Day 71 to 74..... Sat 10th to Tues 13th October .... 807 km (21842 km total)
A night on the town, the four amigoes ride again & 'hav'nt they finished that road yet?!'
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Written on the wall of the nice quirky guesthouse I stayed at in Mae Sariang, a valid motto for an adventure trip such as this!
You might have noticed that my blogs are becoming multi-day, this is in part to enable me to catch up easier but also because it reflects my feelings at this part of the journey.
I think I said in an earlier posting that once I entered Thailand things immediately felt different, no longer was it a new road every day, a destination I had never seen before & unknown challenges. That excitement is now behind me. With hindsight, it might have been a better plan just bolting for the finish line, packing the bike up & taking a diving holiday or something.
Anyway, its still fun, just not of the same type of fun as the rest of the trip.
So on with the tale.
The road from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai is a nice one, but on the day I rode, there was loads of traffic, more rain & as a result, I didnt see much new to photograph, so above is just one snap of a bit without traffic or rain.
The reason for visiting Chiang Mai was to meet up with some old friends, share a drink or two & do some riding together. The first two were accomplished, the last one we struggled with a bit for reasons that will become evident.
We were arriving on different days, one was already there, I came next & the other two arrived the day after. So on my first night I went for a meal with my amigo who was already there & his girlfriend.
A few beers, some good conversation and the meal was done.
His girlfriend owns a bar in the 'lively' part of town, so of course we continued the evening down there. A few more beers and then onto the Jack Daniels ...hmmm. This is, of course, when it is time to stop - you know that and I know that, but for some reason, the common sense part of my brain had gone walkabout.
(Don't try this at home kids, its not worth it!)
Maybe it was to do with 70 almost 'dry' days on the road, but when my amigo started buying shots, the 'adventure' part of my brain took over & just went for it.
Things started to get hazy pretty quickly, I vaguely remember playing pool (with a katoey I am told) and having some difficulty keeping the cue connected to my fingers! When it was time to leave I also recall struggling to find the exit door ..... always a bit embarrassing in an open air bar!.
The end result of all this social activity was that the following day was a complete washout, whilst I recovered. Ah well one day in 70 is not too bad I suppose!
By the following evening, the other two had arrived and were raring for a night on the town. I was strictly tee-total by now and so after a catch up and a bite to eat, I left them to it in favour of an early night.
The following morning when we met, ready for a nice twisty ride to Mae Sariang, one of the others was looking distinctly pale. It turned out he had spent the evening in the same bar - maybe it was somethimg in the water after all!
So off we set in a somewhat subdued fashion.
Goodbye Chiang Mai, not sure when I will be back, but to be homest I prefer your younger sister Chiang Rai now!
Often in Thailand you will come across overloaded pick up trucks. This example was quite mild compared to some, you still dont want to ride too close if there is a cross wind though!
Onto the good roads, which go all the way to Mae Sarinag.
The four amigoes & their steeds, well discounting the one behind the camera - I should have used the selfie stick!
When we arrived it seemed the Wat at the entrance to town had suffered a bad fire the previous night - real shame!
Bed for the night was a new place I had found on t'internet.
'Above the Sea' turned out to be a great place to stay & reccomended if you are in the area.
The rooms were full of interesting bits of design, like the motos written on the walls (see the start of this post) and this innovative bathroom door handle.
Or bedside light ..
It served good food & whilst it isn't on the river side of the road, you can just walk 10 yards across the road for a drink on the Riverside Hotel decking.
In the morning we rode our separate ways, 2 returning to Chiang Mai for some more punishment, one heading north east to Chiang Rai & myself starting to track south.
I had decided to try out the road along the Burmese border from Mae Sariang to Mae Sot. I first rode this back in 2010 and it was lovely, apart from a few rough bits. When I attempted again a year later though, a major construction had started and large parts of the road were all but impassible on a street bike.
But now I was on a Tiger! and had crossed 17 countries, so nothing was going to stop me. And of course in reality I was hoping the construction was finished and the road now resurfaced, it had been 4 years after all.
Initially it seemed my luck was in. The road is quite remote so very little traffic as it sweeps its way between the border hills.
A fare bit of cloud about but no rain so far, I was really enjoying myself.
But whats this? Pot holes, that doesnt bode well ....and its been raining!
The road then deteriorated and became a boneshaking mess. This time I was on the right bike for it however and apart from the slippy muddy bits could continue at decent speed, the Tiger absorbing all but the worst bumps.
Nice views across the Burma here & there.
At one point I wondered if I had gone the wrong way, I don't remember the road being this small, but the gps insisted this was the main road.
And then it suddenly got much better ...
But not for long, I came across the section that was under construction when I rode here 4 years ago. This promised to be interesting, its a section with steep slopes & tight curves, just sand & hard core ... & its been raining.
The majority of it wasnt as difficult as I expected, certainly the bike I was on this time was more suited. The main issue was furrows running digonally across the road on bends, caused by water run-off from the hills. When the front wheel dipped into one it tended to pull you worryingly towards the edge.
Then it was back onto broken old roads...
Amd then a final section of road under construction ...
... before reaching a newly constructed section that was just superb.
...with great views to boot!
The final section towards Mae Sot is older road but still in good condition and takes you through a series of border control check points.
until you reach the 'temporary' relief centre for Burmese refugees.
On reaching Mae Sot, I rode to the border gate into Burma. Until the past couple of years it has been almost impossible to enter Burma with your own vehicle, but things are neginning to relax. You still need to be on a guided tour (like China) but hopefully this will relax further soon.
If I had the time (& money) to ride back to the UK, I would exit Thailand here and travel through Burma & on through Bangladesh into India.
Maybe some day!
Back on the road from Mae Sot east over the mountains to Tak.
I decided to break the journey in Kamphaneg Phet at a nice guest house I have used before & then head over to Kanchanaburi the following day.
