chinese. It all seems so safe and innocent – and it is – but just 20 years ago, it was one of the most dangerous places in Asia.
For this mountain is where one sizeable left-over of the Chinese Nationalists sheltered after Mao's Communists won their titanic battle for control of their country. Since they loathed the Communists, they were cautiously welcomed by the Thais - who were getting a little concerned about some of their neighbours' interest in Communism.
But the Nationalists needed money to keep up their fight against Communism and turned to opium cultivation to make it. By the time the Vietnam War ended and Communism didn't seem quite the threat it was, heroin production in the area was out of control.
Eventually, the authorities persuaded the locals to replace opium with something far more innocent (although equally addictive, if you happen to be English): tea.
And that solution seems to have sorted out the problem convincingly, at least in Mae Salong. Just goes to show the truth in that old adage: a good cup of tea solves everything.
At Mae Salong, I had some satisfying photo sessions too. I met some Akha hill tribes near the roadside market. The colourfulness of their garments made me kept pressing the shutter :)
#1: She was selling her stuff...
#2: The driver and tour guide attended to her whilst I was busy shooting her photos...
#3: Eventually, she looked at me too, but I didn't understand what she said...
There are many villages in Mae Salong.
Teashops are everywhere...
... selling many other typical Chinese stuff as well.
I didn't spend much time doing shopping. Instead, we proceeded to the tea plantation. I was curious to see how similar/different it is from Cameron Highlands. In addition, I really did not have much time to waste for the kinda hectic day tour.
While moving upwards, we passed by the Mae Salong Flower Hills Resort.
It has a spectacular manicured garden area.
If you have time, sure you should go by public transports (bus + song thaew), stay a day or two there to savour the special atmosphere, and to enjoy the grandiose mountain panorama.
The picturesque scenery of Doi Mae Salong.
Should I leave you to enjoy the tea gardens without talking much? :)
Sorry for the lack of description, coz the main thing I did there was to shoot photos :) Nothing much the tour guide told me as well.
She was "negatively" influenced by me, snapping pictures non-stop, till finishing the camera's memory, though she had been there before.
3 comments:
This place is very beautiful. I love the garden.
Congratulations! We saw your photo (#3 of this post) being published in the Sin Chew Daily newspaper yesterday. :)
hehe thanks. i got to know it very late last night. too bad, the photo on the paper is so bright, and the comment was kinda negative :) but dun worry, i will practice more instead of giving up!
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