Thailand
Mae Hong Son
A mist-drowned valley town where Burmese pagodas reflect in a lake at the edge of nowhere.
The Burmese-style pagodas of Wat Jong Kham and Wat Jong Klang stand doubled in a still lake, the mountains behind them swallowed by mist. Mae Hong Son sits in a valley at the very edge of Thailand — closer to Myanmar than to any Thai city of note — and it feels quieter, slower, foreign in a way the rest of the north has polished away.
Mae Hong Son is the capital of Thailand's most remote province, folded into a mountain valley by the Myanmar border. Its multi-tiered wooden temples with gilded spires carry centuries of Shan influence, and in the cool season photographers queue at Jong Kham Lake for the mirror reflections in morning mist. Karen, Hmong, Lisu and Lahu communities live in the surrounding mountains, many reachable by scooter on empty backroads. The loop road in from Chiang Mai counts 762 curves before it even reaches Pai, then keeps winding — the drive is a destination in itself, and the Shan morning market by the lake serves breakfasts you will find nowhere else in Thailand.
Solo
Remoteness, a Burmese-inflected atmosphere and mountain roads in every direction — Thailand without the polish, and the valley mist rewards early risers.
Couple
Lakeside pagoda reflections at dawn, the valley setting and an unhurried pace make a romantic escape that feels genuinely remote, because it is.
- Burmese-style pagodas doubled in Jong Kham Lake give the town a distinctly non-Thai atmosphere.
- The loop road from Chiang Mai runs 762 curves before Pai and keeps winding — the journey is the initiation.
- Morning mist fills the valley so thickly the lakeside temples appear to float.
- Shan and Karen mountain villages surround the town, reached by scooter on empty backroads.
Khao sen at the morning market — thin rice noodles in a light, tomatoey Shan broth.
Khang pong, the Shan deep-fried fritters of green papaya, shallot and banana blossom.
Triunfo
Brazil
Fog on dry-stone walls, in a scrap of rainforest stranded above the drought country.
Taliouine
Morocco
Three crimson threads leave each dawn-picked crocus in Morocco's saffron heartland.
Borgafjäll
Sweden
Ralph Erskine's Arctic modernism planted in deep snow where a long road stops.
Tafraout
Morocco
Pink granite boulders above almond trees that blossom white in February.
Nakhon Si Thammarat
Thailand
A thousand-year-old stupa town where shadow puppet masters still perform behind lit cotton screens.
Sangkhlaburi
Thailand
Monks walk barefoot across a hand-built wooden bridge disappearing into thick morning fog.
Thale Noi
Thailand
Water buffalo swimming through seas of pink lotuses while giant dip nets plunge.
Koh Kood
Thailand
Century-old fishing villages hiding up mangrove rivers on Thailand's last barely touched island.