From China with love

[Franki]

Hi David & everyone,

My name is Franki Yang from Hong Kong. I have been visiting this wonderful website since many years back but for the pass 2 and half years, I have turned my focus on bike touring inside China. Therefore, I came here less often. In 2010 January, me and my mates are planning a bike tour starting from Yunnan China, through Laos, Cambodia and finally doing a loop from Poipet via bangkok up to northern Thailand. Then we have to ride into Laos again before returning to Yunnan. We shall be riding 3 Chinese made Galaxy XTR250 enduro bike. Since I have been riding in your beautiful country before, I have been given the task of route planning. :roll:

I have more or less completed the road book for Laos & Cambodia (but still I would welcome any pointers). I plan to ride from Siem Reap to Bangkok in one day. I would appreciate very much if you can recommend some point of interests or nice roads north of Bangkok all the way to Chiangmai? Then I will try to link the points together to complete the Plan A :lol: I have travelled on the highway from Bangkok to Chiangmai before and it is very borning. :cry: Therefore, I do want to visit some nice places and nice roads between Bangkok and Chiangmai. We have about 5-7 days from Bangkok. I hope I have explained myself clear. Please do not hesitate to contact me any time if you have any question.

Thanks & regards,

Franki
[email [email protected]][email protected][/email]

 

[Franki]

4 days and 54 viewers, not one reply :cry:

 

[Muzz]

Hi Franki,

Did you get any photos from your trips? Be interesting to see where you have been. I am not very good at posting photos and stories but I will do early 2010. Good luck with your travels.

Muzz

 

[pee]

Hi Franki,

Travelling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on the main highway is indeed boring.
I usually work around that 3 ways:
-Load the bike on the night train to Chiang Mai and spend more time riding in the north where it's best.
-Head West towards Mae Sot and then North on Road 105 along Burmese border up to Mae Sarieng or Mae Hog Son.
-Head East towards Loei province , follow the nice road along Mekong river and then try all the small roads up to Nan.

Note that you need more than 1 day to do that (3-4 days to enjoy it)... Unfortunately the first day -exiting Bangkok- is going to be a boring ride anyway.
Wish you the best luck with your travel
(If you have any pictures of your travel through Yunnan please don't hesitate to post them)

 

[Rhodie]

Franki

Your trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok is really dull.
You might want to consider going via Battambang & Pailin.
You could take a ferry across the Tonle Sap from SR to B'bang if you want
to break up the day and have an interesting experience.
Thenyou have the option of islands [Koh Chang] or Pattaya with its neon delights.
Otherwise you could keep to the original plan of SR-BKK perhaps breaking the trip at Khao Yai national park.

Would heartilly echo Eric's advice with perhsaps a slight bias to slabbing it up to Tak
You could head out of BKK west to Kanchanaburi and then on minor but good roads to Kamphaeng Phet
with only a short section of highway left to Tak,
and then West on the great road to Mae Sot.
The border run north to MHS is IMO tremendous and then over the mountains via Pai to Chiang Mai.

Looking forward to an interesting road report.

Cheers
Rhodie

 

[Abg Acid]

Hi Franki,

5 to 7 days from bangkok to Chiang Mai, you can do quite a bit there.

1. As mentioned earlier, get off the hiway and head west into Mae Sot (1 nite). Mae Sot is bordering town with Myanmar. After mae Sot, head north towrds Mae Sariang (2nd nite). After Mae Sarieng, head north again to Mae Hong Son. This is a mountanous country and the roads are good too to play around on your motorcycles. Get a certificate here at a govt office , near the post office. (must spend a nite here) Nice place, and the wotn is not too big or too busy. Nice and cosy.

After Mae Hong Song, ride east towrds Pai. You may also want to stay overnight here. Its a touristy town with a lot of backpackers. Ther are many guest houses. Need not to worry.

After Pai, you head south to Chieng Mai. or move up a bit into Fang to witness the natural hot springs, or Don Ang Khong (mountainous bordering Myanmar) or enjoy the quitness of Mae Salong. All these can be done within 5-7 days.

or you may take option B.. The east tour . From Bangkok go to Sukhothai (ancient Ruins) - Nan - Pak Nai (the Sirikhit Lake)- Into the hills of Fu Chi Fa , Chiang Khong (bordern town Laos acrosst the Mekong) and then to Chiang Rai and back to Chiang Mai.

I wish one day, I too could ride into Yunan, China through LaOS. Heard of so much paperwork and permits of getting a bike into China through Boten Laos.

Happy riding

regards
AA

 

[burnjr]

Franki,
If u visit combodia from Laos(DAm Clour) and dont forget 4 K island..nice
place to visit..and when entre combodia u should try the best offroad and they called death Highway from Monokiri to Rattnakiri..nice scenery of mountion...is about 400km.dry and dusty from December to april and muddy during monsoon.XTR 250 is suitable for this ride. :arrow: :arrow: :shock: ..Franki can u leave ur contact ..
May 12 to 31st 2010 we will ride to Yunnan provience,until Dali /Tibiten.hope will meet u there. :arrow:

 

[Franki]

Muzz wrote: Hi Franki,

Did you get any photos from your trips? Be interesting to see where you have been. I am not very good at posting photos and stories but I will do early 2010. Good luck with your travels.

Muzz

Hi Muzz,

If you go on ADV Rider and search 'Franki' you should be able to find most of my ride reports of China. Here is a link to help you get started: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=486945

I hope you will learn to share some of your experience with us.

Ride on,

Franki

 

[Franki]

pee wrote: Hi Franki,

Travelling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on the main highway is indeed boring.
I usually work around that 3 ways:
-Load the bike on the night train to Chiang Mai and spend more time riding in the north where it's best.
-Head West towards Mae Sot and then North on Road 105 along Burmese border up to Mae Sarieng or Mae Hog Son.
-Head East towards Loei province , follow the nice road along Mekong river and then try all the small roads up to Nan.

Note that you need more than 1 day to do that (3-4 days to enjoy it)... Unfortunately the first day -exiting Bangkok- is going to be a boring ride anyway.
Wish you the best luck with your travel
(If you have any pictures of your travel through Yunnan please don't hesitate to post them)

Hi Eric,

I think I have met you before in Chiangmai?
Thanks for the advise. Sounds interesting to me.

I have been to Yunnan 3 times this year. Again, if you read my reply to Muzz, you can find my RR link. I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed the rides.

Cheers,

Franki

 

[Franki]

Rhodie wrote: Franki

Your trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok is really dull.
You might want to consider going via Battambang & Pailin.
You could take a ferry across the Tonle Sap from SR to B'bang if you want
to break up the day and have an interesting experience.
Thenyou have the option of islands [Koh Chang] or Pattaya with its neon delights.
Otherwise you could keep to the original plan of SR-BKK perhaps breaking the trip at Khao Yai national park.

Would heartilly echo Eric's advice with perhsaps a slight bias to slabbing it up to Tak
You could head out of BKK west to Kanchanaburi and then on minor but good roads to Kamphaeng Phet
with only a short section of highway left to Tak,
and then West on the great road to Mae Sot.
The border run north to MHS is IMO tremendous and then over the mountains via Pai to Chiang Mai.

Looking forward to an interesting road report.

Cheers
Rhodie

Hi Rhodie,

Great advise, thanks. I better dig out my maps and do some planning for plan B...

I will surely do a RR afterwards.

Cheers,

Franki

 

[Franki]

Abg Acid wrote: Hi Franki,

5 to 7 days from bangkok to Chiang Mai, you can do quite a bit there.

1. As mentioned earlier, get off the hiway and head west into Mae Sot (1 nite). Mae Sot is bordering town with Myanmar. After mae Sot, head north towrds Mae Sariang (2nd nite). After Mae Sarieng, head north again to Mae Hong Son. This is a mountanous country and the roads are good too to play around on your motorcycles. Get a certificate here at a govt office , near the post office. (must spend a nite here) Nice place, and the wotn is not too big or too busy. Nice and cosy.

After Mae Hong Song, ride east towrds Pai. You may also want to stay overnight here. Its a touristy town with a lot of backpackers. Ther are many guest houses. Need not to worry.

After Pai, you head south to Chieng Mai. or move up a bit into Fang to witness the natural hot springs, or Don Ang Khong (mountainous bordering Myanmar) or enjoy the quitness of Mae Salong. All these can be done within 5-7 days.

or you may take option B.. The east tour . From Bangkok go to Sukhothai (ancient Ruins) - Nan - Pak Nai (the Sirikhit Lake)- Into the hills of Fu Chi Fa , Chiang Khong (bordern town Laos acrosst the Mekong) and then to Chiang Rai and back to Chiang Mai.

I wish one day, I too could ride into Yunan, China through LaOS. Heard of so much paperwork and permits of getting a bike into China through Boten Laos.

Happy riding

regards
AA

Hi AA,

That was a well organised advise. Thanks.

Entering China with a bike is almost impossible these days. But if you have a bike with Chinese license plate, you are actually returning the bike into China and they might let you in. Rob from Chiangmai has done that many times. If you can't get you hand on one of these Chinese bikes where you are at, then consider buying a bike in China and tour around. I have 2 bikes in China that I use solely for touring around. I fly back to HK after each of my trip

Rubber side down,

Franki

 

[Franki]

burnjr wrote: Franki,
If u visit combodia from Laos(DAm Clour) and dont forget 4 K island..nice
place to visit..and when entre combodia u should try the best offroad and they called death Highway from Monokiri to Rattnakiri..nice scenery of mountion...is about 400km.dry and dusty from December to april and muddy during monsoon.XTR 250 is suitable for this ride. :arrow: :arrow: :shock: ..Franki can u leave ur contact ..
May 12 to 31st 2010 we will ride to Yunnan provience,until Dali /Tibiten.hope will meet u there. :arrow:

Burnjr,

Thanks for the advise.

I shall be starting my ride to Tibet from Yunnan in early May. If you will be in Lhasa, we might have a change to meet up there. Are you riding with the BMW boyz from Thailand?

I can be contacted by e-mail: [email [email protected]][email protected][/email]

Cheers,

Franki

 

[pee]

Hi Franki,

Yes we met in Chiang Mai... I went through your Adventure Rider reports with passion. Thanks for the breathtaking pics and interesting or funny comments.

About your Thaï trip and to bounce on Rhodie's advice
"Would heartilly echo Eric's advice with perhaps a slight bias to slabbing it up to Tak. You could head out of BKK west to Kanchanaburi and then on minor but good roads to Kamphaeng Phet with only a short section of highway left to Tak,and then West on the great road to Mae Sot. "

If you choose the West of Bangkok option (Bkk- Khampang Paet-Tak). I am not a big fan of the road 105 between Tak and Mae Sot. Nice fast curves but a lot of traffic. I noticed that you will be traveling on a light dual purpose bike. So i suggest this variation:
After Tak keep going north on the western side of the river (road 1107) towards Ban Tak until you find road 1175 going west which ultimately join 105 at Mae Rama. Not as impressive as your Yunnan trip but a small road with an intimate feeling. Then once in Mae Rama you 'll get the best part of famous road 105 towards Tha Song Yang and Mae Sarieng.

When you pass through Chiang Mai pm me through the GT-Rider forum we could have dinner somewhere.
Good Luck
Eric

 

[Franki]

pee wrote: Hi Franki,

Yes we met in Chiang Mai... I went through your Adventure Rider reports with passion. Thanks for the breathtaking pics and interesting or funny comments.

About your Thaï trip and to bounce on Rhodie's advice
"Would heartilly echo Eric's advice with perhaps a slight bias to slabbing it up to Tak. You could head out of BKK west to Kanchanaburi and then on minor but good roads to Kamphaeng Phet with only a short section of highway left to Tak,and then West on the great road to Mae Sot. "

If you choose the West of Bangkok option (Bkk- Khampang Paet-Tak). I am not a big fan of the road 105 between Tak and Mae Sot. Nice fast curves but a lot of traffic. I noticed that you will be traveling on a light dual purpose bike. So i suggest this variation:
After Tak keep going north on the western side of the river (road 1107) towards Ban Tak until you find road 1175 going west which ultimately join 105 at Mae Rama. Not as impressive as your Yunnan trip but a small road with an intimate feeling. Then once in Mae Rama you 'll get the best part of famous road 105 towards Tha Song Yang and Mae Sarieng.

When you pass through Chiang Mai pm me through the GT-Rider forum we could have dinner somewhere.
Good Luck
Eric

Hi Eric,

There are many China touring RR in adventure rider. Search and you can read more.

Yes, we shall be riding 250cc bikes but one of my mate is riding 2 up. Therefore, offroading will not be possible. I can only explore offroad when we are in an area doing day trip. The road you atlked about is black top or dirt?

When I get up to Chiangmai, I will certainly meet up with you and a few other old friends which I have not seen for a few years.

Looking forward to this trip. Dame if only I can get that factory to work on our bikes faster.

Cheers,

Franki

 

[pee]

Hi Franki,

The road I am talking about (1175 Ban Tak-Mae Rama) is black top. Poor condition in some partsotholes, occasional sand. Tight and twisty... Not the perfect race track but very doable 2 up on a 250cc... Just take it easy and enjoy. Charming...Much better in fact, especially riding two up on a 250, that the section of road 105 between Tak and Mae Sot. That would be dead boring... Your friends would probably get stacked behind a truck without the power to overtake quickly. Burp...

After Mae Rama 105 becomes nice and traffic light.
I am not a gifted photographer as you are... But just to give you an idea:
105 About 2 years ago. They had just completed renovation:

105 further before renovation:

Cheers,

 

[Franki]

Thanks everyone who has taken the trouble to give me some tipps. I think it will make my planning easier and more enjoyable on this up coming trip. Hope to see you on the road.

Cheers,

Franki