The Lang River...straight ahead...through the gates...
More ricefields in the vicinity of Soppong.
Upstream view of the Lang River from The Deck.
News:
The annual Pangmapha Hilltribe Festival will be held from 5 - 9 December 2007 at the county government fairgrounds. This is a local, non-tourist event and will include live music, a local food area, flea market, and the Miss Pangmapha 2007 beauty contest! Soppong River Inn is a sponsor if the event, and that gives us a table with seating for six right in front of the stage. If you are staying with us, you are invited to join us at the table on the 7th. Dinner will be served with food and drinks included. There are only four seats are available, and only available if you book from the internet...just mention that you saw it here and you're in.
From the progress marches on department, we can report that we have at last been able to obtain a high speed ADSL internet connection. Even better, we have in in-room free WiFi access for all our resident guests.
We were happy to see that Lonely Planet's new edition (August 2007) gave us their "Our Choice" designation in their review. That said, we should probably provide you with a few corrections if you have a copy and have been reading their description. Have a look at our About Us page for more.
Pai has nonstop air service directly from Chiang Mai via SGA, using a 12 seat Cessna Caravan turboprop with a flight time of about 20 minutes. With only 12 seats, the new air service is not likely to cause Pai to become any more touristed than it already is, but it does make it much faster to travel to Soppong from Chiang Mai, since Pai Airport is only about 40 minutes from Soppong by car. We recently took the SGA flight between Pai and Chiang Mai and the flight was spectacular. It was probably worth the price of the fare (1450 baht) just for the sightseeing experience of flying at 9000 feet over the mountains, over to the Chiang Dao area, a right turn, and then direct to Chiang Mai airport.
Also, PB Air have resumed their nonstop jet service from Bangkok to Mae Hong Son (Tuesdays and Saturdays only). It's only a one hour flight so including the drive from Mae Hong Son, it's only 2.5 hours from Bangkok to Soppong! Get a seat on the right hand side of the plane for an incredible view of Doi Kong Mu temple as you make the final approach into Mae Hong Son airport.
A Lisu girl from Nong Tong village (a short walk up the hill from the Inn), dressed in her finest New Years clothes. Photo courtesy of our friend Mark Harrison, who took the photo of her in our garden last year.
