Hi everybody, this is Johannes from germany, so please be generous and excuse all the mistakes that i will make.
after reading a lot on this board, i want to contribute my first trip report to northern thailand.
We, that is my wife (farang) and me, were travelling on one Honda AX.
The exact route was:
CNX, Pai, Soppong, Pai, Kong Lom, Arunothai, Tha Ton, Chiang Rai (along the Nam Kok river), Mae Suai, CNX
I will post some photos. unfortunately i had the wrong date in my camera, so the date in the lower right corner is wrong. our trip did take place in december 2009.
The trip started in Chiang Mai and we speeded a little bit on the first leg, because we had heard about a hilltribe festival in Soppong, wich we wanted to visit. And i will not write anything about the CNX Soppong road, because it is part of the famous Mae Hong Son Loop, and everything has been written about that a hundred times +....
We arrived at Soppong around early afternoon and heard, that the festival was still 2 days on. festival started every evening around sundown.
That festival was really a unique experience for us, because there were except us 2, only 4 other farang tourists. and hundreds of colourful hilltribe people and a lot of Thai Yai.
So it was their festival, and not touristy at all.
The different hilltribes, mostly black Lahu, Lisu, and one more Lahu tribe, had built little houses, typical for their tribes.
They had displayed their traditional food, that everyone could try:
Lahu food
Also they had built their traditional houses on the festival ground, and they had traditional farm equipment to show. they demonstrated the use, but were happy that we gave it a try too:
Both Black Lahu and Lisu did demonstrated a dance. They invited my wife to take part in one dance. Very cute!
of course, they had some fun for (real!!) men as well
on the main stage of the festival was the usual karaoke dancing of girl-groups, performed by Thai Yai girls.
We stayed 2 nights in Soppong, Little Eden guesthouse. On one daytrip north to the burmesian border, the gearstick broke, but it was no problem for the locals to fix that
The mountains north of Soppong are really great!
our bike was a little old, suspension not working too good, with 2up. but it was quite reliable.
some more nice hills
the next day took us back to Pai, wich we did not like at all. From Pai we took the gravel road to Kong Lom. this road was a bit boring.
Coming in to Kong Lom, we found a guesthouse, that was really fantastic. Accomodation was average, but the open restaurant, overlooking a peaceful valley was absolutely great.
next day, we went through Piang Luang to the burmesian border, had a look at a small temple, and overlooked the burmesian armyposts, including some bamboo-fortified hills.
went on to Arunothai, and high into the mountains. Seeing some pinetrees and vegetation, that we did not expect to see in tropical Thailand
our journey went on to Tha Ton, where we left the tar roads and followed the river Nam Kok eastwards in the direction of Chiang Rai.
There we found the Taiwanese owned Huay Khum Resort. Very pricy, but good location. Unfortunately with dutch families. it was 3 or 4 farang children there. very loud and very annoying around the resort restaurant.
Down below our bungalow a Lahu village. Picturesque.
next day we went a little back to the main road and visited Ban Lorcha, an Akha hilltribe village just on the mainroad. Some say, it is too touristic, but we liked it, as they earn a little money with that, and are used to farang.
From there we made a little offroad adventure from Khiu Sataa to Pha Kwang and then along the Nam Kok river all the way to Chiang Rai.
Some part were too steep and a little muddy, so our bike was too weak to take both of us up the hill. It was the only time, my wife had to walk a bit.
there was even a little water crossing. it was very shallow.
although we were on the "mainroad", sometimes we decided to "give way"!
in chiang rai, it happened to be the annual "Chiang Rai Food Festival", girlgroups dancing, and hundreds and hundreds of food stalls. Great experience for us!!!
next day, we saw a parade through Chiang Rai. We couldn´t find out what was the reason for that parade, but I personally liked those camouflage girls best!!
on our way back to Chiang Mai, we saw a Resort called Thad Luang Resort on the GT-Rider Map. A little west of Mae Suai.
Wow, that is a peaceful location. direct on a little river. very very nice, and no other guests around.
Highly recommended!!!
and this is a happy motorbike driver, relaxing just 5 meters below our nice bungalow
as our back-parts were really really sore, we were happy to be back in Chiang Mai, and made our last little trip down from Doi Suthep to the Huay Tung Tao Reservoir.
Happy end,
Facit: No injuries, two minor breakdowns, lots of impressions. My best motorbike trip ever!! actually the first one with some offroad parts as well.
Best wishes to all bikers in this forum.
after reading a lot on this board, i want to contribute my first trip report to northern thailand.
We, that is my wife (farang) and me, were travelling on one Honda AX.
The exact route was:
CNX, Pai, Soppong, Pai, Kong Lom, Arunothai, Tha Ton, Chiang Rai (along the Nam Kok river), Mae Suai, CNX
I will post some photos. unfortunately i had the wrong date in my camera, so the date in the lower right corner is wrong. our trip did take place in december 2009.
The trip started in Chiang Mai and we speeded a little bit on the first leg, because we had heard about a hilltribe festival in Soppong, wich we wanted to visit. And i will not write anything about the CNX Soppong road, because it is part of the famous Mae Hong Son Loop, and everything has been written about that a hundred times +....
We arrived at Soppong around early afternoon and heard, that the festival was still 2 days on. festival started every evening around sundown.
That festival was really a unique experience for us, because there were except us 2, only 4 other farang tourists. and hundreds of colourful hilltribe people and a lot of Thai Yai.
So it was their festival, and not touristy at all.
The different hilltribes, mostly black Lahu, Lisu, and one more Lahu tribe, had built little houses, typical for their tribes.
They had displayed their traditional food, that everyone could try:
Lahu food
Also they had built their traditional houses on the festival ground, and they had traditional farm equipment to show. they demonstrated the use, but were happy that we gave it a try too:
Both Black Lahu and Lisu did demonstrated a dance. They invited my wife to take part in one dance. Very cute!
of course, they had some fun for (real!!) men as well
on the main stage of the festival was the usual karaoke dancing of girl-groups, performed by Thai Yai girls.
We stayed 2 nights in Soppong, Little Eden guesthouse. On one daytrip north to the burmesian border, the gearstick broke, but it was no problem for the locals to fix that
The mountains north of Soppong are really great!
our bike was a little old, suspension not working too good, with 2up. but it was quite reliable.
some more nice hills
the next day took us back to Pai, wich we did not like at all. From Pai we took the gravel road to Kong Lom. this road was a bit boring.
Coming in to Kong Lom, we found a guesthouse, that was really fantastic. Accomodation was average, but the open restaurant, overlooking a peaceful valley was absolutely great.
next day, we went through Piang Luang to the burmesian border, had a look at a small temple, and overlooked the burmesian armyposts, including some bamboo-fortified hills.
went on to Arunothai, and high into the mountains. Seeing some pinetrees and vegetation, that we did not expect to see in tropical Thailand
our journey went on to Tha Ton, where we left the tar roads and followed the river Nam Kok eastwards in the direction of Chiang Rai.
There we found the Taiwanese owned Huay Khum Resort. Very pricy, but good location. Unfortunately with dutch families. it was 3 or 4 farang children there. very loud and very annoying around the resort restaurant.
Down below our bungalow a Lahu village. Picturesque.
next day we went a little back to the main road and visited Ban Lorcha, an Akha hilltribe village just on the mainroad. Some say, it is too touristic, but we liked it, as they earn a little money with that, and are used to farang.
From there we made a little offroad adventure from Khiu Sataa to Pha Kwang and then along the Nam Kok river all the way to Chiang Rai.
Some part were too steep and a little muddy, so our bike was too weak to take both of us up the hill. It was the only time, my wife had to walk a bit.
there was even a little water crossing. it was very shallow.
although we were on the "mainroad", sometimes we decided to "give way"!
in chiang rai, it happened to be the annual "Chiang Rai Food Festival", girlgroups dancing, and hundreds and hundreds of food stalls. Great experience for us!!!
next day, we saw a parade through Chiang Rai. We couldn´t find out what was the reason for that parade, but I personally liked those camouflage girls best!!
on our way back to Chiang Mai, we saw a Resort called Thad Luang Resort on the GT-Rider Map. A little west of Mae Suai.
Wow, that is a peaceful location. direct on a little river. very very nice, and no other guests around.
Highly recommended!!!
and this is a happy motorbike driver, relaxing just 5 meters below our nice bungalow
as our back-parts were really really sore, we were happy to be back in Chiang Mai, and made our last little trip down from Doi Suthep to the Huay Tung Tao Reservoir.
Happy end,
Facit: No injuries, two minor breakdowns, lots of impressions. My best motorbike trip ever!! actually the first one with some offroad parts as well.
Best wishes to all bikers in this forum.
