February & March are always a little disappointing for anyone wanting to see any scenery in the Chiang Mai valley and every year it’s the same story, fires, smog and itchy eyes.

Today I took the Yamaha down the 108 to Hot, took a left towards Doi Tao. With my GPS map showing the extent of the flood plane, I made my way to it’s edge down a couple of side turns.

Amazingly, the valley below, the actual flood plane, is immense and the current low of the river that runs through here is shockingly low.

I make my way up to a temple with a fabulous look out and talk to the monk who lives there. The monk told me the view in 4 months time will be much better and the water level likewise. I made a promise to come back as this viewpoint gives you a full view across the entire valley.

At the Doi Tao ‘waterside’ market area, there were plenty of stalls selling the same thing – Fish! But the water level is the lowest I have ever seen it in 5 years. You could hardly see any water at all. The meandering river bed is sparsely covered with a few feet of water. The moored restaurant boats are on dry reed bed and it’s hard to imagine that just a year ago when I came here with Ken & Poo, the massive ferry was making it’s was across here on it’s journey to Sam Ngao.

After fighting off the pressure selling tactics of the stall holders, I continued on to Doi Tao village and then before reaching Pong Thung, I took a right turn and headed down a road I hoped would link me up with a road Colin & I said ‘we should leave for another day’ when we rode this area one time before.

This road soon deteriorated from tarmac to dust and there is evidence of some work being done to renew the surface.

Indeed it was the link I was looking for and I eventually exited near the entrance of Mae Ping National Park on the 1087.

After a stop to watch a guy thrashing the Makham from the trees like a raving lunatic, I took a break with his family having Gluay Tod & iced water. – That’s all they had !

I took the 1087 north east back towards the 106 and found the turning to take me to the massive gold chedi that dominates the skyline around here.

At Sri Wiang Chai Temple / Chedi I found the place deserted apart from a few giggling tour guides and an amazingly large area for parking. The road leading up to the front of this is lined with pillars topped with Cow’s and the beginnings of a tourist shoppers paradise in the guise of souvenir stalls.

Back on the 106, turned left and headed for Lamphun. This road was very busy with loading and conveying of garlic as were many of the roads today.

Let me digress – I had earlier stopped for lunch in Hot. The first shop I went into, ordered Khao Ka Moo & sat to wait. The shop was busy and so was the cook. The entire shop soon filled with smoke as the grilling of something out the back was forgotten and I and a few others got up & left. Across the road, another shop was selling what I had set my taste buds on and despite seeing & smelling so much garlic all day, the cook said they were out of garlic! I was so disappointed and the meal was bland without it. I had been thinking to call this post “The mystery garlic tour”

After reaching Pasang I took a left to San Patong, taking the riverside road for a while which rounded off a really nice days ride.

Total distance 320 kms.

Get the gdb file here …

 

Photos will follow shortly – Currently uploading!

Once again inspired by Slash & his post on 2nd January, I wanted to see what was at the top of those steps.

It was well worth the effort. Puffing & panting, I emerged into the forest at the top to see a really beautiful temple being constructed.

I lunched at the t junction in Yang Moen and then took the right turn and followed my senses north east and eventually made my way through Pong Sa & onto the 1095 at Pa Pae.

To make an interesting loop back home, I took the right at Mork Fa after a coffee and rode through to the 3010 on the track I rode last year when very very muddy. Today it was dry & dusty.

Get the gdb file here …

 

After another very hectic week and feeling the stresses & strains of work, I needed a break & my friend John was feeling the same.

We needed a ride-fix and I suggested we do a loop through Chae Son, maybe even reach Chae Hom Dam.

It was a fresh start with the sun low in the sky, in the shade it was really very chilly.

From Sankamphaeng we took the 1317 up to Ban Huai Kaeo and then took the 2nd right turn, ignoring the signs to ‘Flight of the Gibbon’ and rode the 4076 with all the signage to The Jungle Flight.

At Thep Sadet we stopped to witness a new invention. To strip the husk from the beans, this shop were using a concrete tub that you & I might have water plants in at home. With a motor & a sandbag, it looked very promising.

The coffee was good & the tea too, so we bought some to take home.

Pressing on to the 1252, it was great to be in the mountains, the overgrown kerbs, narrowing the widths were at least keeping us on the middle & the less damaged tarmac in places.

At the guard hut @ the 1252 junction John reminisced about his journey along this road at night, wearing shorts & without a clue where he was going. 4 hours in the dark on this road would not be fun. He was keen to see it in daylight.

We took a right towards Chae Son and wove our way down to the 4329. At this point it was after 13:00 and to reach the Dam at Chae Hom would definitely mean riding home in the dark. So we did a right & arrived at the entrance of the park. With a few kind words, we entered free, as we had no intentions to see the waterfall but to ride to Haui Kaeo.

Lunch at the large restaurant just inside the park was a treat, the bird life here is a delight and we saw at least 8 different types of birds right next to the wooden terrace.

Onwards towards Haui Kaeo, we journeyed through the national park, stopping to gaze across the valleys to distant mountain view, through beautiful fords with clean fresh water crossing the road and eventually found ourselves at Maekampong, the waterfall & a delightful new coffee shop with a spectacular balcony & view down the valley. This was a wonderful end to the ride, a place to reflect on the days ride and what we were amongst. We were very far from the busy stresses & strains of our daily lives.

From here is was all down hill. Back into Haui Kaeo, down to Sankamphaeng and into the dipping yellow sun on a winters evening.

Get the gdb file here …

John was also eager to get out & I had a mission, to give a dog a shower at the School for Life.

I met John in Sankamphaeng and we tootled up towards Mae Kuang Dam zig zagging across many of the small lanes that follow the various canals up to the dam. At the 118 it was straight over and up to the right hand side sluce.

The water level is low but not as low as I have seen previously. We skirted the right side until the cow shed at the end of the track and enjoyed seeing the outdoor shower that someone must enjoy, with their chair, cool clean water and surrounded by nature. Idyllic.

We lunched at the restaurant on the other side of the water, John got ripped off and I got a bad news phone call. My Care for Dogs assistant Kh Thanida, had been knocked off her bike on the way home and was rushed to hospital, needing 16 stitches in her hand. Poor girl.

After the delicious seafood & curry powder, it was off to the School for Life via Huay Hong Krai Royal Project and there we met Kh Oh with her family of children & newly adopted dogs from the shelter, Hope & Freedom.

We had brought along some treats and a bottle of shampoo especially for Freedom, as his skin suffers from Seborrehea which makes him itch if not shampooed regularly. The children loved the activity, taking great interest in what I was doing and it is obvious the dogs have settled in. Although they were on leads when we got there, tethered to posts in the house, when they were let off, they stayed around, showed how settled they were and enjoyed the treats, children & attention.

Onto the Sankamphaeng road and met Kh Kung & Chai at their coffee shop and they gave each of us a lovely welcome & a whopping great Malagor each to take home.

This ride was very leisurely and so enjoyable, I nearly fell asleep on the way down to Chiang Mai, what a great way to spend a Saturday.

 

Today I cleared 2 railway stations from the ‘to-do’ list. It also gave me the chance to take the Yamaha out on a cruise and enjoy the comfy armchair one more time.

People have referred to the bike as ‘a brick’ but I think that’s a bit unfair. Sure it’s heavy but it moves really well and if you are comfortable cornering at 150kph then it’s a great ride !

After riding the D-Tracker for the last few months, this bike certainly handles altogether differently but I like it very much, especially for the acceleration, the sound and the ease of ride. If I do part with it, I shall miss it.

I took the 11 out to Mae Tha and then followed the railway back to Lamphun and called into Nong Lom & Pa Sao to check out the antiquities.

 

Just to make sure John didn’t go hungry, we arranged to start our ride from the Kao Soy shop opposite the Police Station in Hang Dong. Delicious!

Off down to Sanpatong on the 108 and we took the right to join the 1013 to Mae Wang.

I wanted to share the roads around Mae Wang with John, so we took a little detour up to the reservoir & back.

Up at Mae Win, today was like a ghost town. No rafters, no trucks full of helpless farangs being thrown into a perceived enjoyable activity, nope, they were all at the next tourist attraction, the Elephant rides!

Further along the 1013 which in fact is labeled as 5118 after Mae Win, we took the left to Mae Sapok Waterfall and this was a very pleasant surprise.

Back to the 5118 and onwards to the left turn to Ban Khun Wang

I like this road very much. The last time I was here was in the smokey atmosphere with many tree stumps still burning. Today, it was lush and very green. An altogether nicer view.

But the the closer we got to Inthanon, the lower the clouds & the wetter it became.

At the end of the valley, where last time there was a 3 km stretch of soil & dust, today the newly laid tarmac, road signs & crash barriers, made the trip through to the Royal Project at the summit of this stretch much faster.

Outside the Royal Project, the sky opened and the rain poured heavily whilst we rode through the mountain, straight through the check point unhindered and joined the 1284 and down to the junction of 1009 near the camping ground where we rested for lunch and hoped the rain would desist.

It didn’t abate so we pressed on regardless.

At the entrance to the Chedi park, I could hardly see 3 metres infront, the rain was so hard, the cloud so thick, we were in the middle of it.

I think I lost the trust of a friend. I said to John “There are 2 massive great Chedi, there and there” pointing into the cloud. John looked at me as if I was mad and with shivering lips which were slightly blue from the cold, he said he didn’t believe me.

Anyway, we had come this far, we were hardly going to turn back now.

At the summit, I did the obligatory photo shot on my own and due to the rain, only did the bike as to leave the camera unprotected on the impromtu dustbin tripod would be crazy.

John was now really suffering from the cold & wet, with his clothes saturated & the pak-a-mak clinging cold to his skin, he needed shelter & warmth.

After a hot coffee and the prospect of things improving down the mountain, we set off in the blizzard! Madness but we did.

On the way down we stopped off at Wachirathan Waterfall which was in full flow.

Down on the 108 the road from Chiang Mai was closed. The fruit growers were selling their Lamyai at the fruit buyers warehouse. The BiB were helpless, the volume of trucks delivering and lorries taking away, swamped the road waiting to enter & do business. But that was all held up because of a stage show & tambooning ceremony still going on in the warehouse car park!

Get the gdb file here …

Riders: Jeff, Ian, John, Con, Jamie, Richie, Neal, Ron, Bob, Stan, Mark, Wes

For some reason that I didn’t quite get, Jeff & a few others said they wanted to ride with me out on one of my previous tracks around the Samoeng area.

Well the call went out on the GT forum inviting folks to come along & meet up at Kad Farang on the Hang Dong Road @ 09:30.

Finally after a few nacho’s & buritos, along with what seemed a never ending flow of guys turning up on their bikes, we made a move @ 10:30.

Immediately there was fun & games in the car park with Jeff trying to straighten out his exhaust with a little help from Ian and then complete disaster struck when I took the lead out of Kad Farang and believed people would be watching where I was riding.

Big lesson.

So after a lot of messing about getting people back as a group but sadly missing a couple, we finally made our way up from the 108, to the Canal Rd, & through Nam Phrae to the 1269 towards Samoeng.

At Ban Klang Doi Resport we regrouped and took the left towards Huai Khwang Cave and on through until this track meets up with the 1269 again and did a left and rode onto Samoeng market.

After a short stop and then a refuel, we headed north to Ban Pok and Samoeng Nua.

Now on this stretch of red compact dirt, I think I realised why Jeff & the others wanted to ride with me. They needed a laugh. This route is great in the dry season but today Crystal Palace Ice Rink wasn’t as slippy as this track.

Belting up & around the summit, I was getting to think my bike was possessed, with a mind of it’s own, twitching and slipping and yet I was throttling steady and just riding as best I could with some hefty XR’s behind me with riders with immense experience staring in my mirror !

And over the din of Jeff’s shot exhaust I could hear laughter at each twitch and twist. I tell ya, I was screaming with laughter too as it was a fantastic experience & lesson – don’t hesitate, just push on.

Back down on concrete & then tarmac in Pong Yang, we regrouped again and did a short ride along the 1096 towards Mae Rim but took the first left up the 4027.

This is a brilliant ride, despite the potholes, it’s a good road to weave up to the summit lookout point. I will be coming back here as Ian pointed out a further ascending track up to an even higher lookout point.

The road construction work I saw the last time I rode here has it seems come to a halt. There is still much concreting to do but they have covered quite a lot of the bad part as you descend through Ban Pang Hai.

The roads were mainly dry except for a couple of patches where rain had recently stopped and as we approached the 1096 again, we felt a few drops of rain.

Lunch was well worth the wait at The X-Centre, tasty and reasonably priced. A fabulous ride which was made all the more enjoyable by the characters that came along too. Thanks everyone and I apologise for messing up the start but I think everyone enjoyed the route in the end.

Get the gdb file here …