Day 2 - mapping south east of Mae Sariang

[KTMphil]

Day 2 - mapping south east of Mae Sariang


This was the first time i'd ridden south east of Mae Sariang (south of R 108 & east of R 105) - it might hold the most spectacular views i've ever seen trail riding, on par with Laos.



Photo of the day - a monk with the KTM 300 overlooking the Mae Yuam river, south of Mae Sariang

The area south east of Mae Sariang looked like an area that would have lots of unexplored trails. From google earth, I found what looked like a trail leading to R 108, 6km from Mae Sariang, so I waypointed it and used it as an entry point.



This is 500 meters south of R 108, the entry point to the trails, looking good so far

As expected about 5km in (south of R 108), started to run into farm villages, with no utilities.

The trails were beautiful and flowing, manageable for 4 wheel drive farm pick ups

Caught this guy in mid-tree-removal, he was kind enough to make a path

 

[KTMphil]

This really had the feeling of an untouched region, incredible natural beauty

This was the end of one trail - a tiny farm village in the middle of no where

As I got further south and high up the mountain views started

Then the nice surprise of another mist cloud like yesterday, but a new one.

From the next bend

A very poor village on a ridge line, must be freezing here at night

 

[KTMphil]

The mountain scenery got better and better

After a few hours of poking around, went down to R 105 to top up with fuel from Karen village pump up

The owners daughter had a really cute baby, mother in traditional dress

Bridge across the Mae Yuam river

Back into the trails and keep finding these villages tucked away wherever there was river access that were totally self sufficient

Here you can see the beautiful trail that took me through the mountains, there were so many

 

[KTMphil]

The trail that led me to this village, always a surprise around the next bend

This poor guy only had one eye

These mountain views were some of the best ive ever seen

Always exciting when you can see a good trail ahead

MORE TO COME

 

[KTMphil]

Another remote village in the distance

More mountains

The great thing in this area was how far you could see and the trails you could see ahead of you

Getting late in the day and wanted to get out west to the national park, on the way back got a good shot of the Mae Yuam river

 

[KTMphil]

Then off north to the Salawin National Park

The road west starts cement then after about 5 km turns to a dirt trail with mud switch-backs

A few mud sections at low level

and some river crossings
'

About 13km from the Salween river, the trail had been gated, being so late in the day , I couldnt be bothered to cut it and headed back to Mae Sariang

 

[Steve Canyon]

Looks fantastic up there...... :RO

keep it coming...

 

[KTMphil]

Tracks of mapping south east of Mae Sariang and then the Salawin National Park

 

[KTMphil]

Met up with Colin for dinner in Mae Sariang & we bumped into Al who was on his way to Umpang

Al's nicely prepared KLX 250

Colin was staying at the Mae Sariang GH 150 bht with shared bathroom

His internet cafe around the corner complete with external net curtains

Dinner at the Sawadee restaurant on the river

great views of the river

Huge pizza's --320 bht each and tasty

 

[KTMphil]

Walking back, I noticed the Coriander in Redwood restaurant looked interesting for a fancy meal

The end to a perfect couple of days in Mae Sariang

 

[Captain_Slash]

Its weird about that gate on the track, it definitely wasnt there when I rode it two years ago.

The Coriander In Redwood restaurant does good food, I had a nice ribeye steak there, despite its name they dont put that green shyte on your western food

 

[Lone Rider]

The views over there are beautiful with bright skies - on my way from Chiangmai to Nongkhai and Vientiane the mountain ranges to the north and south were barely visible as there was already a lot of haze from the annual burning.