Bust a Gut NW Thailand Dirt Tour, February 2013

[TonyBKK]

Another pic from the Pang Mapha viewpoint; my next phone MUST have a better camera!

We arrived in Mae Hong Song in the early afternoon and checked in to the Piya Guesthouse- I've always wanted to stay there but it's always been full. Nice clean bungalows for only 600 baht, beautiful grounds, and excellent location- best value for money in Mae Hong Song I reckon.

Beers at the Sunflower and a really interesting conversation with "George" the owner about riding and touring in Myanmar. Then off for an outstanding 2-hour Thai massage to work out the kinks, and a round at the crossroads and finally we finished off at the Chalet Pub-

Good night!

 

[TonyBKK]

Good morning from Mae Hong Song, Thailand! Brekkie at Salween can't be beat!! :mrgreen:

Looking forward to getting well off the beaten track today! We bid Bon Voyage to David, top up at the PTT and grab some snacks for the trail and we're off! A quick short blast down to the Doi Pui turn off and we ride up the 3006 which starts off paved but quickly turns to dirt.

This is the elephant trail in reverse, but instead of riding directly to Ban Wat Chan we turn south and ride through Huai Poo Ling and are rewarded with a fantastic ride through the mountains and valleys to the tiny hilltribe villages of Huai Sai and Kumin-

We made excellent time and didn't stop for many pictures- here's a good one though-

Lots of funky little bridges and some cool water crossings. This one, somewhere south of Huai Poo Ling, was really beautiful- the water was crystal clear and cold!

 

[TonyBKK]

We rock up to the tiny village of Kumin and it's party time!

Most of the adults are good and buzzed on their locally made rice wine, aka Lao Kao, which is a bit like Japanese sake and goes down smooth!
Moonshine! :lol-sign:

They invite us to hang out but we need to press on. Once again I am just amazed at the hospitality and genuine friendliness of these humble folk!

 

[TonyBKK]

Earlier in the day Dave thought it would be funny to kick some cow shit at me... No worries Dave, I don't get mad, I get even!

"Game on motherf@cker!" :lol-sign:

From Kumin we rode east/ north-east until we reached Ban Wat Chan where we stopped for fuel and an outstanding lunch. Then we rode south and east and we stopped in the village of Dong Sam Mun where we found Mr Tong, the guy who rescued Dave's BMW two weeks prior. Such a nice guy! He was just about to drive a pickup truck full of strawberries to market, but stopped and unloaded a box for us to try. Wow! Big, perfectly ripe and oh-so-sweet! Some of the best strawberries I've ever had! Not like the little sour ones I usually find here in Thailand.

We invited Mr Tong to ride with us as he's got a sonic with knobbies that looks like it can rip, but he had to deliver the strawberries but told us he'd love to join us next time. I look forward to it!

We continued south to Mae Daet Noi and took a right, heading south west on a fun dirt track.

Got caught in a rut and had a little tumble...

Missed a turn somewhere and ended up in the dead-end village of Huai Pok Kalong. U-turn and find Dave who got caught in some deep sand and had a little tumble. It's getting late and we'd like to reach pavement before dark. Finally we spot Mae Sa, descend, grab some fuel, and press on to Mae Chaem-

We arrived in Mae Chaem after dark and the town was in party mode for "Teen Jok" (sp?) festival.

The shenanigans continued and Dave was assaulted by a flying cat...

"Who throws a cat?!?!"

Fortunately we were still able to score some bungalows at the Mae Chaem resort, and we partied until the the wee hours when it got so cold we had to retreat to our rooms and call it a night.

 

[neil g]

Great report T

looked like awesome trip

 

[brian_bkk]

Great stuff Tony .

Looks like a blast.

Who throws a cat? Trent lol

 

[TonyBKK]

Thanks guys! Was a real ripper of a trip and can't wait for the next one!

Brekkie at the Sikon in Mae Chaem-

Unfortunately this restaurant will be closing in a few months as the owner is moving out of town... There aren't many breakfast options in Mae Chaem...

Over breakfast David pointed out some dirt trails on his map that he thought we might enjoy.

We headed out of town and up the 1192 towards Doi Inthanon National Park. Has that road been improved, or is it just that much more enjoyable on a KLX?

The 1192 intersects with the racetrack-like 1009 which we rode a little ways, then headed south on a twisty paved road that quickly turned to dirt. Some amazing views from this dirt road that winds through fields of cabbage and strawberry and can be ridden all the way to Chom Thong.

Many of the trails dead-end at farms. Here's Trent pretending he didn't just drop his bike in a cabbage field

I think it was on this day that we gave Trent a new nickname: Sir Crashalot! :lol-sign:

Some fun playing in the mud :mrgreen:

Lots of cool log bridges-

Another wrong turn (or is it?) and we end up in a strawberry farm!

I'm in heaven!!

We pigged out!

Really friendly folk. They sell these strawberries for 20 baht a kilo!! These would go for 300 baht a pint in Bangkok. Man it would be fun to spend a night here!

These kids were super shy, then again, they've probably never seen the Jolly Green Giant before!

Adorable! Even the dog was shy. I can't wait to take my kids here some day.

Trent had one more good wreck on the way back, managed to bend the hell out of one of his hand guards and bust up the switch gear pretty well, but despite his best efforts, he just couldn't break the KLX!

We made it back to Chiang Mai in the mid-afternoon. It was unseasonably HOT in town. Such a contrast from the wonderfully cool weather we'd enjoyed up in the mountains. Trent dropped his bike at the train station to send it back to Bangkok and then came over to Dave's house to get cleaned up and we went out for dinner and drinks with Dave and his wife before our flight back to the Big Smoke. I left my bike at Dave's as I'll be flying back up again soon to do some more exploring! Can't wait!

Thanks GT-Rider! See you again soon!

 

[monty1412]

Great report Tony.. I should have copyrighted the Jolly Green Giant comment.. when you up there next ??

 

[TonyBKK]

monty1412;287535 wrote: Great report Tony.. I should have copyrighted the Jolly Green Giant comment.. when you up there next ??

Flying up next week! Wednesday probably. Need to do some maintenance on the bike before trip to Laos. See you there? :happy1:

ps. So happy with the KLX. Tough solid bike and as Trent keeps demonstrating, so hard to break!

Reading about all the CRF250L's with burned out clutches, sheared off gear input shafts, failed cam chain tensioners, busted transmissions, etc I'm really glad I chose Team Green!