Jobless Wanderers Thailand, Laos & Cambodia 2011

[nikhuzlan]

I found myself with a bit of time on my hands, and a choice of three bikes to ride. To the North of Malaysia there's Thailand, Laos and Cambodia that awaits,
with thousands of kilometers of roads that passes through all types of terrain bar desert and snow.


There is the usual base planning and as on all long trips, the Routes, the night stops, the spares and most importantly,
riding buddies needs to be organised and roped in. I also had many discussions with friends who have ridden some of the routes as
well to get some heads up on what to expect.


I have never ridden further than South Thailand in all my years of riding as long distance motorcycle trips was never at the top of my riding agenda,
preferring short quick day rides around Kuala Lumpur. However, with time on my hands, and a suitable bike in the garage,
I felt the time is now appropriate for me to do some 'real' riding.


I have no illusions of me being a hardcore adventurer, so the trip was planned to allow plenty of rest time between journeys,
and night rides are a no no unless its on a well lit highway. Hotels are chosen only if there's air-con, hot water and safe parking for the bikes.


This is a self centered selfish biking trip. We are not doing this for the nation, or world peace, or to assist in finding a cure for cancer.
Its about having fun with riding buddies, its about exploration and discovery of the places we will be passing through.
Hence, we do not have anytimeline nor schedule to keep.


April-May also happens to be the hottest months in the three countries but we willstill go nevertheless.


There's three of us, Mustakim on a F650GS, Ivan on an R1200Adv and me on my trusty R1200GSB.
With a small group, flexibility can be built in, plans can be adjusted easily as we go along.


We left Kuala Lumpur April 6th 2011, and the trip is to be completed in about 6 weeks,
so return will be sometime mid May.


The map below shows the general we will be riding in.

Here are some pics of the trip, and the full story will follow soon......


The GPS Log of the whole trip. About 9,500kms covered on all types of roads/tracks.

L-R Ivan, Me and Mus at Kanchanaburi, with the Bridge over River Kwai in the background.

About 50kms from Mae Sod, the border town between Thailand and Myanmar. What started out as a promising road of twisties
eventually turned into gravel and broken tar for about 110kms, and only became better as we approach Mae Sariang.

Laos, between Phou Khon and Luang Prabang. We stopped here for a short break. The two huts would not be out of
place if the clock turns back by 300 years....

Laos, between Phou Khon to Vang Vieng. Not the best day for photography due to the hazy skies.....

Vientiane, Laos. Patuxay Park. Just before we got chased away by the guards.....

Cambodia, on the way to Siem Reap.

Angkor Wat. Feel really special being able to ride my bike in.....

The full picture story will follow soon.....cheers

 

[KTMphil]

Nick - Shame Moose wasn't able to finish the trip with you, looks like you were lucky with the weather, some great pictures.

Do you have tracks of the trip you can post? would be interesting to see your route.

9,400 km - quite a trip!

 

[Steve Canyon]

Good to see your making the most of your time whilst jobless....

Great pictures....

What happened to Da Moose :?: How is Da Moose :?:

 

[nikhuzlan]

Moose is good. He had to attend to some urgent matters that cropped up suddenly, so he left for KL after Chiang Khong.

Moose at Doi Tung.

Cheers

 

[nikhuzlan]

I am not terribly good at writing. Maybe lazy, but probably more due to lack of talent. So i guess I will let the pictures tell its thousand word story.


When i first mooted this idea of a long 4 Nation ride ( Malaysia is quite irrelevant as we will be covering just 1100kms and two days riding
on highways but it is still a nation we have to ride through, hence the inclusion) there were a number of friends who wanted to go along.
As the plans were drawn, it became apparent that at least a minimum of 26 days were required to make the trip meaningful.


Having no illusions that we are in the class of hardcore ironbutters, our riding were limited to just two long sectors,
one nearly 800kms, the other just under 600kms. Most of the sectors were planned not to exceed 350kms per day.


Eventually only three were confirmed,Mus on his 650GS, Ivan on his 1200GSA and me on my 1200GSB.


Seeing that all three of us are at the moment unemployed, we chose to call ourselves the " Jobless Wanderers ".


We are all newbies of sorts when it comes to riding long distance; me with '0' experience on trips longer than 3 nights,
Ivan and Moose are both new riders, each with less than two years on the saddle. Moose however have doen part of the route late
last year so that's something that gives us some security.


Ivan only has little offroad experience on any bike, so his baptism of fire will be on the first dirt section we will encounter after Mae Sot.


Earlier we all rode our bikes into Lata Kijang, a 25km off road loop with a water crossing bit. This kinda helped give some confidence for this trip.


Ivan Water Crossing

Moose Water Crossing

The plan was for us to cover the West border of Thailand all the way to the Northenmost town of Mae Sai, then down to Isan Province to Nan,
and into Laos. From Laos we will decide if we will be entering Cambodia from Thailand or Southern Laos. After that we will proceed home.
Total distance planned was almost 11,000kms. As it turned out, we covered much more distance than 11,000km overall,
but significantly less on the bike. You will know why as the story unfolds.


I had a small dillema as to which bike I initially want to use, but after it was decided that Laos will be in the picture the choice of
riding the GS became inarguable. The scooter would have been the best choice if it was all tarmac, The Harley great as it has soul,
but less comfort and carrying capacity. Both however will fall apart on rough roads.


Choices.....

Day 1, 6 april 2011.6th April saw me astride my GS leaving the house for the Wunderlich store where the other two are waiting.

I fitted the Wunderlich spotlights on my bike before we left, and Moose had to rush home to get his Ipod.
David, the owner of the store loaned us a spare battery and a set of Rally Tools which we carried in case its needed.


As we were leaving, rain came and the raincoats came on.


1730hrs, Leaving.....

The idea was to ride to Hatyai and stay the night there. Hatyai, the biggest Southern town in Thailand has about 200,000 people,
and has no attraction for me. The town looks unplanned, crowded and unappealing.


Our Route for the first day. 550kms.

It rained so heavily after Rawang and visibility became so bad we decided to wait out the rain.
After 15minutes of keeping a lookout for oncoming traffic from our shelter, we continued.

We reached the border at 2230, after buying insurance at Changloon. Crossing the border was a breeze,
taking all of 15 minutes then its a short 60km ride to Hatyai.

Day 2, 7th April 2011
The three JWs before leaving the USD25 a night Diamond Plaza Hotel.

Leaving Hat Yai Town. The plan was to ride 550kms to Chumpon where we plan to stay the night.

Highway 41, the main artery that links the South to the rest of Thailand is a straight two lane dual carriageway
that passes through non-stop busy towns, a chore to pass through but needs to be travelled as there is no other way North.


Ivan on Highway 41

Approaching Chamai. This is our first fuel stop in Thailand.

Reality check. Fuel was twice the price compared to Malaysia.

We decided to have lunch at the service station RnR. As we were enjoying our service station cuisine,
the unmistakable sound of Harleys drifted into our ears. As the convoy rolled in, I was delighted to see that they were all
friends from Malaysia on their way to the Phuket Bike Week. The boys were from Red Garage,
and they had two custom bikes on trailers for the competition there.


Red Garage Convoy

These guys left KL at midnight, and have been on the road for 12 hours, with another 400kms to go.
They were on custom Harleys with very little suspension and zero weather protection.
We look pretty silly next to them in our Adventure gear. RESPECT.

As we approached Surat Thani, the heavens opened up, and a deluge like nothing I have ever seen before.
The 'cheap' Givi raincoat proves its worth here, and even in such heavy rain we were dry.
Visibility dropped to just two bike lengths and at times we were riding at 25km/h.
Eventually we reached a roadblock and were diverted towards Surat Thani as the highway was flooded.


Rain.....

It was decided that we forget about Chumpon and stay the night at Surat Thani.
The USD35 ( expensive for Thailand )rate was acceptable given that the Diamond Plaza Hotel there was brand new.


Unloading.

Dinner was at a nearby restaurant, nice ambiance with good food that was cheap......

We turned in early, and the plan tomorrow is to head for Surat Thani, just 400kms away.


The route we covered today, from Hat Yai to Surat Thani.

The story will continue......

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 3, 8 April 2011


The plan for the day was to head for Hua Hin, 400kms up North. We woke up to a foggy morning, probably due to the continous rain that has been pouring over the past week.


Fog

844kms covered, 400kms ahead, 0900hrs.

Floods ravaged this part of Thailand and the waters just receeded a few days ago. Traces of the big floods were everywhere.

We made good speed, and covered significant mileage until we stopped at this big RnR for fuel. The kangaroo made us think somehow we have lost our way and landed in Perth.....

Mandatory coffee at Amazon, a coffee chain tied up to many RnRs here in Thailand.

We picked up a magazine to get some info on the cultural sites along the way.....very enlightening....

We journeyed on and passing Chumpon the roads were under construction

Ivan relieving some butt numbness.

We stopped at Ang Thong, the narrowest point on the Ithmus of Kra. Thailand is only 11kms wide here, the rest being Myanmar. We were making good time, having covered 350kms in 3 hours. We decided to continue on to Kanchanaburi, bypassing Hua Hin. Another 400kms awaits to be covered to the destination.

Ivan, with the landmark hill that marks Cha Am.

We kept on riding into the west, the sun casting long evening shadows behind us.

Kanchanaburi. Traffic lights became a constant interruption to the smooth progress we were making.

Moose led us to this hotel which unfortunately was full. We luckily found another USD20 per room board nearby. The Ploy Guest House was a nice place to stay.

Total Mileage. Our average speed for the 1500kms is 100km/h and the speed never exceeded 160km/h. That's not bad at all.

The Day's route

That night Moose called Nana, a vivacious local girl Moose met in Luang Prabang. She's attached to a hotel here, and we all got together for dinner.

Street food looks good....

Education opportunities abounds.... Lecturer looks a little dodgy....

We heard plenty of laughter coming from this pub....lots of happy people there....wonder why.... >

Air Massage....got us all curious....lots of blowing going on....?

This place.....very popular....

I kinda like Kanchanaburi. There's some history there and the historical linkage to Malaysia is stronger that we think. Tomorrow we have a free day, and we will play tourist here.


Cheers......for now....

 

[Steve Canyon]

Thanks for report you time was not wasted, excellent reading before I head of to work...

Many thanks...

Moose, give me a shout want to ask you some thing ... :

I can only imagine what went on here...

 

[KTMphil]

Fantastic Nick! Really enjoyable to read, when are you coming back up north?

I think we're doing a big-bike adventure tour into Laos towards the end of July with some guys from Singapore that have KTM 990 Adv's.


Phil

 

[Steve Canyon]

I could do this all day every day....fantastic shot.....makes you want to ride...

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 4, Saturday, 9april2011.


Its a non-riding tourist role playing day today. We woke up without the alarm clock blaring in our ears,
ambled to the lobby with our laptops to update our FB, and have breakfast on the banks of River Kwai.

For our tour we have our own personal Tuk Tuk.

River Kwai

A Panaromic view, the bridge on the right, the floating restaurant on the left....

One of the numerous plaques there, this one honoring the 700 American servicemen.

This plaque is dedicated to the Malays and Indian Coolies who died building the Railway.
Most of the deaths came from these group of workers but its the caucasian POWs that are celebrated there.
We later found out that the Malayan's deaths outnumber all the other deaths put together.

We visited this 100baht private museum called the JEATH Museaum.
Apparently JEATH stands for Japanese-English-American-Thai-Holland, probably linked to their deaths there.
Unfortunately there were also no mention of the Malays and the Indians who died in more numerous numbers.

This home-made Mercedes has no place in this museum

There were plenty of life sized dioramas of the Western Soldiers building the railway.

After spending 30 minutes there it became apparent that this private museum does not really reflect the Death Railway story.
The exhibits are inaccurate and unauthentic, and arranged in a tasteless and macabre manner.


The Railcar that was used to transfer the workers in the museum courtyard.

After a long walk, foot massage is the way to go.

Then a visit to the War Memorial was in order...

Paying Homage

Moose at the Memorial

Ivan

More plaques

The Jobless Wanderers

The real museum, a treasure trove of information, a labour of love by a British national.
The exhibits and stories told there are world class.

Walking back we met this local resident, a beautiful and friendly Golden Retriever.

Dinner done, its time to turn in, with 550km awaiting to be covered before we hit Mae Sot.
The bikes at Ploy Guest House.

So far, the ride itself has nothing we can shout about, the roads were good, mostly straight,
and we have not seen anything rural in the whole 1500kms we have covered so far. Since we crossed into Thailand at Sadao,
we have not even seen a patch of jungle. The main highway cuts through towns and suburbs, traffic chaotic and at times hazardous,
and a Malaysian rider needs to realign his brain that the Highways in Thailand needs a more careful approach when on it.
We expect more of the same on our way to Mae Sot.


We would be better of on a Goldwing or a Harley Ultra Tourer. BUT, I think the interesting bits will begi from Mae Sot onwards.


More to come.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 5, Sunday, 10April2011


After a quick breakfast we rode to the Bridge Over River Kwai, in the hope of getting a
photo opportunity at the site with our bikes.


A quick jump over the pavement and we were aligned with the bridge in the background.


Moose

Ivan

The Jobless Wanderers

From Kanchanaburi we rode towards Suphan Buri, then Chainat. It was highway all the way,
passing through many towns, big and small.

Chainat

Uthai Thani

We encountered heavy traffic at Nakhon Phanom. Lucky for us it was Sunday.
Can't imagine how it will look like on normal days.....

The heat was really bad. I can't recall riding in conditions hotter than this 38-39 degree temperature....

We were really tired, and took another break after just coverig 85kms.

After a 1 hour break, we were feeling suitably refreshed, we rode on, passing this cruiser...

Approaching Tak.

From Tak we took a left turn away from the main highway, and instantly everything seems to change.
It got cooler, there was almost no traffic, and the road surface improved.


But we got wet nevertheless.....

After almost 1900kms of straight roads, what lays ahead brings a smile to all of us.
We had to cross a mountain range to get to Mae Sot and ride on the road that winds through it. Nice....

We had to pass through a National Park, and this roadblock marks the end of it.

Then rain came as we approach Mae Sot.

We found Ban Pruk Sa Guesthouse easily enough. USD20 gets you secure parking, clean bed with
hot water and air-con. Run by a local Thai married to a Frenchman, the place was well kept and spotless.

2000kms covered, the average speed has dropped to 77km/h from 100km/h of the last few days.

Our route on this sector. just over 500kms. Tough ride due 37-39 degree heat.

Mae Sot is pretty quiet...but its Sunday. It is actually a vibrant border town,
but we were staying in the town centre, 7kms from the border to Myanmar.

Looking for dinner...

Food, as always, was good and cheap. Probably why the elephant came for dinner here too....

On our 5th day the riding stayed uninteresting, the only challenge came from fighting the heat,
which made us unable to ride more than 1 hour per go.
The roads were Thai Highways, meaning its straight but mostly busy,
and passes through main towns rather than around, so numerous intersections needs to be crossed.

The surface is ok to good, not quite as excellent as what we have in Malaysia. Some parts, although smooth, can be slippery.
I am looking out for stretches that can rival the Jeli - Banding - Gerik, Simpang Pulai - Gua Musang, Sg Koyan -
Camerons, Klawang - Titi and Ulu Yam back in Malaysia. We have not seen rural Thai yet, the roads passing through continous habitation.
That will change in the North I guess.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 5, Sunday, 10April2011


After a quick breakfast we rode to the Bridge Over River Kwai, in the hope of getting a
photo opportunity at the site with our bikes.


A quick jump over the pavement and we were aligned with the bridge in the background.


Moose

Ivan

The Jobless Wanderers

From Kanchanaburi we rode towards Suphan Buri, then Chainat. It was highway all the way,
passing through many towns, big and small.

Chainat

Uthai Thani

We encountered heavy traffic at Nakhon Phanom. Lucky for us it was Sunday.
Can't imagine how it will look like on normal days.....

The heat was really bad. I can't recall riding in conditions hotter than this 38-39 degree temperature....

We were really tired, and took another break after just coverig 85kms.

After a 1 hour break, we were feeling suitably refreshed, we rode on, passing this cruiser...

Approaching Tak.

From Tak we took a left turn away from the main highway, and instantly everything seems to change.
It got cooler, there was almost no traffic, and the road surface improved.


But we got wet nevertheless.....

After almost 1900kms of straight roads, what lays ahead brings a smile to all of us.
We had to cross a mountain range to get to Mae Sot and ride on the road that winds through it. Nice....

We had to pass through a National Park, and this roadblock marks the end of it.

Then rain came as we approach Mae Sot.

We found Ban Pruk Sa Guesthouse easily enough. USD20 gets you secure parking, clean bed with
hot water and air-con. Run by a local Thai married to a Frenchman, the place was well kept and spotless.

2000kms covered, the average speed has dropped to 77km/h from 100km/h of the last few days.

Our route on this sector. just over 500kms. Tough ride due 37-39 degree heat.

Mae Sot is pretty quiet...but its Sunday. It is actually a vibrant border town,
but we were staying in the town centre, 7kms from the border to Myanmar.

Looking for dinner...

Food, as always, was good and cheap. Probably why the elephant came for dinner here too....

In our 5th day the riding stayed uninteresting, the only challenge came from fighting the heat,
which made us unable to ride more than 1 hour per go.
The roads were Thai Highways, meaning its straight but mostly busy,
and passes through main towns rather than around, so numerous intersections needs to be crossed.


The surface is ok to good, not quite as excellent as what we have in Malaysia. Some parts, although smooth, can be slippery.
I am looking out for stretches that can rival the Jeli - Banding - Gerik, Simpang Pulai - Gua Musang, Sg Koyan -
Camerons, Klawang - Titi and Ulu Yam back in Malaysia. We have not seen rural Thai yet, the roads passing through continous habitation.
That will change in the North I guess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 6, Monday, 11april2011


We woke up with anticipation as we will be riding the famed 1864 corners of the Mae Hong Son Loop.
Much has beeen said about the road by the few who've ridden there.
All agreed that it is about the most challenging non-extreme riding they've ever done.
There's even a certificate that you can buy at the Community centre at Mae Hong Son.


Today we will see for ourselves.


With the owner of the Guesthouse

Then a good breakfast spread at a cafe run by probably a Su Kyi supporter, judging from the political paraphenalia inside.

We met this cyclist who started from Chiangmai and is on his way south.

We rode through town to get to the Myanmar border.

This is the Mae Sot - Tachielek border.

The Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in the background.

Onwards to Mae Sariang, the mid point town on this sector.

Expecting 375kms of nice corners......little did we know.

It looks very promising at the beginning.

20 minutes into the ride we passed by a roadblock. We were waved through.

Its like a town, but its not. There's the smell of deep fried fritters, man hanging out at coffee shops smoking local roll-ups,
even teens with mobile phones and ChinaPads milling about. You'd think you're at any market in rural South East Asia.
We stopped here after leaving Mae Sot, the border town between Thailand and Myanmar 65km southwards.


This is Mae La. Its one of the many refugee camps along the Thai/Myanmar Border.
This one was set up in 1984. It has about 70,000 in an area cordoned with fences to keep the refugees in.
Its supposed to be transitional. But there are some who have been born and grew up there all their life.
And apart from the magic of TV, these people have never ventured out of their thatched roofed wire bound existence.
Mostly Karens, they fled here after the Burmese launched large scale offensive against perceived insurgents.


Although officially not allowed out, of late the restriction has been relaxed, but the refugees still have a limited future,
and their dependency on Aid is growing.


Seen from afar, this camp looks like a place the Ewoks would stay happily with Chewbacca's family........


The Camp.

The Main Entrance.

These kids probably have been in the camp since birth.

The uniform attap roofs dotting the area with the shrub covered Karst outcrop in the background gives an Ewok/Wookie village look,
and almost any moment Chewbacca may come grunting.

The houses are packed very thightly, with just enough walking space in between.

The road kinda opened up after the Refugee camp. Gears were changed later and lean angles became leaner???

Then these two ahead stopped dead. As I got there I saw the road kinda turns sharply on a steep incline,
off cambered and strewn with loose pebbles. We went down slowly, ready to 'jatuh bodoh'.
But we found it not too difficult and went through without a tumble.

The road improved to a broken tarmac surface.

Then it becomes this

We met this young man from Switzerland who is cycling around Indo China. He is on his way to
Mae Hong Son and Pai. He says the roads are really tough. We gave him some water.

That was the last dirt stretch, and the road gradually improved all the way to Mae Sariang.

I rode ahead and stopped at this National Park where the guard took my picture.

Onwards to Mae Sariang.

You will never miss Mae Sariang with this landmark smack on the crossroads.

We had lunch here.

Moose has ridden this bit so he heads off to ChiangMai and we will RV with him in two days.
Ivan and I will head up to Mae Hong Son to complete the 1864 corners.

The road from Mae Sariang to Mae Hong Son is just awesome especially the last 65kms.
The corners flow into each other, visibility was excellent, sometimes showing 4 apexes in a row.
Traffic was almost non existant.


Change in vegetation was noticable.

Fancy Restaurant....

More

We stopped here for a drink with another 70kms to go. The locals were friendly.

We passed another one street town, and Songkran seems to have started early.


This one missed me.

They got me, but only my arm got wet.

This one missed me but got Ivan.....

The road after that town was awesome. No photos, too busy enjoying the corners.

Then I stopped, 7kms from Mae Hong Son. The view, too good to pass....

60+kms of roads like this.....

Arrival at Mae Hong Son.

Our 18USD Hotel. Parking was at the doorstep. Great.

Across the road a night market is starting up.

As darkness falls the night market becomes the focal point..

We had dinner here. Good food fast wifi.

The Mae Hong Son is a road that needs to be done for the experience.
It is not really enjoyable when on it, but it will be something you will think about with a smile.
The bit from Mae Sot to Mae Sariang needs to be done on a DP bike to really enjoy the road and scenery.


On our 6th day, we rode 500km, tomorrow is our 7th day, and we head for Pai then Chiang Mai The Route today

 

[KTMphil]

Wonderful report Nick, your photo's stunning, is this with a Canon S95?

 

[nikhuzlan]

Wonderful report Nick, your photo's stunning, is this with a Canon S95?

No. The S90 seldom saw action. Most of the photos are from the Sony TX5 pocketcamera, which is waterproof. Some are from the Sony A33 DSLR.

 

[Steve Canyon]

This would make you do a double take if you where pissed...

Great report.......

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 7, Tuesday, 12April2011


The morning of our seventh day on the road found us by the Lakeside Cafe for breakfast.
It is gonna be a short journey to Chiangmai. We plan to stop at Pai for lunch.


The Lakeside Cafe

The temple across the lake.

After breakfast we rode 100 meters to the Mae Hong Son Community Center.
Our certificates cost us Bhat100.


Ivan with his Cert.

Me with mine.

On the road.

Starts docile, nice flowing corners.

It got tighter as the elevation increases. We stopped at this lookout point.
There was not much to see as the haze mutes all the colors.


The Lookout Point.

We met this Swiss from Zurich. He was on a rented bike, carried minimal luggage and was doing the loop as well,
but on the opposite direction.

We left after an hour there.

The road ahead winds and turns for at least 120kms, with rapid changes of elevation.
On occasions we had to use first gear on the hairpins. Check out the video.

Approaching Pai, Songkran brigade was battle ready....

Pai.

Pai River.

Popular bamboo bridge; links backpacker's hideout to the main town.

These young adults are exchange students, the two girls are from Singapore, the boy is from France.

Songkran has started in Pai.


Kids ready for battle.

Songkran Action

Ivan caught in the crossfire.

The little monk getting a piece of the action.

We met Stefan, a Swiss riding a rented ER6. He waited by our bikes, amazed that we managed to 'Rent" the GS.
We told him we rode from KL. He intends to bring his bike over to Malaysia and do the full Indo China end of this year.

Saw this tree...just had to take a snap

Great communication......

Although equipped with great airbags, I don't think she can avoid scrapes if she falls.

Back on the road.

As usual after a couple of Kms of reasonably flowing curves, the road got tighter.


Check out this video of the stretch from Pai to Chiangmai..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kGmqpQEerg


After 45 minutes we stopped at this quaint resort about 60kms from Chiang Mai for coffee.
Its run by a Thai who was recently divorced from her German husband.

The Lady.....

We continued on to Chiangmai

The number of roadside water fortresses kept increasing.

Our target in Chiangmai was to get to Riders' Corner where Moose will be waiting. Ivan has also arranged for his wife and daughter to come to Chiangmai and is now waiting with Moose.


When we got into Chiangmai we saw all out waater war near the moat.

Jennifer and Kayla at Riders' Corner.

The Jobless Wanderers Reunited.

With Phil and Som, his wife....

In the meantime, Songkran continues....

That night we all got together for dinner.....

We ate here before returning to the hotel.

We stayed at Tri-Gong Rest House. As always these establishments are family run.

We planned for a long stay in Chiangmai to wait out the Songkran. Traffic is dangerous with lots of drinking going on. Water attacks while on our bikes is not the best thing.....


I have my own plans for the period.


Our Route for today.

Here's a short Videoclip of a section from Pai to Chiangmai.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kGmqpQEerg




Cheers


End Day 7, Tuesday, 12April2011

 

[MustakimQZ]

Awesome report Capt.

Too bad had to cut the trip short, tho it's always there at the back of my head.....

Yo yo Chris...how can I help you my friend?

Moose

 

[Steve Canyon]

Yo yo Chris...how can I help you my friend

What you doing at Xmas Moose, fancy going for a ride??

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 8, Wednesday, 13April2011


We have a few non-riding days that we planned when we arrived Chiangmai. Ivan and his family
will do the touristy bits. Moose will do his chillout bit.


I need to be home to attend to some urgent matters. The story follows......


As I walked out on to the main street, I saw this man getting the blessings from a group of Monks.

I stopped a Tuk Tuk and for Bhat100 he agrees to take me to the Airport.

Chiangmai International Airport

Met Dinesh who used to work in my Charter Operations as a Cabin Crew.
He moved into Air Asia in 2008.

With one of the crew on board

10kms above Surat Thani travelling at 15kms per minute. Just a week ago we were in pissing rain.......

The sight of the Sepang Racetrack tells me that we will be landing on Runway 32Right. Beautiful Malaysia.

I was in KL for three nights, made a trip to Kuala Terengganu for a meeting then it was back to Chiangmai.
Good break. In the excitement of planning and anticipating the trip i overlooked the fact that there is a real
possibility that I will miss my family when on such a long trip.


This break is good, really good.


KLIA LCCT. Returning to Chiangmai.

I arrived in Chiangmai at 0900 and went for breakfast at my favorite cosy cafe,
which was just next to our Guesthouse.
Pretty no......?

Tired of explaining to people what we are about I made these stickers in KL and pasted them on my bike.

In the meantime we hung around Simon and Lisa, two British Adventurers who left home 8 years ago,
and now claims to hold multiple records for overlanding. They stayed at Riders' Corner.

Simon's fully kitted GS1100.

Outside Riders' Corner the Thais were going rabid with the Songkran

All sorts of vehicles were roped in.....


Pick-ups

Monster Trucks

Low Rise Pick-up

As dusk sets in the moon claws up into the darkening skies....

Apparently, in the heat of battle, someone was reported to have drowned in the moat. Rescue 911 came into the scene

We then sat down with Lisa to discuss our Route into Laos and Cambodia as they were there recently.

Simon, Moose and Ivan played around with the bikes.

Then it was the Bar for a couple of well earned beers after a hard day at the battlefield.

We should be leaving Chiangmai for the Second Chapter of this ride. We have covered about 3000kms so far,
and are into our 10th day of the trip. We are all hopefull that the Songkran will be over by tomorrow,
the day we plan to leave Chiangmai.


Our original plan was to ride to Chiangrai, but we decided that Chiangrai is just another big Thai City,
so we chose instead to hug the North Western Border of Thailand and ride through Mae Salong to Mae Sai,
before stopping at Chiang Khong for the night.


More to come.

 

[KTMphil]

Only at day 8!

You guys had a great trip - jealous.

 

[Marco]

Nice trip so far and looking what is coming by the end as i met you guys in KK (Khoen Kaen),, maybe i will drop by in KL later this year with my bike as i know all road's in Malay are so nice,,,and suite for my road runner,,

 

[nikhuzlan]

Nice trip so far and looking what is coming by the end as i met you guys in KK (Khoen Kaen),, maybe i will drop by in KL later this year with my bike as i know all road's in Malay are so nice,,,and suite for my road runner,,

Hi Marco, do ride to Malaysia, plenty of great roads to ride on.

Cheers.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 12, Sunday 17april2011


Ivan's family has left for KL, Moose is itchin to ride, and I returned from Kuala Lumpur with a relaxed frame of mind,
ready for the next stage of our JW Ride.


We looked over the map, and confirmed that we will skip Chiangrai for Mae Salong.


The Map

Riders' Corner, one last shot before we leave.

On the road, passing some colorful shophouses

We needed some air in the tyres. BUT, we had some problems as the pump handle cannot be aligned to the valve,
so we decided to leave it for now. We must not fail to bring an adapter next time.

Back on the road

This bit under construction
[

The vegetation is also somewhat different.

Good surface, great view, too bad about the 39degree heat.

These curves kept us amused

And the trees did help in keeping the heat at bay.

Even then we had to stop at Fang for a drink and a short rest.

This girl wanted a shot with me and my bike. And we wanted to stay in her shop for her air-con. Fair Trade

Thaton. This river starts from Myanmar, and feeds the Mekong.

We passed by this plantation, don't know what's planted there....

The windy bit begins....

Moose leading Ivan

Great view. Nice Road. Bike between my legs. Bliss....

Stopped at this lookout point to enjoy the view.

Onwards to Mae salong.

The Phra Boromathat Chedi. Built in honour of the Late Princess Mother.

When Chairman Mao became Numero Uno in China in the early 60s, the KMT Chinese Army ran to Burma.
There were involvement in the opium trade the proceeds of which were used to buy arms with the intent of attacking China later.
But somehow it developed into a situation where the Thai Government gave them citizenship if the battle-hardened KMT
would help them fight Thailand's own Communist insurgents.
Opium production was successfully substituted with mountain produce like mushrooms and above all oolong tea,
which is now Mae Salong's main product.

The Main Street of this sprawling town.

Entrance to the Chinese Matyrs Memorial Museum. A Tribute to fallen Chinese KMT soldiers.

Community Hall.

Many who escaped persecution were Chinese Muslims. We stopped here for lunch. The Chicken Rice was really good.

After lunch we rode towards Doi Tung.

We passed by this elaborate garden but did not stop.

Even the road passing through this settlement is twisty....

And it just never stops. The twists and turns, some off-camber, some decreasing radius, with variable surface quality,
nothing dangerous, but will bite if careless. The view was just great all the way.

Its a beautiful little enclave. Which is why there is a Royal Palace here as well.

We rode to this lookout point.

Took some pictures of Myanmar

Across there's a neat row of stalls selling Akha Tribe handicraft.

Heading for Mae Sai, the Northernmost town in Thailand, and the gateway into Myanmar.

The Border

We made a U-Turn as we cannot enter Myanmar with our bikes. Its also not part of the game plan.
We headed for Golden Triangle, where the three borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.

I was not entirely unhappy to see tarmac replaced by unpaved surface.

A quick 'Me and My Bike' picture

For newbies like us hitting 120km/h on unpaved surface is unreal.....

Golden Triangle

Laos across the Mekong, with Myanmar on the left of the picture.

Another 60kms to ride to Chiang Khong, a Thai Border Town into Laos.

We got a shock as we passed through Golden Triangle Town, Songkran was still ON. I got wet.

The last 25kms before Chiang Khong would have been very nice in daylight. Even in failing light the scenery
was still spectacular although the road surface can at times be dodgy. The road follows the Mekong for some distance.


We stayed at Green Inn Hotel, clean room, good value for Bhat 500

The Route Today.

Tomorrow, Day 13, Monday 18april2011, we will ride to Nan. We will ride the 1148, the route Moose and Husref raved about when they rode on it last year.

 

[KTMphil]

I'm sure you enjoyed the legendary road Nick, we'll see soon ......

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 13, Monday, 18april2011


Morning on the Mekong. Lone boatman heads to a makeshift prayer spot on the banks, probably seeking blessings for the day.

The lifeline of Indo-China, river traffic gradually wakes up.

Moose had a surprise in store when we met him for breakfast. Turns out that he has some urgent matters he
needs to attend to in KL, and has to head home from Nan. Now there are only two JWs remaining.
And both of us have never been to Laos before.


Guess the adventure starts now.........

Checking out from the hotel.

We were delighted to find dirt stretches on our way to Chiang Kham.

The 1148 starts from here, a one street village as common as any other.

The curves starts soon enough

The surface smooth but grippy, the corners seems well planned, and traffic non-existant.

Scenery is great as well

The road climbs up a range of hills ( too low to be called mountain ) then straddles the many peaks.
As we ride we can enjoy the view on both sides of the road.

Picture time; Ivan

Picture Time; Me

Some local kids turned up so Ivan got some candies out and gave them.

Back to business of enjoying the road

We had a good time on the 130km stretch. All too soon we arrived at Nan.

We stayed at this Baht 450 Hotel, the Grand Mansion. There were better hotels but we were a little tired to search.

For dinner we got these two mototaxis to take us to a nearby restaurant.

After dinner we took our bikes out and checked out the town. Nightlife here is centered on these two clubs, Channel X and the Fifth.

We had some drinks at the cafe joint next to the clubs. There we met the owner of the Fifth Club, a friendly young chap.
Sadee was his name, and he was very friendly, has a few off road bikes, and goes off-roading in Laos frequently.
Later his sister joined us with her British husband. Turns out they are from a prominent family in Nan.

We stayed till midnight, then returned to rest before heading out on Part 3 of our ride; Day 14, Tuesday, 19april2011 we go into Laos.


Our Route today

 

[KTMphil]

You've picked a great route so far....


..Good to see you found "Filth" club.

 

[KTMphil]

Do we need to have a whip-round to pay for the photo bucket pro upgrade ?

 

[Marco]

Do we need to have a whip-round to pay for the photo bucket pro upgrade ?

Hahahahaha : : : :
Roads are MISSING, NOW,,,,, :shock:

 

[Captain_Slash]

Photobucket will reset the bandwidth use to zero on whichever day of the month you opened the account, until then no photos showing.
I had this problem myself recently and now I make sure that I am running two or three Photobucket accounts and share the photos around to avoid this.
Photobucket recently announced unlimited photo allowance plus 500 videos per account but unfortunately the bandwidth per month is still only 10GB

 

[nikhuzlan]

Will pay Photobucket the USD25/annum tomorrow. Then i will be back with a vengeance.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Next Saturday, 9th July I will be riding with 10 other bikes, entering Thailand from Su Ngai Kolok. We will then use the border roads through some offroad tracks to Bang Lang Dam, then onwards to Betong. We return on monday.

 

[KTMphil]

Next Saturday, 9th July I will be riding with 10 other bikes, entering Thailand from Su Ngai Kolok. We will then use the border roads through some offroad tracks to Bang Lang Dam, then onwards to Betong. We return on monday.

I hope you fix those beautiful photo's before then.

 

[Constantine Phaulkon]

Great photo-montage / photo-essay. You guys were so smooth, you made this trip look easy. I was in CNX at Phil's Rider's Corner Bar during Songkran and met Moose--I thought you were regular visitors, not first timers, you were so smooth.

Apparently you flew your bikes over too? Wow, impressive.

I hear Malaysia is great. A neighbor of mine in Washington, DC worked and married a girl from there (she was an airline stewardess, so she is pretty) and I hope to visit Penang for business, as a client has an electronics factory in that city.

 

[Steve Canyon]

Great reading with brilliant pictures...

look forward to more...

 

[nikhuzlan]

Great photo-montage / photo-essay. You guys were so smooth, you made this trip look easy. I was in CNX at Phil's Rider's Corner Bar during Songkran and met Moose--I thought you were regular visitors, not first timers, you were so smooth.

Apparently you flew your bikes over too? Wow, impressive.

I hear Malaysia is great. A neighbor of mine in Washington, DC worked and married a girl from there (she was an airline stewardess, so she is pretty) and I hope to visit Penang for business, as a client has an electronics factory in that city.

Thanks CP. We rode our bikes all the way throughout the the trip. However I flew back to Kuala Lumpur twice, once from Chiangmai, once from Siem Reap to attend to some business matters. And Malaysia is a geat place to ride especially for higher powered sportsbikes.

I will resume posting soon and complete the story. I just came back from a Golok-Betong Ride along the border roads with some friends. Story on that will follow soon.

Cheers.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 15, Wednesday, 20april2011


Today we go into Laos. Today is a little suspenseful as neither of us have ridden into Laos, but both aware of the horror stories at the border.
Besides, we are going in an entry point that's less known. Most use Chiang Khong.


There's also the issue of fuel. We do not know where the pumps are. We are also unsure of the quality of roads near the border.


So we left Nan a little anxiously.

We rode by this strange looking but standardised buildings. We have seen it elsewhere. Maybe its for grain storage...

We expected poor roads, but it turned out some of the sections are surprisingly nice.

Somewhere near the border I saw this Temple thingy so I rode up for a picture.

After another 20kms we stopped at this Guardpost. The GPS showed the road we are to follow is ahead,
but the soldiers told us to take the gravel road instead.

Thankfully it was dry.

Ivan on his GSA

A hut out of nowhere. Probably a lay bye. Where i come from, landowners build some form of shade for those travelling on foot so they can rest.

The road to the Border post at Chaloem Prakiat is made up of broken tarmac strewn with pebbles.
There were also steep inclines so there was no time for photos.


The Border Post.

While we were awaiting paperwork processing, we saw two trucks laden with hardwood. Smuggling perhaps?

We did not know it then but we require a Certificate of Conveyance issued by the Thais to enter Laos.
Our first attempt to enter Laos was denied so we had to turn back to get the Cert.

Finally

We left Thailand after about one hour of CIQ Process. It was surprisingly simple, and we only tipped one officer there
Bhat100 for the filling up of two forms. We rode past the Thai Gates, onto the patch of 500metres of no-man's land,
switching over to the other side of the road as the Laos CIQ Complex to appear.

We parked just before the Lao Guardpost, the young soldier there insisting we recognise his importance by telling us
in detail how our bikes should be parked. He hints that not listening to him may result in denial of entry. I nodded respectfully.

As we approach the Lao Complex, these containers/offices are spotted parked by the side of the road. They offer local vehicle insurance services.

We bought one each.

This is the Customs and Immigration Building of Laos. It took us 20 minutes to clear the Laos side.

As we were ready to go I noticed fluid seeping out of Ivan's bikes, around the rear axle. As we were entering Laos,
this little leak caused us some concern, but since it did not look serious, we rode anyway.

We rolled into Laos at 1400hrs, glad to be on the GS with its plush ride on roads made of broken tarmac.
After 4kms we arrived at a junction, which unfortunately has a signboard written in Lao. Our GPS was blank,
and roads appears near Oudom Xai, 130km away. But I know from Phil that there is a road that goes from Hongsa to Luang Prabang,
but its mostly dirt. We decided to turn left instead and head for Pak Beng, 40 kms away. Although there was no map in the GPS,
we felt secure riding the nicely paved road when we saw the milestones.

The nice road gave way to still nice unsurfaced road after 20kms.

The slash and burn activities were very obvious. We rode through two or three sections that were flaming and one
was big enough to warrant a picture.

The road came to an abrupt end at the banks of the 'Mighty' Mekong, which does not look very mighty for some reason.
I walked down the sandy ramp to the ferry and got a deal to bring us across for USD12.

Ivan rides his GSA down to the ferry.

Happy moment crossing the Mekong.

The crossing took all of 15 minutes.

After climbing a steep incline we were delighted to be greeted with this deserted road, probably laid less than 3 months ago.
We still have no GPS road guidance although we had the Mekong showing on our right.
The milestone kept saying Pak Beng so we kinda know we were heading the right direction.
We also know that we need to sleep at Pak Beng as we were unsure how long it would take to get to the next big town of Oudom Xai.


This went on for miles........

And to no surprise, as always around here, good roads gives no indication of what lies ahead.
Gravel Time.

After about 3 kms on gravel i noticed the right side of the road edge is fenced for about 1 KM.
Standing up I caught a glimpse of what looked like an exclusive resort set on the banks of the Mekong.
We saw a small gate, just enough to let the GS go in with little room to spare.


We found out that this is the LuangSay Resort, a high end exotic resort set on the banks of the Mekong,
with most of the guests coming in by the resort's own boat that sails from Luang Prabang to Vientiane.
I went in looked at the rooms and told Ivan " We stay here tonight ".


USD75 a night, a princely sum in Laos. We got a welcome drink. We got porters to take our things to the rooms.


We felt like Ewan and Charlie.

Our stuff being taken to the room.

My home for the night with Ivan's next door.

Mekong from my room.

Dinner was set by candlelight.

Part of the Resort, lit up agains the jungle.

Its been such a long time since I last slept in a mosqito net.

We covered about 160kms on our first day into Laos. So far things were okay but we still remained concerned the rear axle was still seeping oil.
The difference between Thailand and Laos is significant. Poor Infrastructure, poorer people. But the people seems happy and eversmiling and ready to help.


We look forward to Day 16 Tomorrow, when we will ride to Luang Prabang, a UN Heritage Town.


End Day 15, Wednesday, 20april2011

 

[KTMphil]

Nice to see some more stories from you Nick and as always a great read.

 

[Lone Rider]

Day 15, Wednesday, 20april2011

We rode by this strange looking but standardised buildings. We have seen it elsewhere. Maybe its for grain storage...

To be continued.

These buildings were used by farmers to cure (dry) tobacco leaves by burning wood or coal in a furnace to heat air which was then channeled through big pipes inside the building. Most of these are no longer used as the curing now seems to be more centralized but the structures still remain.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 15, Wednesday, 20april2011

We rode by this strange looking but standardised buildings. We have seen it elsewhere. Maybe its for grain storage...

To be continued.

These buildings were used by farmers to cure (dry) tobacco leaves by burning wood or coal in a furnace to heat air which was then channeled through big pipes inside the building. Most of these are no longer used as the curing now seems to be more centralized but the structures still remain.

I got plenty of tips from Lonerider's post on the Chaloem Prakiat entry point. Thanks. And thanks for the clarification. I thought it was for grain storage or for bird's nest harvesting. I saw these buildings in Arayanpratiet as well.

Cheers.

 

[nikhuzlan]

Day 16, Thursday, 21april2011


I woke up to a dull morning, with no sunshine and an overcast sky.


Breakfast was great. We met Mary, an English pensioner. She was travelling alone, touring Laos.
She arrived by boat from Chiang Khong and will be taking a Van to Luang Prabang.
She will eventually end up in Sydney where her two Grandaughters will be waiting.

I walked down to the banks of the Mighty Mekong. I expected more as the river was not extraordinarily wide.
I assume this river to be very deep as its reputed to move large volumes of water.

Probably the best mode of transportation for this family.

As we prepared to leave, the Hotel boat heads for Luang Prabang, an 8 hour journey.

Leaving Luang Say Resort.

Just 10 kms from our luxury resort we rode through very rural Laos.


Plenty of fertiliser on the road. The air is heavy with the smell of cow dung. Its ok with me because I grew up in the kampong.

This must be the hous of a well to do villager; nice reddish zinc roof.

We spotted many kids returnng from school. All were very friendly, cheering and waving us on.

We played Santa Claus passing the kids menthos candies for them to chew on.

These are good children. Well behaved with lots of dignity, they lined up and take the sweets politely,
never asking for more.

Back on the road. We count onlt a handful of cars when we rode in this road.

Plenty of agriculture

We reached Oudom Xai by midday, and with the sky threatening to rain, we wanted to have lunch wnerever we can.
But neither of us remembered to get some Lao money so buying food from a rural roadside stall became impossible.
We spotted this big Chinese Restaurant and decided to try our luck there.
Luckily the owner, who is a Chinese from Kunming was happy enough to accomodate us.
He even took Ivan to look for a moneychanger.


After a quick lunch we moved on.

We got onto Highway 3, the main artery that connects Vientiane to Boten, the bordertown that is the entry point into China.
On the map the road looks like a Main Highway, but it looked so rural both of us were having doubts we were on the right road,
despite the GPS saying so.

The road was not too bad, although the surface would kill any bike other than a DP.
Bumpy with sharp stones alternating with broken tarmac, we were also fearful of ny sharp stones that may tear our tyre apart.

We passed through many one street towns.

Then tarmac disappeared altogether and brown earth covered the road surface.
With rainclouds threatening a downpour, i felt indescribable fear, morbid with worry in case the rain comes and
the smooth road becomes a river of mud.

After riding for an hour covering just 30kms, we stopped at this RnR looking for a drink and a toilet.
We got our drink, but found no toilet. We do not just want to go to the side of the road out of respect for the locals.
So while holding our bladders, some rich locals passed by in a Toyota Land Cruiser ( rare in Laos ) and stopped like we did.
They too were looking to go, but being locals, they just walked to the open space and pee'd. I promptly joined them.


Pigs were everywhere. They seem more macho and more hairy than the ones I've seen back home,
looking almost like a Wild Boar with no tusk.

This pig walked away in disgust after finding out this bike was a BMW, not a HOG.

After 30 minutes we headed to Pak Mong, crossroads to Luang Prabang to the South West, and the
Vietnam Border to the South East.

At Pak Mong we stopped for a break and I found this in my tyre. Luckily a tyre shop was nearby,
and I pushed my bike there in anticipation of a flat when I pulled the nail out. Luckily it was just the thread and
not the tyre carcass.

The remaining 110kms to Luang Prabang is just about the best roads Laos has to offer.
We made good progress and stopped twice to take pictures of the Nam Oui River, a tributary of the Mekong.

We reached Luang Prabang at 5pm, and went straight to a riverside cafe for a drink before we look for a place to stay in.

We found this nice Resthouse at USD26 per night. Nice clean rooms, albeit a little small.
They allowed bike parking in the courtyard so that's a plus point. Also means unloading the bike is just ten steps away.

Dinner was at this quaint restaurant serving genuine Lao food.

On our first day in Laos we covered 330kms. We started at 0800 and arrived 9 hours later.
I observed no more than 30-40 cars on the road throughout the whole journey from Pak Bent to Pak Mong.
Laos was also instantly a few degrees cooler than Thailand, although the elevation and latitude were the same.


Tomorrow will be our 17th day. We will resume riding after one day rest at Luang Prabang.
Time to give the riding suits a good wash.


End Day 16, Thursday, 21april2011