Route 1095 in my honest opinion isnt very enjoyable by itself what more when it is laden with heavy traffic....on my way down from Pai heading towards route 107 at Mae Malai intersection, the ride would have been much better if not for the tourist vans, small furniture lorries and veg trucks. But I got unlucky and there were plenty of them that day. Approximately 12 kms before the intersection between route 1095 & 107 at a place called Sop Poeng, I saw a very nice road side cafe/restaurant. I stopped for my 1st coffee break since MHS and what would be an early sandwich lunch break but I didnt take any photographs then for some funny reasons... Coffee was really good so I decided to have 2 cups. Getting tired due to heavy traffic and constant braking of vehicles for close to 4 hours, for some reasons I cant explain, I turned to the coffee seller for advice on which route I should take to Doi Ang Khang thinking local knowledge could be a way to go.
Earlier on, I'd decided to take route 1178 turn off from route 107 shortly after Chiang Dao towards the direction of Arunothai and thereafter using route 1340 to Doi Ang Khang. I am usually in favour of remote routes when biking and from David's GT map, these routes look more interesting and no warning of steep curves. But after 2 cups of bitter black coffee, I guessed the caffeine had some effect on me so much so I just inexplicably blurted to the cafe vendor saying "Excuse me Sir, I am going to Doi Ang Khang...(showing him the map) which route you think is a better one between these 2?" The cafe owner was, in his customary thai manner, helpful and with his understandable english he told me not to use the 4 digits routes I planned earlier and instead told me to use route 107 and at Sop Kha turn to Doi Ang Khang via route 1249 which he claimed were much better than routes 1178 & 1340. I thanked him and rode off in the direction he told me.... and the following are the pics:-
The first view approaching the route 1249 after Sop Kha.
15 kms onto route 1249 I came by my 1st panaromic view of Doi Ang Khang. If only the weather was better.
Same view different angle.
After taking a few more shots, I moved on. There were quite a lot of local tourist vans heading the same direction and a fair number of veg trucks on the way up with me the only bike on the road. Another few kms up route 1249 took a sudden turn of zig-zag going up with steep short turns...it would have been quite fun but a tourist van ahead of me in approximately 100 meters away panicked and braked screechingly loud stopping in the middle of the steep curve...it started sliding downwards towards me!! I looked instantly to my right side (opposite lane) for escape but coming downhill was a veg truck very close! I cant think much but to throttle up and squeeze through the narrower passage between the van & the truck and I guess I was extremely lucky to have made it...the veg truck honed profusely but I cant be bothered except to push myself up the hill...passed a checkpoint and immediately I parked my bike once I was on a levelled ground...that was a close one.
Picture of the immediate stop after the near death experience.
GPS show elevation of 1755m....which was no big deal if not because of the local tourist vans and somehow they all also shared the uniformly annoying look.
Honestly I was close to shivering in fear then...I took off my helmet and went off to a nearby stall to buy a bottle of drinking water...spent close to 5 mins sitting on the ground thinking nothing except there is no way I am descending route 1249 when I leave this place. I dont know what happened to that tourist van, but I saw no van coming up the hill top in the next 10 mins I was there...I seriously hope nothing bad happened.
By then it was already 4++pm thai time, so I headed off to look for a place to stay. I know only one place...DAK Nature Resort.
On my way to the resort, a common view along the roads in DAK.
Arriving at the resort....
Front view of the resort
Look like veg to me. But cant get confirmation from the resort's staffs who surprisingly speak very little english and no mandarin (I was expecting some mandarin speaking folks up here).
The last pic I took at the resort after being told that all rooms have been taken and unless I have a tent, I would need to move out to the next nearest town outside of DAK...(Now, I know why the cafe owner at Sop Phoeng asked me during our conversation earlier whether I have a camping set with me! I should have been more inquisitive.)
Off I rode off again trying to look for an alternative place to stay for a night. Reach some odd looking town centre with lots of stalls and shops , I stopped my bike asking some passer by if there were places I can stay for a nite but to no avail. Drizzle was making my search a pain in the arse..so I decided to descend DAK before it's too late....but no way am I going down route 1249 again.
I then remembered the original routes 1178 & 1340 I was planning to use and there was a town called Arunothai being nearest to DAK which I can reach without using route 1249...but I see no such signage pointing to Arunothai or route 1340. GPS wasnt being helpful either at that remote place. It was getting late about 5.30pm and I flagged off the first man I saw crossing the road in front of me...and thank god he spoke some english. I asked him about the way to route 1340 and he confirmed that there was a small route to the direction of Ban Luang will take me onto route 1340. He pointed me to a direction and said look out for a small signage stating Ban Luang. I thanked him and headed off ....a few mins later I saw this:-
Yes, I found it. My helpful thai friend was right. A few more kms into this route I passed by a small chinese look alike village. The inhabitants there looked like chinese to me. Roads were quite muddy & patchy but I didnt stop for pics and continued riding.
Suddenly my GPS started showing that I am now riding on route 1340 heading northwest and relief was instantenously felt.
Route 1340 was quite deserted and I came across this scenic view. Having taken this pic, I moved on and in less than 5 kms I stumbled upon a small flock of ponnies! They looked fresh and there were no rope or saddle on their neck/back. I instantly jammed my brakes wanting to take a pic of these horses but as I dismounted from my bike, all 3 horses took off abruptly up the densely grown hills and disappeared. Unlucky for me I thought as a pic of them could have added a great flavour to my RR.
Route 1340 was a hairpin route and quite enjoyable if one were to ride through it during day time but not when it was cold, wet and getting dark. After an hour plus and at about 6.30++pm, I arrived at Arunothai. An elderly chinese look alike man flagged me off the road and asked me in thai where am I going (presumably). As I took off my helmet, he instantly spoke to me in mandarin..."where are you going?" I replied in mandarin that I am looking for a place to stay for the nite. A brief conversation took place as he was interested to know where I came from, what race I was, etc. He pointed me in a specific direction and informed me that there was only one guesthouse in Arunothai but I should easily get a place to stay for 250 bahts a nite as Arunothai doesnt have many visitors. I thanked him and moved on.
The shanty town of Arunothai...filled with mosquitoes eventhough nite time temp at 9pm was about 15'C. I sought direction from some young boys who were playing balloons on the street to the guesthouse and lucky for me mandarin language was commonly used there. They were mostly chinese from Yunnan so I was told and communication for once was easy for me...But all were very camera shy
The guesthouse....like you could have guessed but beggar cant be chooser so I grabbed it. The owner was a chinese lady who spoke fluent mandarin but was also camera shy. She was quite an entrepreneur when she in a rather awkward impromptu response insisted that a nite would cost me 300 bahts and not 250 bahts as informed by the elderly man I'd met down the road. I wasnt intending to argue or bargain but just glad that I got a place to shield me from the cold for the nite.
Then came the part when I was feeling hungry...I havent eaten anything since that coffee sandwich cafe at Sop Phoeng...so I asked the guesthouse lady where can I get my dinner and was told that I need to get out to the main street of the town about 5kms away. I was reluctant as I was really tired and the thought of getting out that heavy bike from its tight parking spot really put off my idea of eating. So I asked for a beer...funny how come in Thailand no one drinks Guiness? Another lager for me and it was a leo lager...and half way drinking my beer while sitting on a concrete bench under the guesthouse's porch...a vehicle pulled over and I heard a lady's voice speaking english asking about a place to stay for a nite....that accent sounded quite familiar I thought.
I turned around and saw a family of 4. We greeted one another and I found out they were malaysian holidaying in Thailand...somehow they got lost on their way from Chiang Mai and ended up in Arunothai. Upon being informed by me that this was the only guesthouse available, they decided to put up the nite at the same place. After some warming up conversation, I realised they were from Kuala Lumpur just like me. What a small world. They soon invited me to join them for dinner at the nearby town which I accepted without hesitation. I was really glad that I can take a lift in their car and I wont be going hungry for the nite. Dinner was perfect despite the rather bland cooking and very uninteresting subject for photos but here is a lovely picture of Helmut (a german citizen with a permanent resident status in Malaysia), his lovely wife Amy (iirc) and their 2 lovely daughters:-
After dinner, we headed back to the guesthouse as there wasnt anything to see in Arunothai during night time. Helmut and I continued our conversation on our respective trip plans ahead and it was during that time I realised he didnt have a GPS except a very general map of Northern Thailand with very incomplete details and none of them speak thai language as well. I suggested that he takes photos of my GT maps as reference later since I have no extra copy to spare and we cant get any xerox facility in Arunothai at that hour. He was delighted and was very impressed with the details and information on the maps. I warned him about the steep section of route 1249 should he decides to visit DAK tomorrow morning as I will heading to Mae Salong next. We shared a bottle of beer before I bid farewell and retired to bed at about 10.00pm thai time after he learned that I will be moving out early as usual and most likely wont get to see them for breakfast.
It was a funny social reaction meeting people from home far away in a remote place. We felt close to one another, talking about families, friends and common interests all in a short span of 4 hours we got to know one another. That would not have been the case have I met them in Kuala Lumpur. The minds then at Arunothai were somehow more receptive towards another being and openly refreshing. Just like the way I remembered having met my 1st friend at school when I was a child. There was no preconception or prejudices neither was there any fake small talks. It was really nice.
Before I slept, I rechecked the maps and I realised that I would need to take route 1340 again tomorrow if I want to get to route 107 at the direction of Chai Prakarn-Fang-Mae Ai all the way till Mae Salong. This part of route 1340 was different from the part I passed earlier today from DAK. Judging from my earlier experience I thought the road was quite alright so I can easily get through this short cut. If I were to backtrack from Arunothai using route 1178 till the intersection with route 107 at Lai Thung, I would need to travel 130++kms instead of this short cut which was only approximately 35kms. But unknown to me, I was wrong on the road quality on this section of route 1340...
