Sita
Member
Mae Kae Waterfalls Dirt Ride
Deere scouted ahead last week and found a nice series of back-roads and dirt roads that lead to the Mae Kae Waterfall system, a gorgeous multi-level sticky waterfall series. As an added bonus, he found a collection of caves that, most interestingly, featured old (possibly ancient) rock paintings. Excited, we planned for an expedition to the area for this weekend.What was originally intended to be a camping overnighter by waterfalls and excursions to the nearby caves turned into an abbreviated day trip with us keeping one eye on the clock to make sure I was home in time to attend to parental duties. Being a weekend warrior with a kid often means compromises, as I'm sure many here will attest to.
Four of us set off from Riders on a fine day, still cool and the chance of rain not breaking single digits the entire day.
Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of the entire group as we left, and one of us had to turn back due to a dodgy stomach. The rest of us pressed on, determined to see these waterfalls.
After a pretty relaxing ride through the forest of route 1252, we finally came upon the promised land: dirt (and dust).
As happy as we were that it wouldn't rain today, we soon hoped it would; the dust on this dirt highway was annoying. Being the gentlemen that we were, we took turns being at the back and breathing in the dust cloud.
After around 30km of that, we took a short rest at a sausage vendor offering some pretty tasty chicken sausages for pennies. Add a bit of chili sauce and these are fantastic. Also found a pomegranate tree just by the show. A pity we were a month too early.
Now the real adventure begins: from the village to the waterfalls took us through the small farm roads: half concrete half dirt, but with stunning views of the hills. When I lived in Kenya and Uganda these were my favorite type of roads to ride on. Shamba roads they were called.
Following these roads we had an absolute blast; much less dust and more views.
Eventually Deere thought he found a road to a viewpoint. Well, it dead-ended, but not after some of the most stunning views of the ride. I don't have many stills to vouch for that, but it's all captured on the GoPro.
"First time here"
One of our fearless riders.
After some really fun riding, we arrived at our destination:
The waterfall was a blast: the forest where the tourists were relaxing felt about 5c cooler that it did on the road. Whew, we were tired and sweaty; ready for a walk up the sticky falls!
This place was popular! Lots of folks relaxing. Chicken vendors and drink vendors were all available.
Again, the still don't do it justice, but got plenty of footage from the GoPro that's in the video at the end of the write-up.
However, one waterfall not being enough, we skipped 1km down the road to a second one.
Deere found a giant Teak leaf and did his best Totoro impression (from My Neighbor Totoro)
Deere wouldn't let us get on the road until we stopped at our ... third... waterfall. Absolutely gorgeous. No complaints from us.
After that, it was back down the roads we came upon until we came to the Lampang valley. Deere is always championing adventure, so he advised that we do a bit more dirt and back roads to get us back to the 118. Being sportsmen ourselves, we happily obliged. But not before stopping for gas.
Overall, and excellent trip with an excellent group and leader.
Here's a short video compilation that does a better job describing the l'espirt du jour as our French friend would say.
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