Shane
Active member
Interesting weekend on the other side of the Moei river… in the Karen State, Burma.
I definitely ended up getting a lot more than I bargained for out of this trip. Trucks, bikes, boats, super remote villages, epic waterfalls, armed to the teeth militia, gambling festivals, unbelievable trails and scenery, an insight into the Karen cross border culture and a starring role in a popular Thai/Karen YouTubers video
![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/7.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)
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Part 2….
Had originally planned on doing lots of dirt biking in Tak, but after a good few beers with some local lads around the resort in the evening, they invited me to go to a festival on the far side of the river.
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Hopped on a little boat in the evening to cross over and go to the party. The main events over the far side were gambling, some sort of variety show and hard core boozing.
There was a mixed crowd there. Thai, Karen, Burmese… and of course I was the only falang.
After a copious amount of beer, we were introduced to the village head, local militia heads etc. one of the guys I went with is a local YouTuber who knows everyone on both sides. The end result was that we were invited to go to a cool waterfall the following day.
Obviously, not one to pass up such an opportunity, I immediately canned my dirt biking plans for the following day and told them I’m in!
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The waterfall is about an hours drive from the river. So at 8am, still feelin a bit hungover, we all piled into a boat to cross over again. Then into a pickup truck for about an hour. The road was a windy mountain road cutting through cool valleys with tall jagged limestone cliffs and jungle.
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It’s like stepping back in time crossing the river. There’s no electricity in the village other than a generator. The buildings are traditional style with even the roofs made from leaves. The language is foreign, the cloths are traditional style and lots of people have red teeth from chewing betel.
Had to pass through a lot of military checkpoints along the way.
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Waterfalls were very nice. Beautiful cascade features with lovely clear emerald water. Was great to get in for a swim. Had a traditional lunch afterwards. Everyone that we met was super friendly. Lots of people came over to take selfies with me.
Kyone Htaw Waterfall
The waterfall is called Glue Thor. I presume the name in the google location is the Burmese name.
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The location of the waterfall is in the pic below and the google pin above.
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It’s worth noting…
The region is Karen state, in Burma. The area is controlled by Karen militia. This particular region is controlled by the BGF. It’s heavily militarised. The situation is complicated, but this particular area is peaceful. This border area has a lot of comings and going’s with locals as there are huge Karen populations on both sides. I was lucky to be able to get in as a foreigner because the guys that brought me there knew everyone. One of them is a popular Thai/Karen YouTuber.
For reference, this pin drop below is the town on the thai side of the Moei river.
Mae Tawo Pier
Mae Tawo Pier · HW67+975 Unnamed Road Tha Song Yang, Tha Song Yang District, Tak 63150
★★★★★ · Marina
It goes without saying, if anyone is reading this and thinking of going, just gotta be super careful, check the situation, make sure to go with Karen speaking locals and make sure they clear it with the militia on the far side.
All up, it was an epic adventure! I even started in a YouTube episode
![Beaming face with smiling eyes :grin: 😁](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/7.0/png/unicode/64/1f601.png)