Border Villages And New Dirt And Asphalt Roads NW Of Mae Sot

[Captain_Slash]

The route 105, Unknown

Total distance 182 km

I take the 105 northwards for about 65 km then take a left onto an unnumbered road to explore some border villages

I see a lot of these today, its obviously a major operation around here

The rider was going quite fast considering his load and he negotiated a pot holed bit quite well too

The first village has fuel in the drums at N17.08.328 E098.18.884

A deserted Army box on the bank of the Moei

The border and looking over into Burma

Now for a ride around the village exploring all the paved roads

I turn left at N17.07.626 E098.18.028 onto a dirt track to ride alongside the Moei

Two of those kids follow me through the corn field to the river

I ride south along the dirt track to where it finishes at this house

I am intrigued as to what the barrier in the river is for unless its to stop boat traffic apart from a narrow section near the Burmese side

Plus the two lookout posts

I look around and my two little buddies have found me

I ride back towards the 105 then take a right to explore further, along here I take a right at N17.07.019 E098.19.550 and this is a dirt track

Riding down here I see the sieve full of ants eggs lying in the road

No sign of its owner, perhaps the ants have taken their revenge this time

Suddenly the lady appears from out of the trees and helps herself to some more eggs

Then she gets some old dried leaves and lights them

I have never seen this done before

I ride on and now I am back beside the Moei

A rubber plantation here too

Nothing more here lets get back to the asphalt

On the way back I find more people getting the ants eggs that werent here about 30 minutes ago

I ride back to the asphalt, turn right and soon end up in another village

Here fuel is available in bottles at N17.06.603 E098.20.191

I ride around the village on a paved surface then ride out on another road that turns to dirt at N17.06.563 E098.19.960 and stays dirt until it meets the asphalt road at N17.06.706 E098.19.967

Further on and the Army presence is visible

I ride into another village and take a right through a checkpoint that is deserted, the surface turns to dirt at N17.06.144 E098.19.102

From here I ride down to the Moei

Lots of bags of charcoal here

I hear the sound of a bike racing around then suddenly this Soldier rides down, hes very friendly and tells me theres no danger now from any fighting

Not much left of this tree and its completely burnt out on the inside

Riding through the village and these are busy with the tamarind

Fuel here at N17.06.144 E98.19.168

Poor chap, I wonder if he trod on something nasty

At the end of the village at this checkpoint I am asked for my ID, I leave my Thai driving licence with them and ride off down to the Moei, they tell me to not take too long and not to cross over into Burma.
The road here turns to dirt at N17.06.093 E098.19.166

I cross the first water crossing but that was a mistake as its loose on the middle section and the KLX just bogs down, I leave it and walk from here

The Burmese Army post across the Moei

Now to go back and retrieve the KLX, its easier to walk alongside it until I get back to the water crossing

Now to get my licence back and try out a dirt track heading south from this village

I ride back through part of the village on the paved surface then take a road that turns to dirt at N17.06.109 E098.19.279

Not far and a water crossing

This has turned into a great fun dirt track and the ESRI shows it going south for a while and I am hoping it will link up with another dirt track that leads back to the 105 south of where I turned off it this morning

The track turns to a narrow single track that I have no desire to explore and I ride back to the water crossing then see this track heading east that the Esri only shows as going for about 3 km but I give it a go anyway, it turned out to be a very wise decision too

Lots of burnt trees here

I am wondering where this track will lead to as its now gone off the GPS but to get to the start of the one that leads to the 105 means crossing those cliffs

I ride on a very rough rocky section for a while but the track is heading south east and if it continues this course it should join the track I need

Just past here I reach the track I need but south of its start point and I am now back on the GPS

All of a sudden I emerge from the trees and I see people again

Not far along here and I reach a village

Fuel here in bottles at N17.04.150 E098.22.715

Just past the village and an Army checkpoint

A bit further on and I am right on the border again so I walk down to the Moei

About 1 km before reaching the 105 there is another checkpoint and I noticed the opening times, sod getting to here after it was closed and having to ride back the other way.
I think getting a bike through would be easy enough anyway

After 21.8 km of fun on the dirt I reach the 105 and ride back to Mae Sot, on the edge of town these two were causing mayhem in the road

I watched them for a few minutes then rode on, it was funny watching the traffic swerving either side of them

A lovely Lasagna for 75 Baht at SP Kitchen on the Asia Highway at N16.43.070 E098.33.619, the garlic bread was 30 Baht

You can get the gdb file from my website here … http://www.captainslash.com

 

[Ally]

Re: Border Villages And New Dirt And Asphalt Roads NW Of Mae

Good to see your managing to get your rations of onion rings Colin !!

Ally

 

[KTMphil]

Re: Border Villages And New Dirt And Asphalt Roads NW Of Mae

Looks like a fun day out. Are you finding many new dirt trails around the Mae Sot area? Does it look like they're much undiscovered stuff east of R 105?

 

[Captain_Slash]

Re: Border Villages And New Dirt And Asphalt Roads NW Of Mae

Phil the ESRI was showing dirt trails to the east where I went in off the 105 to the west, theres lots of dirt stuff around Mae Sot too