The first time we set foot into that little town almost 9 years ago, we loved Mae Hong Son. Arriving as young 21 year old travel virgins on a speedy mini bus, the town, much like a lot of North Thailand embedded its green mountainous landscapes into our memories.
As time progressed having lived in North Thailand as expats for several years now, we accumulated 7 visits to Mae Hong Son. Forgetting the reasons why we fell for it originally so long ago. Mae Hong Sons lovely little lake. That changed after our most recent trip. It was like everything was on top form for our arrival, the town flashing its bright feathers to seduce us into remembering what we loved about Mae Hong Son from all those years prior.
The weather was perfect, warm and cool simultaneously with blue skies streaked with brushes of white. The quiet streets inviting us to walk further in exploration, leading us to new scenes, new viewpoints, new markets and best of all, new cafes! Sitting on the lake. We have had our firm favorite places to eat and drink for some time in the small town of Mae Hong Son. But this time it was like our eyes were seeing clearer as we strolled along as pedestrians. Not long after completing a circuit of the well known Chong Kham lake we spotted a little building hiding behind the towns famous Wat.
Exterior of Alawaa Cafe. Alawaa Cafe, Mae Hong Son. We walked in and immediately felt welcome in its urban chic concrete style, sitting down to enjoy a coffee while watching the remainder of the sunset outside the window over the lake. Alawaa Cafes trendy interior. Cappuccino Coffee. That was when we noticed that Alawaa also sells its own homemade soap. A neatly designed square branded with a cool font, the word RUB in large letters crossing its width. It seemed criminal to not pick them all up and sniff them individually before purchasing the smelliest kind.
Rub Soaps for sale in the Cafe. We thought the soap was a really cool feature to this interesting little coffee shop and we started to wonder what other places we had failed to find in the pretty little town of Mae Hong Son.
