Mae Sariang to Ban Rak Thai Camping

bsacbob

Administrator (Retired)
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Jul 1, 2012
Location
Chiang Rai
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Honda CRM-AR 250, Honda CRF 250-L, Suzuki V Strom XT 650 Honda XR250 Baja BMW F650GS


Day 3, covering some of the best roads in Northern Thailand, now all paved.



After a good nights sleep it was off to Mae Hong Song but taking an alternative route passing the sunflower fields now in full bloom on the 4009 at Bua Tong then heading to Khuan Yham and our final destination of Ban Rak Thai nestled against the Thai border a journey of 360 km.





Misty start as we head out towards Hot.







A stop at the pine tree's coffee shop, Johnny one-upping Steve over a previous Facebook profile which was not up to par...




Johnny determined to get the perfectly centred shot.













The obligatory Coffee stop near Hot.




The coffee shop has fine China cups too.










Reaching the turn for the sunflower fields.









Getting closer lots of wild sunflowers by the roadside.








The 4009 has some spectacular views and great surface.











Reaching Buatong the fields in full bloom.











Lot's of visitors but I can imagine at the weekend's it's packed with tourists.









Main viewing platform centre picture.







Off to the right a rainstorm that was to cause us some problems later in the ride.








Steve & Johnny with a flowery backdrop.












Nice camping area just a few hundred metres from the main viewing area.





Sadly views from here hidden by clouds.





Continuing on the 4009 starting to get a little wet.
















A little further some road repairs, not normally a problem but on road tyres and red clay, not a good mixture.







Justin tiptoes along all our tyres caked in clay.





Starting to get worse, maybe a good idea to turn back.







Starting to level off and by the looks the ends of the roadworks.









Now we caught the rain storm we had seen earlier (sorry about the pictures).





This used to be dirt until recently, so many hairpins in such a short section as we drop down.













A few landslides to add to the mix.





Reaching level ground things began to dry up so we could enjoy the ride.



























My rear on the V Strom, no chicken stripes allowed :-)











As we made the climb to Ban Rak Thai, the clouds moved in again along with more rain.





The main camping area was a little too busy for us so we found a nice quiet corner to set up camp.








Fortunately, the small site shop had snacks and more importantly beer !!!





The rain started hammering down, a small abandoned shelter looked like great place to sit and get a fire going.





Fortunately, we found lots of firewood and soon had a nice fire going as the rain continued through the night.





A damp start to the morning as we made our way out to the nearby village for a nice breakfast.
















Monk making his daily alms collections.





So that was it another camping trip done although a very wet one for the time of year, hopefully, our next outing will prove a little more fruitful.
 
Ah, you guys did the 4009 - have done it with my truck going up and these hairpins are very steep - so, once you go you must keep going.
 
Yes, Auke it has to be one of the steepest roads in Northern Thailand but you are rewarded with some fantastic views.

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