Motorbike Accident!!!!

My third accident on the D Tracker and this time I  wasn’t drunk!  Robin, Blake, Jasper, Marc and myself all headed off on a planned three day trip to Chiang Rai and The Golden Triangle.  Day one we left Chiang Mai and headed up towards Fang and Thaton we then took the fun moutain roads via Doi Mae Salong and Doi Tung,  anyway it was a long day of riding and we were still in the mountains when night came. The roads were dark and narrow and this is where I came a cropper. I hit some loose gravel on a bend (which I  didn’t see) and lost the bike from underneath me. Everything happened so quick I still  am not sure how the injury happened but my best guess would be  to do something with my foot being trapped between the foot rest peg and the tarmac when I came off.  Oddly enough I there was absolutely no damage to the shoe or sock I was wearing.  The left side of my body was in some pain where I scraped along the tarmac but the foot was the most painful I assumed I had bruised or at worst maybe broken  something in there. I want even going to bother taking the shoe off until Robin suggested that maybe I should take a look.  Anyway when I did get the shoe and sock off I  wasn’t ready for the site of a two inch rip in the back of my foot! Despite the alarming gash in the back of my foot I dug out a clean pair of underpants from my bag and wrapped it around  the wound (mainly as a buffer as I had to put the shoe back on to ride the bike to the nearest hospital in Mae Sai.

Anyway the nurses and doctors at Mae Sai hospital done a grand job sewing it all back together and I now have a plaster cast around the foot which I have to wear for a total of 6 weeks  to give the tendons some chance of repairing m themselves.

Off roading in Pai 2

The main reason why we choose Pai for this trip was to try some of the off road trails which head into the mountains. I ended up hiring a Honda XR in town as the street tires on the D tracker were not up to the job. Anyway we spent the day in the hills having loads of fun on the trails and we passed through a couple of Lisu villages. I  planned to shoot a load of video clips for this trip so I could put together a 5 minute mini video for the blog but as I was having so much fun on the bike  I hardly stopped to get the camera out.  In the end this is all I managed.

Off roading in Pai

Just got back from our latest bike trip.  I have had the D Tracker over a year now and probably covered most of the interesting road trips in the North of Thailand at least once so we were looking for something new to do or a bit different.  We decided to take one of the back roads to Pai. Many times I have seen the sign in the small town of  Samoeng pointing towards Pai and some time back Blake had done this route.  This road is mostly dirt track and unsealed but I noticed this is changing fast, a lot of the road was in various stages of preparation to be paved so I would guess sometime in the next 2 or 3 years this road may be sealed all the way. Anyway this road was great and felt real remote it passed a couple of hill tribe villages and it was good fun, Jasper who also joined us took a little tumble but nothing too serious.

Doi Inthanon National Park

Today was a hot, humid and sticky day in Chiang Mai so this morning I decided to head off to somewhere cooler and what better place than the highest mountain in Thailand.  At over 2500 Meters the air is always cool on Doi Inthanon, and today as I approached the summit my fingers were numbing with the cold….nice!

44 KM from the top

About half way up

Pagoda near the top

Near Sirithan waterfall

Matt

On the way down

Sirithan Waterfall

Motorbike trip to Nan

A couple of weeks back I headed off to Nan with a few friends  for a three day trip on the motorbike. I have been planning a solo trip to Nan for a while now but after last months trip around the Mae Hong Son Loop, Blake and Robin were also up for another trip. While planning this trip in the Lost Hut we decided to take the scenic route via Mae Kampong.  I had been up to Mae Kampong on plenty of occasions and always assumed that the road must continue on over the mountain and even though it wasn’t clear from the map it looked like the road would eventually join with the Lampang – Payao Rd which we needed to get on to get to Nan. This route made for a scenic detour, it added a fare few kilometers  to the days riding but was well worth it and it also meant that we missed the busy highway between Chiang Mai and Lampang which was a bonus.  The rest of the route to Nan was OK riding but nothing special we eventually rode into town around 5pm.

I liked the little town of Nan although I didnt  get to see much of the place as we were  out of Nan earlyish the next morning but it had a nice friendly feel to the place and we had a couple of beers by the river before crashing out for the night.

Day two was the highlight of this trip as we rode a big loop around the north part of the province crossing Doi Phu Kha National Park then heading on up to the Laos border.  This road up to and through Doi Phu Kha National Park  was some of the best mountain riding I have experienced since getting my bike last year. most of the day was spent up in the hills passing through small rural villages and rice paddies. We took a short detour up to the Laos border as we saw plenty of signs pointing towards a border market although the place was deserted when we arrived.  We wanted to minimize the riding on our final day so we carried on riding for a couple of hours into the night towards Payao.

The road up to Doi Phu Kha National Park - Nan Province

On day 3 we headed home. This day was under 300km of riding and nothing to match the day around Nan, although the road between  Payao and Mae Khajan was fun with some wide hairpin bends through the hills. All in all a really enjoyable trip over the 3 days covering near on 1000km and I finally got to check out the really unspoiled Nan province.

The route up to Doi Phu Kha National Park

Gas Station Nan Province

A few Ks outside of Nan

Looking for a view point

The Road up to Doi Phu Kha

The Road to Doi Phu Kha

The Road to Doi Phu Kha

The Road to Doi Phu Kha

Rice Paddies

Laos border

The road up to Doi Phu Kha National Park – Nan Province

The Riverside Guest House Mae Hong Son

On our trip around the Mae Hong Son loop we stayed at this place “The Riverside Guest House” This place is about 15km out of the town of Mae Hong Son so you are probably going to need your own transport to make a stay here practical. The guest house is situated by the river just outside the small village of Huai Khan. There are about 3 -4  wooden bungalows. Things seemed quiet here and we had to call the owners by telephone once we arrived from a telephone number posted on the bamboo reception building as there was nobody there. I guessed we were the first guests they had had for a good few days. We were charged 400 Baht for a large spacious bungalow with 3 separate beds and they put on a barbeque for us in the evening. This place  is worthy of seeking out if you are looking for a friendly budget place to stay in the Mae Hong Son area.

River side Guest House

Riverside Guest House – Mae Hong Son

Riverside Guest House – Mae Hong Son

Riverside Guest House – Mae Hong Son

Mae Hong Song Loop

Ever since getting the new bike back in December I have been meaning to get around the Mae Hong Song Loop.  I finally managed this a couple of weeks back with Robin and Blake.  The actual riding was great and varied and really enjoyed this part of the trip. The road over to Pai was fun as usual with plenty of tight hairpins up and down the mountain. The road onwards to Mae Hong Song opened out a bit but still ran through some really stunning mountain scenery. As we  had all visited Pai on numerous occasions we decided to head right on up to Mae Hong Song and spend the first night there, but Pai is worth a stop if it is your first time passing through.

On day one we were kind of lucky with the weather, big dark clouds hovered over many of the mountain tops but we managed to miss all but some very minor drizzle. We made good time and arrived to Mae Hong Song around mid afternoon. Along the route there are plenty of attractions such as waterfalls, hot springs etc. etc. so plenty of options to stop and take a break . We stopped off at a couple of spots I have not been to before including the Fish Cave and Pha Sua Waterfall, the waterfall is great for a refreshing swim with some deep pools at some at the lower tiers.

On day two we planned to head south and spend the Night in Mae Sariang but dad had done this trip a year earlier and had told me of an interesting detour across the mountains which takes you the back way to Doi Inthanon National Park. We turned off the Mae Hong Son – Mae Sariang Road just before the town of Khun Yuam. The riding was good thorough some great mountain roads however the rain finally caught up with us and we spent most of the afternoon wet and eventually quite cold as we made our way up towards Doi Inthanon. Anyway due to the weather we decided to head home that evening but still a great ride over the 2 days and looking forward to another 3 day trip to Nan this weekend.

Phasua waterfall

Swimming at Phasua waterfall

Mae Hong Son Airport

Wat Doi Klong Muu Mae Hong Son

Labouring monks at Wat Doi Klong Muu

View from Wat Doi Klong Muu

Sunset from Wat Doi Klong Muu

Coffee at Wat Doi Klong Muu

Kicking back at Riverside Guest House

About 15km from Mae Hong Son

Rice paddies Mae Hong Son

Rice palanting Mae Hong Son

Fast food as finally arrived! – New ugly KFC outlet in Mae Hong Son

Wat Jong Kam and Wat Jong Klang

Robin

The road to Pai and Mae Hong Son

Near Pai

Between Pai and Mae Hong Son

Between Pai and Mae Hong Son

Fish Cave Mae Hong Son

More rice paddies

A few days in Koh Chang

Just back from my short trip to Koh Chang. This time I left Pinky and Tack at home as I wanted to take the motorbike for a spin. Actually I cheated a bit by taking the overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and took the motorbike on the train with me. Arrived in Bangkok around 7:30am and manged to get out of Bangkok before the worst of the traffic clogged up the roads. The drive from Bangkok to the ferry port at Laem Ngob, Trat was around 300km, arrived in Laem Ngop around 2pm and I was kicking back on the beach by late afternoon.

I was kind of lucky with the weather, I was expecting rain with it being the low (and wet) season in Koh Chang however I had 4 good days of sunshine. This was the quietest I have seen Koh Chang, I noticed this when I sat on  Klong Prao beach, I guess this beach must be around 3km long and I pretty much had the whole of it to myself for the day… nice!

My bike being loaded onto the train

Dining car kitchen

Someone taking a quick nap in the dining car on the train to Bangkok

Somewhere near Chantaburi

Somewhere near Chantaburi

My bike on the ferry to Koh Chang

Laem Gnop looking towards Koh Chang

From the ferry to Koh Chang

Klong Prao Beach

The deserted Klong Prao Beach

Sun set White Sand Beach

Sun set White Sand Beach

Sun set White Sand Beach

The now well developed White Sand Beach

First time I had seen wild monkeys on Koh Chang

Great chicken noodle soup on Koh Chang and a bargain at 30 Baht a bowl

Waiting fro the first ferry back to the mainland

7:00am at the ferry port Koh Chang

On the ferry from Koh Chang to Laem Ngob

Pai and Mae Hong Son

Me and Tack have just got back from a 3 day 2 night trip to Pai and Mae Hong Son. We are soon launching our new website aimed at arranging package tours for Thai domestic tourists. For this site we are in need of some good promo photos. Anyway after considering contracting the services of a professional photographer we though we might have a go at taking the pictures ourselves. This time we took the motorbike and left little Pinky with mother-in-law. A semi successful trip I thought Well here’s a small selection some of which I am sure will end up on our website.

Mae Tang Road

Nearly there

Iron Bridge over the river Pai

pai t shirt

Coffee in Love

Just outside Coffee in Love

Coffee in Love

Tack at Coffee in Love

pai signs

A bucket!

sign

Black Canyon Coffee

Postcard writing is big in Pai

Hill Tribe lady on walking street

There is plenty of demand for dreadlock servicing in Pai

Pai has become a lively place to shop at night

Bamboo riverside bungalows

Bamboo Bridge

Bamboo bridge over the river Pai

Loads of stuff to do in Pai

More Coffee in Love

Cool little art gallery in pai

Coffee in Love again

3km to Pai

Tack at Coffee in Love

Tack at Coffee in Love

Samoeng Strawberry Festival

Today Tack and I headed over to Samoeng via the Samoeng  loop on the motorbike.  This 100km ride was fun as usual and a whole lot warmer than the last time I done it a couple of months back. Anway the main reason for the trip was for the yearly Samoeng Strawberry Festival. Strawberry wine, strawberry juice,  strawberry jam and more fresh strawberries than you could shake a stick at…..

On the way to Samoeng

Samoeng Strawberries

Strawberry Juice

Samoeng

Strawberries

Tack

Views around the Samoeng loop