Doi Pha Tang - a meander. Chiang Mai - Chiang Kham - Chiang Khong return.

[Moto-Rex]

Great photos David.

Lights Camera Action.

Love this photo,..trials riding on a Versy,.. wearing a pair of shorts, and no helmet.

The action man rides again.

Im sure Ive stayed in this room before, but if my memory serves me right, it was in Amsterdam.

Moto-Rex

 

[brian_bkk]

Moto-Rex;301024 wrote: Great photos David.

Lights Camera Action.

Love this photo,..trials riding on a Versy,.. wearing a pair of shorts, and no helmet.

The action man rides again.

Im sure Ive stayed in this room before, but if my memory serves me right, it was in Amsterdam.

Moto-Rex

The Versys handled it all right.. Bit like riding a whale...

 

[brian_bkk]

It was an interesting experience to be a part of this show.
Lots of waiting and re doing things.. We are masters at the art of u-turns.. One more time. Action.

On the way up to Doi Pha Tang,

What a view.. wow

Les

At Doi Pha Tang

Starting the long walk up

At the top and the cloud moved in from Laos.
An amazing sight.. The hot air / cloud blowing up the ridge face, then the cold air from Thailand blowing the cloud back in to Laos.
Should look pretty good in the documentary.

More to come when I get the photo's off my phone.

Cheers
Brian

 

[brian_bkk]

My pics are a bit out of order..

Some from the Phone..

Here we are getting an early start after breakfast....

Interview time at Ian's lovely place with all the classic bikes out (In David's pictures posted earlier)

The Golden Triangle

At Chiang San

Further along the Khong.. This temple is a little run down compared to 18 months ago when we stopped off for a look

Beers and Cheers at Tamilla Chiang Khong

On the way up to Doi Pha Tang

At Doi Pha Tang

Beer O'clock.. Always must stop here for a beer on this bend in the road looking at the Khong.

The friendship bridge in the back ground

Cheers
Brian

 

[DavidFL]

Gnasher328
Glad you enjoyed the info. The Phaya Phipak thread - R4018 The Phaya Phipak road is another thread that you may also appreciate with it's history of the roads & battles in the same area.
All these roads are on the GTR Golden Triangle guide map & it is well worth buying + carrying with you on tour so that you can use it for a reference to get an idea of the layout of the land & get the big picture of where you are & what you riding options are in the area.

 

[brian_bkk]

Rocky Oddvar and Rocky Brian ride the steps at Chiang Khong, while the other Rocky takes care of the steps in Philadelphia.

A short little clip playing silly buggers at the port in Chiang Khong.



Cheers
Brian

 

[DavidFL]

The Chiang Khong port "Rocky shenanigans" completed it was off to Doi Pha Thang.
It was going to be the luck of the game if we had decent weather = no rain, or not.
And yeehar it was good.

The road & view up

The Pha Tang road - an awesome twister

Stopped to admire the view

Look closely over Oddvar's left shoulder & you can see the Mekong river.

it was time to trap Oddvar into an interview with his thoughts on motorcycling in Thailand / Laos.

Oddvar Rykke interview

Oddvar practising his CRF250 trail riding

something he wanted to get across in the interview - how good it was riding here on a small bike.

 

[DavidFL]

The view on top

A brief Mekong view into Laos

while the fog 'n cloud cleared.

Discussing views & trench tactics

Filming in the Pha Tang trenches

Enjoying the fresh mountain air

Mountain filming complete back to the 'Khong & Wat Phra That Ya Mon overlooking the river & up to the 4th Thai - Laos Friendship bridge

& a final interview with Brian Bkk

a perfect ending to a magic day

thanks guys for the ride & fun.

Watch Destination Thailand TV

http://www.destinationthailand.tv/

for some clips in the near future.

 

[brian_bkk]

Had a beer with Les a week ago.. Shouldn't be long until the first episode is out.

His team think there are 4 may be 5 episodes from the 4 days filming.

First one to focus on Chiang Rai.

Cheers
Brian

 

[DavidFL]

UPDATE JUNE 2015

Out surveying for the next Destination Thailand TV episode.

Route 1093 was in perfect condition with stunning scenery on 10th June 2015.

Plus the cabbage patch kings - the Hmong - were hard at work

 

[DavidFL]

In the early days, when Pha Tang was first opened visitors were not allowed to stay  over night & had to  leave by 6PM.

1994 - the entry to Pha Tang from R1093 & Chiang Kham.

In 94 the road was still stony dirt

but cabbages were already king for the Hmong

 

[DavidFL]

R1093 Recommended Coffee shop
near Huak right at the turnoff to the Lao border.

perfect spot for a break on R1093. Cheap 'n cheerful, with some tasty  food should you need a bite to eat.

 

[DavidFL]

AS you ascend R4029 to Pha Tang & head south just before you turn off to the left & go up the steep road to Pha Tang, there is an large parking area on the left.
Most people don't take much notice & neither have I until recently, but if you look over on the left / hillside you can see this

The old camp of the KMT at Pha Tang.
Walk up the steps & check out the few remaining buildings to see a museum with loads of photos of days gone by - battles, visits of the King Rama 9 plus dignitaries from Taiwan. It is fascinating collection worth checking out & makes you wonder what a life they had in those early days battling the communists.

A model of the area and battle sites

A memorial hall for those who have died.

There are multiple rooms & buildings to inspect. If you are interested in he history and the old images you could easily spend 45 minutes looking at the scores of images. I took over 100 photos and have uploaded just a few.

Google Maps

See also Kmt Coffee Shop At Baan Mai Nong Bua.

 

[DavidFL]

A new accessible attraction at Doi Pha Tang is hill 104, slightly to the North

Google Maps