Umphang is a small town at the end of Death Highway with little to offer; but it does have a coffee shop (something I regard essential to maintain life), wherein can also be found a selection of souvenirs of varying quality from crap to very crap. One product is a sticker sporting the message “I survived the 1,219 corners of Death Highway”. Somewhat chancing fate to buy such a sticker in Umphang, because most likely you are planning to make the return journey to Mae Sot at some point and who knows what might happen…
Actually, probably nothing. The Death Highway is named not for the frequency of road accidents, but for the fact that various groups of insurgents were against the idea of building the road and vented their displeasure by slaughtering construction workers. One of the reasons why the road took more than ten years to build, the other being the fact that it stretches through 150 kilometres of mountainous scenery and must have been a substantial engineering and logistical challenge (“we seem to have lost the last batch of labourers, please send more”).
The scenery is beautiful and the road is well made, if a little twisty and littered with obstructions.
For the first thirty kilometres it is a very enjoyable experience; then you realise you have another one hundred and twenty kilometres of the same to go and the attraction starts to wane. One thing I found frustrating was the placement of “windy road” road signs every half kilometre.
If they had put one sign at the start with a message underneath saying “For the next 150 kilometres”, then they could have saved some time and money. But then, no doubt somebody’s cousin was in the road sign business.
There is a rest stop conveniently situated halfway along the route where they serve tea prepared and served in a most complex manner, but which to my palate was not as good as an Earl Grey tea bag, although of course I didn’t say so.
Still, it was pleasant to sit and sip tea in the cool mountain sunshine, and watch other travellers who were having a less comfortable journey than us. This truck was carrying sixteen people….
Of course, with three women in our group, the refreshment stop also turned into a snack and silly hat purchasing stop which went on for close to an hour. I looked for a “I survived the 1,219 corners of Death Highway with three women in the back of the vehicle” sticker in Umphang, but they appeared to be out of stock.
Comments 🔗
2009-11-09| genuinej saysGreat that you have returned safely. Your survival skills are to be admired, and envied
2009-11-09| genuinej saysps, !
2009-11-09| Spike saysenvied
2009-11-09| Spike saysps, ?
2009-11-09| genuinej saysIt’s in Dictionary.com.
- To feel envy toward.
- To regard with envy.
2009-11-09| Spike saysThanks. I searched Google but there are no dictionaries.