Indochina(Thailand) - Post No 22: Loei to Nan to Chiang Kham to Mae Sai 900km

25 December 2010

Ho! Ho! Ho! Very the merry the x'mas to those celebrating it. As mentioned in the last post, me not flying solo anymore as Husref made his way up to Loei as we tour this fine country. I actually really like Loei, it's a small charming Thailand town, that's probably smaller than Kampar but it's well laid out and whatever you need as a visitor is nearby, which is basically lodging and food...hehe.

2 bikes now

We headed back to Nan as the South East of Thailand is relatively flat which equates to "boring" so back up North we go. Furthermore, I already came through those roads and I absolutely loved it and definitely don't mind doing it over and over again. 

Breakfast of champions, ......champion membesarkan perut that is.

Spotted in Loei...i "think" there's 11 bikes, not surprised if there's one in the front seat

genius? or madness?

I've decided that at the end of this trip I'll be producing a guidebook of some sort on the roads that I've taken so that it can be of use to others. There are videos as well so that you can see what it's like. I haven't sussed out the full details, guess I'll decide once I get to that.

One of the roads that we took was so good and quiet that we passed no one (except a herd of cows once) for a solid 40km of riding. On my own I didn't stop as I'm such a wimp but since there's company we stopped in the middle of bridge for a break. Yes that's right in the MIDDLE of a bridge.....so what do 2 bikers do when no one else is around? Goof around la...

started well and serious 

Mr. Miyagi would not be proud 

Hulkster rules!

Ninja school dropout.....Waachaaa!!!!

Circus boy

ok....enuff...back to normal haha

If you must know, this is the 1083 and I told Husref, it's like our fathers bought this road and gave it to us. Of course it sounds better in Malay, "Ni macam BAPAK kita punya jalan!" haha.

We've decided to keep our riding loose and flexible, with more than 2 weeks ahead of us, the main thing we decided on was 1. We're touring North of Thailand, 2. We're doing the Mae Hong Son, 3. We're gonna hit a beach. So other than that it's really a case of opening up the map and choosing a place to go, normally done over dinner or breakfast.

Have map will travel

From Nan we went up to Chiang Kham taking the roads that hugs the border of Thailand and Laos. I can tell you this, this part of the ride we suffered. The roads are not good with gravel and potholes all over the place. This is also mountain roads, so you can imagine how it winds left and right with many hairpins thrown in, so just add gravel and potholes, let it simmer for backbreaking 5 hours and you have a great recipe for balls in throat cake.

I'm convinced the recent heavy rains and major flooding in early November did most of the damage to what would have been an otherwise fine biking roads. I'm sure this will all be fixed but just not sure when. It's a good thing the ride ended with the 1148 into Chiang Kham, as this is up there as one of the best biking roads ever.

The bridge is down

What do we do?

I don't know man.....

Boohoohoo...I want my Mummy!!!

Haha....we didn't have to go through the above, but it does illustrate what kind of damage the floods did. I was trying to convince Husref to jump over it Evel Knievel style, but he's not buying it....damnit! if not I'd really have something to write home about.

Leaving Chiang Kham we were looking for a place to have breakfast and stumbled across this chicken rice place....yes chicken rice for breakfast. What we didn't know was it seems this place is really famous in Chiang Kham. We met local tourists from Bangkok who were on their vacation as well telling us all about it. The owner was also happy to hear that we're from Malaysia and took out his photo album of his trip to KL. So it's kinda nice that we're there as though returning the favour by visiting his place in return.

Chalem Phrakiat, the other border crossing into Laos

Children of the corn...anyone remember the movie?

Just awesome

Chiang Kham chicken rice

We made our way to Mae Sai passing through Golden Triangle, an area that's famous for it's opium trade back then and "ehem, ehem" even now some say.

We're taking a break in Mae Sai as we plan to cross over to Burma, so I'll update that later, in the mean time I leave you with some more pics.

Rice served was in the shape of a bear....awwww so cute.

Fuel consumption

1. Loei 233.5km 350 baht 10.16liter

2. Na Noi 310km 450baht 13liters

3. Chalerm Prakhiat 309.3km 450baht 12.10liters

4. Chiang Khong 216.6km 300baht 8.55liters

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Indochina(Thailand) - Post No 21: Chiang Mai to Nan to Loei 900km

21 December 2010

Another chapter closes today. I've ridden solo for the past 18 days going through Laos and Thailand covering about 2500km altogether. This actually ranks up there on the "crazy things I have done" scale, so I'm pretty chuffed about it. It'll be a two bike adventure from tomorrow onwards as I ride with Husref the next couple of weeks or so. (to the relief of me mum of course.)

A good guidebook

The last night in Chiang Mai before shooting off I had the pleasure of meeting Pat and Sheonagh in Chiang Mai. Two gutsy ladies going around the world on 2 bikes. They spent 3 months in Malaysia and absolutely loved it. You can read their stories here.

Sho and Pat

After quite a bit of riding in Thailand I must say their infrastructure as far as roads go is just top notch. Honestly I do think many of the roads here make little or no economic sense judging by the traffic but I'm just glad they did it. It's all numbered as well so just grab a map and plot your route by the numbered roads

It's about 380kms from Chiang Mai to Nan and I headed out to Phayao so that I can take the famous 1148 from there to Nan. Phayao is a good place to have your lunch break as there's plenty of restaurants near the lake. I had a fried rice with chicken and when it was time to pay I got a shock when he tells me it's 25baht. I'm like, what? you gotta be kidding? a full on meal for US80cents? brilliant! Usually, this is when my brain goes into the "hmmmm i could live here" mode...haha

man made lake in 1939

blue bike+blue restaurant=cheap fried rice with chicken no less.

Now having done all the way from Chiang Mai to Loei via Nan, I can safely say, it's a bikers heaven. The road is just well paved and smooth, there's a bit of road works or cracks here and there, but nowhere near to stopping you enjoying the rest of it. Any type of bikes will appreciate either the road or the view or in many instances both. You have so many options to take as the road forks here and there just to get to where you're heading. Traffic is extremely light in these parts as well.

I actually took the wrong way to Loei and spent an hour back tracking and totally loved it cause the road was just too good. Fast left and right sweeps taken at a leisurely 80 to 100km and your only regret would be that it's ended, but soon enough you get onto another set of sweeps and it starts all over again. The 1026 and 1268 into Loei are roads that I would do over and over again, that's how good it was.

check out the road

I kid you not about the traffic 

When I reached Loei I met Chris, another biker in the hotel who came in from Nong Khai, and we're just exchanging stories about the roads we've been through. I echo his sentiments that sometimes you just want to stop every 5 minutes to take pictures but at that rate we're just never getting there.

Chris from London

So after Vietnam, what's it like traveling alone? In short, I'd have to say it's been brilliant. I met and made friends with so many people with common interest that it's just unbelievable. Many roads that I took had literally no traffic on it, so it was just me. That's when it does occur to me that if anything was to happen to me here, No 1, nobody would know, No 2, I'm royally screwed. So I'm grateful to God that it all went smooth for me. You can be amazingly flexible with your schedule, ride when I want to, stop when I want to and so forth. There are other challenges as well but I shall not bore you with details. I'd just like to say that I would definitely like to do this again.

My company for the past 18 days

Fuel Consumption

1. Chiang Mai 360km 460baht 13.3liters

2. Phayao 158km 225baht 6.5liters

3. Nan 240.5km 420baht 11.18liters

4. Na Muen 156km 225baht 6.51liters

5. Phu Rua (just b4 Loei) 267km 330baht 9.71liters

Indochina(Thailand) - Post No 20: Chiang Mai

17 December 2010

Tomorrow marks my 30th day on the road since leaving Malaysia and I'm celebrating it by heading out to Nan via highway 1148. Google this highway and you'll find bold claims of it being if not one of the best, then THE best motorcycling highway in Thailand, so I'm really looking forward to it.

I stayed in Chiang Mai longer than I wanted to as I needed to send the bike in for service, it's sounding a bit rough, with the oil pressure light coming on when in town and cutting out on a couple of occasion. Well after 6000km in 20 plus days I guess this is normal. 

In the mean time it does give me the time to explore this city which I did predominantly on foot. I was lucky to discover Rider's Cafe, and meet the owner Phillip. In fact it was him that told me about Nan and Loei, not only that, also lent me his copy of the Guidebook to Golden Triangle, chronicling the best motorcycling routes in North Thailand. He's just opened the place less than a week, restaurant cum guesthouse. He's a good go to guy if you need any information with relating to biking in Thailand.

When u own the place you get to park your KTM and Harley there...

The city is definitely easy to navigate and walk around, with main attractions such as the Wats and market nearby. Though it's the 2nd largest city in Thailand it's far more relaxed. It also has a moat around it as you see remnants of the gate that used to surround this city.

Tired walking? take tuk tuk la

Moat

Back to the bike, today I received a call from them saying that the bike is ready so I said I'm making my way there straight away. I think there must have been a miscommunication somewhere as by the time I got there they were out for lunch and asked me to come back in an hour. At first I wasn't too pleased until they offered to send me to Carrefour for lunch and pick me up again in an hours time. So that's awesome service there.

The work done on the bike was pretty extensive with the main cause of cutting out attributed to the plugs. I was shocked to see rust on one of the plugs, something I had not counted on for a new bike. You can see it for yourself.

The other stuff done includes:

1. Service - oil and oil filter change, includes flushing as well

2. Cleaned the chain, adjusted the tension

3. Cleaned the fuel filter (wanted to change but they didn't have it in stock)

4. Replace blown headlamp bulb.

5. Cleaned the air filter

6. Update the map

They had to take some time to update the map, but I didn't really mind especially since I had Ann to chat to.

Ann

The bike feels awesome now, far more responsive and smooth, sounds good too. The bill came out to 5,300baht, so pretty good value for money considering the work done. I don't mind recommending this place should you need your BMW bike serviced while up north in Thailand. Definitely gives me added confidence to continue my tour knowing that the bike is sorted.

Ask for Khun Kumphol when you're there

service bay

I'm gonna hook up with Husref in Loei as he rides up on the 19th where it'll be a two bike adventure from then on until we come back sometime in January. Do notice that I said sometime as honestly, I have no idea what date I'll be back, and that's what making this trip good. I'll end this post with something that a friend shared with me that just describes what I'm doing very well. Enjoy!