Sjennon sees the World #3 - Traveling the Death Highway by Songthaew to Umphang, Thailand

How far do you go to see something?

I guess, I go pretty far. 1219 curves and turns-far to be exact.

Hello, hello, hello! It's been some days but I am back and writing from Bangkok! In the last couple of days a lot has happened and I will happily break it down to you.

As I mentioned earlier, was that I was going to the J U N G L E. And this was going to be the start of our wild adventure.

^{Dem Danish peeps.}

Getting to Mae Sot

Super psyched and excited, we made our way to the Chiang Mai busstation where we would board a bus which brought us to Mae Sot, a city near the Thai-Myanmar border. Being picked up by a nice mister and his truck, we were brought to a hotel. We slept, sorta nicely (honestly, I haven't had proper sleep ever since I stepped on the plane from Amsterdam). The next day, we were picked up by a Songthaew.

A songthaew (Thai: สองแถว, RTGS: song thaeo, pronounced [sɔ̌ːŋ tʰɛ̌w], literally means "two rows";[1] Lao: ສອງແຖວ, [sɔ̌ːŋtʰíw]; Malay: dua baris) is a passenger vehicle in Thailand and Laos adapted from a pick-up or a larger truck and used as a share taxi or bus. - Wikipedia

So, basically, it's a truck which has benches and a roof in the back where they are able to stow people. In our case, nine people, including our luggage.

Traveling the road less traveled

We spend a wonderful, ahum, four hours going through 1200-something curves and turns to get our dizzy asses to Umphang.

While it sees few visitors, residents use it every day for work and to access services. Most of these are in Mae Sot, four hours away by road. Patients who need emergency treatment are ferried by ambulance to Mae Sot, while farmers transport crops such as corn there to sell, though transportation costs eat into their profits. - Nation Multimedia

Why go here? Well, my main attraction is to see the Thi Lo So Waterfall, the largest and highest waterfall in Thailand. And apparently, this is the only way to get there. Besides that, that jungle hike still intrigued me.

^{Anne was very amused}

^{I was even happier}

On our way, we saw several monks walking the whole thing, or a family of cows just chilling in the grass nearby a curve. On our way back, we also found some monkeys strapped to trees or abandoned scooters. I mean, what is this place? :o

As an Asia-N00B, these things definitely catch your attention and you put some question marks behind it. However, I've been told one too many times that you just have to accept things and go on with it.

Also, remember. There's this way to get there. But don't forget that you also have to go back the exact same route.

Means in total, we went through a nice 2438 turns. And trust me, with eight other people, you see some green faces more than often.

Real roads have curves

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^{My name is Shannon, I am a digital designer and I am currently on my world trip which I am exclusively blogging about on Steemit! :D There is not a specific goal to my trip other than to have fun, discover places and unravel the secrets of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia (for now). Follow me on my adventures!}