After being refused exit at the border we secided to take a road trip into the back roads of Trat,in the hills ,tghe 2159 and 3299 are great roads with spectacular scenery and riding and have been covered in detail by Captain slash.
After we reached the 317 Phil and Som headed to Aranyapratet ..whilst i attempted to enter the Bacwoods of Upper Chantaburi which is not well served by access.
Entering on the mythical 4009 a road that appears on some maps ,but not others or all GPS ,its a road that should go from near Makham in Chantaburi to Ban Khai in Rayong East -west for 140km but much of it is jungle ,some is dirt road and some is good tarmac and some bits are so pot holed and decayed that you wish it was dirt road.
Riding an S4 ducati its hard work on such a quest but fun Upper chantaburi is a bowl surrounded on 3 sides by mountains ,covered in Jungle and National parks and is a REAL LOST WORLD ..its under developed ,petrol stations are hard to find and most only sell diesel or 91 , no 7/11, hotels ,resorts ,banks ATMs its amazing to think you are not far from Rayong or Pattaya ......its a real genuine step back in time.
i had to return down down main route like 3407 to the coast 80km to find somewhere to stay at night ansd have a swim in the ocean , and explore more next day , some amazing scenery and good riding roads in places but other roads were in Terrible condition even so called A roads.
The biggest frustration was finding fuel few places have 95 gasohol . No cahance of 95 regular.
I also spent 5 hours tring to find the pass over Khao Chamao from Kaeng Heng Maeo , the road petered out on a dirt track high in the mountains in a wall off trees , the other problem is road numbers many roads here have different numbers on the KM markers from the maps or GPS data , also the GPS has big empty areas , all my maps of this area have different road markings and numbers and also there are not many ropad markers or signs at junctions , NOT EVEN IN THAI!!!!!!.
I headed down again to Klaeng and up the other side of the Khao chamao watershed , the road has same problem from that side but I am sure in a while it will be completed , so i turnes West and rode through the stunning Khao Chamao -Chon Lon pass and into rayong what a great fast beautiful road for a Ducati all the way onto the 3471 a real gem of a road for fast road burning with lovely bends all the way to Wang Chan.then on to rayong and home to Pattaya . 3 days 900km great fun .
Yes the Ducati performed flawlessly as usual even as impromptu dirt bike ,it needs a good clean, max speed on highway was 215kph with some more to spare.
pohoto to follow.....
Jerry
After we reached the 317 Phil and Som headed to Aranyapratet ..whilst i attempted to enter the Bacwoods of Upper Chantaburi which is not well served by access.
Entering on the mythical 4009 a road that appears on some maps ,but not others or all GPS ,its a road that should go from near Makham in Chantaburi to Ban Khai in Rayong East -west for 140km but much of it is jungle ,some is dirt road and some is good tarmac and some bits are so pot holed and decayed that you wish it was dirt road.
Riding an S4 ducati its hard work on such a quest but fun Upper chantaburi is a bowl surrounded on 3 sides by mountains ,covered in Jungle and National parks and is a REAL LOST WORLD ..its under developed ,petrol stations are hard to find and most only sell diesel or 91 , no 7/11, hotels ,resorts ,banks ATMs its amazing to think you are not far from Rayong or Pattaya ......its a real genuine step back in time.
i had to return down down main route like 3407 to the coast 80km to find somewhere to stay at night ansd have a swim in the ocean , and explore more next day , some amazing scenery and good riding roads in places but other roads were in Terrible condition even so called A roads.
The biggest frustration was finding fuel few places have 95 gasohol . No cahance of 95 regular.
I also spent 5 hours tring to find the pass over Khao Chamao from Kaeng Heng Maeo , the road petered out on a dirt track high in the mountains in a wall off trees , the other problem is road numbers many roads here have different numbers on the KM markers from the maps or GPS data , also the GPS has big empty areas , all my maps of this area have different road markings and numbers and also there are not many ropad markers or signs at junctions , NOT EVEN IN THAI!!!!!!.
I headed down again to Klaeng and up the other side of the Khao chamao watershed , the road has same problem from that side but I am sure in a while it will be completed , so i turnes West and rode through the stunning Khao Chamao -Chon Lon pass and into rayong what a great fast beautiful road for a Ducati all the way onto the 3471 a real gem of a road for fast road burning with lovely bends all the way to Wang Chan.then on to rayong and home to Pattaya . 3 days 900km great fun .
Yes the Ducati performed flawlessly as usual even as impromptu dirt bike ,it needs a good clean, max speed on highway was 215kph with some more to spare.
pohoto to follow.....
Jerry
