Mae Sot & Mae Sariang - good roads & bad roads

[MartinThai]

So, less than 1 week to go and I’m back off to the delights of Cairo for another 28 days….. better put my time to good use! I still have a few more places to recce for our December club ride so I thought I’d nip down to Mae Sot and check out a guest house I’d provisionally booked.

The weather’s been good to us lately so a quick butchers at the Thai Metrological Dept website confirmed what I thought…… we’re good to go! Actually the website had a forecast for Tak, Mae Sot, Mae Sariang and Chiang Mai of “Scattered Thunderstorms” for the next 7 days so being a firm believer that their assessment of conditions is on par with the Highways Dept’s use of “Sharp Curve” for everything other than “Dead Straight” I took their forecast with a pinch of salt, loaded the Big White Pig up with essentials (travel mug & Tetley tea bags, CD’s, waterproofs and puncture repair kit), parked the missus on the back and orf we jolly well went!

I’ve not done the 106 Chiang Mai to Thoen route for many a year as for the past 10 years or so I’ve always gone back to Sin City via Lampang, Den Chai, Nakhon Thai, Lom Sak etc etc so it was a great reminder how nice this road is to ride! Ok you’ve got to get the crap out of the way first but once you’re about 20km south of Chiang Mai it’s lovely….. and finishes with about 30km of very twisty bits that I had completely forgotten about! What a start to the day….. brilliant!

 

[MartinThai]

We’d left fairly late in the morning so by the time we finished the 106 it was lunch time for us and fill up time for the Pig….. she was sucking fumes by the time we pulled in at the Shell Station so my request of “Dtem tank khrap” produced a result of 820 baht, lots of “Ooh’s” and “Aah’s” from the pump attendants and a “Bloody ‘ell!” from me! I never run the old girl that low, and when I first got her back in the mists of time she only took 500 baht to fill! Never mind, it’d cost an arm an’ a leg back in Blighty, and the pump attendants here are way cute! There’s a great Thai grub stop at the Shell station so She Who Must Be Obeyed and meself had a good feed and then hit highway 1 for a quick blat down to Tak.

 

[MartinThai]

We rode through a little drizzle on highway 1 and a more substantial downpour on the 12 from Tak to Mae Sot (now my PN Map Company map calls this stretch the 105 but all road signs said 12….. to me it’s the only main road going west from Tak to Mae Sot so I’m not really bothered about which number it owns!) but not bad enough to stop and put the ‘proofs on….. I swear by my leather ridin’ jeans (no, not chaps, you’ve gotta be American to wear those on a Harley), the missus was well shielded by the lump sittin’ in the pilots seat, and we’d dried off by the time we hit town so no harm no foul. Nothing really noteworthy on this stretch….. one quite nice rock-fall which would’ve produced twitchy botty time if you happened to be riding past as the rumble took place but otherwise pretty uneventful.

 

[MartinThai]

So….. found the Phannu Guest House and booked in for the night and did the business for our club booking in December: you have a choice of 400 or 500 baht rooms either in the old Thai style wooden building or the newer block…… again I seem to have chosen a guest house with zero catering facilities! No problem, the Casa Mia is just a 10 minute stroll down the road….. I wanted to try their aharn farang so chose the beefsteak, Tom had the red curry, we shared a pad Thai and finished with their gorgeous lime cheesecake and banoffee pie (with fresh whipped cream!)….. that and a couple large Heineken’s, all for 535 baht! Well done Casa Mia! The only downside is I’d wanted to book our group in for a meal when we hit Mae Sot in December but alas, Casa Mia is closed on a Saturday! Anyone have a Mae Sot aharn farang dining alternative?

 

[MartinThai]

This morning dawned dull but dry, we were not in the mood for (finding) breakfast so downed a bottle o’ water and off we went on the 105 heading for Mae Sariang and lunch at the famous Intira Restaurant.
Route 105….. hmmm….. now there’s a road! It probably qualifies as Thailand’s worst maintained highway with long stretches of totally screwed surface: to say a certain stretch had a few potholes would just not do it service….. it was like bloody moon riding! At one point we rounded a corner and came on a “lumpy” bit that had us both wheels airborne with a bone jarring engine stalling finale….. be careful if you’re taking this on anything other than something substantial with big knobbly tyres….. be very careful! It’s a complete enigma this road……. some of it like green laning with bloody moss growing over half the road, some under construction, some of the aforementioned moon surface, some brand new and perfectly good enough to get rid o’ chicken strips and some where the road’s been washed out altogether! 225 kms of “a bit of everything” which took me a very hard ridden 4 hours 30 minutes….. man was I knackered by the time we pulled up in Mae Sariang! I remember laughing out loud at one point as we’d just done another moon surface traverse with me in 1[SUP]st[/SUP] and standing up in the stirrups using the whole width of the road to negotiate a fine track between pot-sink-holes and what’s my CD playing? Bloody Tom Jones and the Stereophonics belting out “Mama told me not to come, son….. that aint no way to have fun!” Yeah, ok, ok, I get it…… buy an Africa Twin!

 

[MartinThai]

We lunched at the Mae Sariang landmark eatery, the Intira, where the owners sons green Kawasaki Zephyr 750 has been residing for 20 years….. he's got a few other bikes now so I don't think the Kwak gets much use these days. This restaurant is great….. it reminds me so much of the most popular Chinese resto in London's China Town where the staff make a fine art of being rude….. and hilarious with it….. and get away with it because the foods so good! They're not exactly rude at the Intira, just very brusque with no frills, but Ma is such a damn good cook, and fast too, that it's the only place to go!

 

[MartinThai]

After lunch we hit the 108 homeward bound and had a lovely ride in….. this route is 205km and took me 3 and a half hours….. a lovely sweeping route which was terrific on the Harley. It’s also nice once back in home territory if you remember to take the canal road just past San Pa Tong signposted “Place of Interest: Woodcarving Village” because this takes me all the way up by-passing the west side of the city to my local crossroads at Sansai….. easy peasy!

 

[MartinThai]

And, that's it…… three very nice rides out in about a fortnight taking in Doi Mae Salong, the Golden Triangle, Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai, Pai, Mae Hong Son, Mae Chaem, Tak, Mae Sot, Mae Sariang and Hot…. what makes you think I'm happy about having made the move from Chonburi! Off to work again soon so the next trip report will hopefully be from the saddle of a very tasty Africa Twin I'm hoping to add to the stable! Knees in the breeze folks!

 

[KTMphil]

You've really got the most out of your shore leave Martin, great pictures and story telling. im sure all of us agree. Not many riders spend much time in the Mae Sariang area, it's one of my favorites in Asia & I agree the Intira restaurant in Mae Sariang does awesome food.


Thanks for the reports, they are really enjoyable.

 

[MartinThai]

Thanks Phil, you know how much time and effort goes into making a trip report so it's nice to be appreciated...... I always like to try to add a touch of humour in anything I write, try to make folk smile!

I agree about the Mae Sariang area..... I think I'm gonna make good use of the Mae Sariang Khun Yuam loop, and if, as I very much hope, next time around I'll be piloting an Africa Twin I'll make good use of the many side roads and tracks on that route.

 

[KTMphil]

With that Africa Twin, there's some great exploring to be had west and SW of Mae Hong Son. We were there a few months back, awesome riding.

More on that area in the link below:


http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/showthread.php?t=1204&highlight=pana+huts

Thanks Phil, you know how much time and effort goes into making a trip report so it's nice to be appreciated...... I always like to try to add a touch of humour in anything I write, try to make folk smile!

I agree about the Mae Sariang area..... I think I'm gonna make good use of the Mae Sariang Khun Yuam loop, and if, as I very much hope, next time around I'll be piloting an Africa Twin I'll make good use of the many side roads and tracks on that route.

 

[The Bigfella]

Great stuff, thanks. I took a couple of photos on the 105 at exactly the same point as you recently... but yeah, I did it on a Super Enduro with big knobbies... but hey, it was raining.

You posted one from here... but it had a 3 wheeled car parked there when I went through

 

[KTMphil]

Is Mae Sot To Mae Sariang resurfacing all finished now? i.e tarmac all the way?

 

[MartinThai]

Is Mae Sot To Mae Sariang resurfacing all finished now? i.e tarmac all the way?

Nope!

 

[Captain_Slash]

They have been doing the widening and resurfacing for a few years now Phil and I reckon its still got two or three years left before its done

 

[Just Bob]

Thanks Phil, you know how much time and effort goes into making a trip report so it's nice to be appreciated......

Very much appreciated! Two thumbs up.

 

[Lone Rider]

Well done Casa Mia! The only downside is I’d wanted to book our group in for a meal when we hit Mae Sot in December but alas, Casa Mia is closed on a Saturday! Anyone have a Mae Sot aharn farang dining alternative?

Martin,

You can try Khrua Canadian in the center of town diagonally opposite the main police station if I am not mistaken. The owner is Canadian and although he can be a bit grumpy, the food is good,

 

[MartinThai]

Martin,

You can try Khrua Canadian in the center of town diagonally opposite the main police station if I am not mistaken. The owner is Canadian and although he can be a bit grumpy, the food is good,

Thanks LR, I wonder if he's the guy Chiang Mai's Sausage King supplies? If so yes, the food should be good..... great pastries from SK and Rob did tell me he has a Mae Sot customer!

I've also heard good things about the Bai Fern and Aiya restaurants, both only a short walk from Phannu House...... you know them?

 

[bigntall]

Great to see you enjoying this region on a bike most would consider illogical. Awesome to prove you can have fun on anything over here and its all in the mind. Good stuff.

 

[Lone Rider]

Thanks LR, I wonder if he's the guy Chiang Mai's Sausage King supplies? If so yes, the food should be good..... great pastries from SK and Rob did tell me he has a Mae Sot customer!

I've also heard good things about the Bai Fern and Aiya restaurants, both only a short walk from Phannu House...... you know them?

Don't know Aiya but know Bai Fern and had dinner there about 1.5 years ago. At that time the food was nice.

 

[MartinThai]

Great to see you enjoying this region on a bike most would consider illogical. Awesome to prove you can have fun on anything over here and its all in the mind. Good stuff.

Yep, you're not wrong! If I had a beer for every time someone's told me Harley baggers can only handle long straights I'd be a very inebriated person! Those bikes are terrific in high country twisty bits..... lots of grunt with low down weight..... it's all in the gearbox!
I've been messin' about on the Tak - Mae Sot - Mae Sariang - MHS - Pai - Chiang Mai route almost every December since '04 on a Road King and Ultra Classic, and only now lookin' at an Africa Twin as I've finally moved to Chiang Mai and will be doing it (and much more!) in all seasons.

 

[Captain_Slash]

SP Kitchen out on the Asia Highway is another good restaurant Martin with lots of the same menu as Casa Mia and Bai Fern, I am led to believe the same person opened all of them, but the pizzas are best at Casa Mia

 

[nikhuzlan]

Great Report Martin, and thanks. Will be heading out there in two weeks time with a group of 13 bikes, and plan to be at Phil's Rider's Corner 29th November.

Cheers.