More trail pioneering in the Omkoi region

[KTMphil]

Lots of 2-stroke oil packed, who knows where this will take us

LR has kindly converted the second set of David Bailey's google earth tracks to Garmin format, David says it was over 60 hours of work putting them together, so this should be a cool adventure into the unknown.


3 bikes & 4 of us going, more to come in a few days

 

[Pounce]

Don't do it all Phil, Bob & I want something new to find when we're there.

 

[KTMphil]

Arriving in Omkoi with no drama's, Mr Bailey goes through his Google Earth tracks with the owner of the Omkoi Resort, he's quite taken back at the detail we have!

Mai's smile says it all about how this trip went

 

[KTMphil]

The map below shows the new trail data we captured, a big thankyou to David Bailey for spending days and days going through Google Earth, this saved an immense amount of time.









We finally figured out what happens at the northern end of R 1267 at the river. It is link-able through to the Omkoi trails, but only cross-able from 2nd half of December to the end of February. Bikes still need to be carried across then, there is no bridge.

 

[bsacbob]

"but only cross-able from 2nd half of December" That's handy to know Mr Pounce ......

Well done guy's, and gal's

 

[KTMphil]

They'd had some heavy rains from depressions since the last time we were here with Bob, so it was interesting to see how rutted everything would be, below is about 15km west of Omkoi

As you get further west, there's some great road signs of the hundreds of Karen villages in the area

A clear day with decent viz, it wasn't too long before you wanted to slow down and just take in the surroundings

Mai & David two-up off ahead in the distance

Most of the terrain here is quite sandy, with light rain it will just run through and not affect riding conditions

 

[KTMphil]

Constant visualizations of what's ahead and it always looks good!

 

[skeedary]

Phil you always manage to show up the difference between a camera and a good camera, probably the operator has a lot to do with it. Great photos.

 

[KTMphil]

Thanks Gary, maybe ive just taken too many photo's! - Home grown tabacco west of Omkoi

 

[KTMphil]

Might be my favorite photo of the trip

 

[KTMphil]

Off westwards we go into a region that's totally un-documented. All we have is an estimate from satellite images that there's possibly a way through.


Nearly all of the villages had Honda Wave's and fuel was available everywhere, the most we paid was 80 Bht a liter!

 

[KTMphil]

Sipsonpanna style of terraced mountain rice

Trails were going off in all directions, we rode along most of them and the ones we didn't get to the end of, we marked as continued and will complete in the near future. I love this region!

 

[KTMphil]

With the weather drying out it was harvest time all around us, the different colors in the fields from the the remains of the crops made for a good backdrop.

Hard at work in the fields

 

[KTMphil]

Mr & Mrs Bailey enjoying the surroundings

 

[KTMphil]

On the northern route westwards out of Omkoi, there's probably 10 bridges before you hit R 105 on the Myanmar border

Most of the tribal, Karen have the same feel to them, wooden houses on legs with tin roofs

 

[KTMphil]

Looks like lady luck was on our side. Between villages we bump into a team in a truck that were doing rice research. They had good knowledge of the trails in the area and were able to give advice on condition of the trails and rough moving time between villages, great reassurance

Off to try get some bush meat

 

[KTMphil]

Small villages were nestled everywhere between the hills with no electricity (sometimes a bit of solar power was evident), obviously they were there because there was a water source

As we got further west into the unkown, it started to get loose and steep, I had a spin out here

Mai giving Mr. B a push

 

[KTMphil]

Well deserved lunch brake of some roasted bananas

Some water buffalo's without a care in the world

A wrong turn into a village, we coudn't find anyone that spoke Thai

 

[KMA]

Fantastic RR Phil. Keep it comin:RO

 

[Captain_Slash]

It looks fantastic phil, how many more tracks left out there that you didnt get to do?

 

[The Bigfella]

Excellent. Keep on tracking....

 

[KTMphil]

It looks fantastic phil, how many more tracks left out there that you didnt get to do?

There is plenty more there Colin, tons going off at all angles from what we had planned.

 

[KTMphil]

In the middle of rainy season, doesn't look like this would be a fun place & you're a long way from any sealed roads

Something real special about mapping areas you've never been to before, none of us had ever seen these views before

Mai & David bottom right

 

[KTMphil]

Huge tree trunks littered the river bed here, it would be quite a site in the middle of the full blown SW monsoon

Up to the Mae Hong Klang village

This was a huge, destitute, Karen village. We were on a schedule and this village was a big surprise, there must have been 1,000 people living there. We'll go back and spend some time here for sure.

Thee locals in the village told us there was a motorbike trail over the mountain that would take us westwards towards R 105, but the bigger road was below the village, so a U-turn and back down the other road

 

[KTMphil]

Back out into the middle of nowhere

& it became clear why there were less villages as we got deeper. The terrain became much steeper and loose rock, 2 up this became problematic

 

[KTMphil]

Karen locals trying to work out why we were voluntarily on such bad roads

 

[KTMphil]

The combination of the loose, steep & nasty & David had hurt is back in the fall, made it wise for Mai to walk the steep gradients to prevent further problems.

After every new nasty mountain pass we were rewarded with virgin views

 

[KTMphil]

I marked this one as a view point, quite spectacular

 

[KTMphil]

The 103kg/ 50hp KTM 300 2-stroke was doing a great job, the steep gradients were a blast. With the larger fuel tank it has about the same range as a standard Honda CRF 250 L.

More great signage

 

[KTMphil]

Off westwards to find the next mountain pass

 

[KTMphil]

These trails have probably been here for 100 years

 

[NKPBob]

Phil... What an exceptional ride and equally exceptional trip report. I just have to say WOW!

I do have a question about the “kit” you took for this trip. I know about the other threads… … “Essential minimalists gear check list for jungle” and “Minimalist tool kit for extended trail riding”.

But… I would like to know what you took on this trip.

Thanks,

 

[KTMphil]

Phil... What an exceptional ride and equally exceptional trip report. I just have to say WOW!

I do have a question about the "kit" you took for this trip. I know about the other threads… … "Essential minimalists gear check list for jungle" and "Minimalist tool kit for extended trail riding".

But… I would like to know what you took on this trip.

Thanks,

Unpacking it now -

2 x front inner tubes
1 x rear inner tubes
full tool kit
hammock
mosquito net
air mattress
sleeping bag
water filter
emergency foil blanket (can be used for shelter for rain or laying tools/ parts of the bike out on if there's a problem in the dirt)
headlight
rain jacket
pork jerky - will keep un-refrigerated for 4 days and makes a meal out of boiled rice
roasted bananas - supposed to stop cramp


That's most of the unusual stuff.

 

[bill]

The 103kg/ 50hp KTM 300 2-stroke was doing a great job, the steep gradients were a blast. With the larger fuel tank it has about the same range as a standard Honda CRF 250 L.

Phil
What does that equate to for the 300 with 13 liter tank, around 180km before you hit reserve ?
I note the std CRF250L that you compared to only has a 7.7 liter tank.

Great report and pics as usual !

 

[KTMphil]

160-180km depending on the terrain.

Phil
What does that equate to for the 300 with 13 liter tank, around 180km before you hit reserve ?
I note the std CRF250L that you compared to only has a 7.7 liter tank.

Great report and pics as usual !

 

[2wheels]

Wonderful! (all round)

 

[KTMphil]

All going well and we manage to link from Omkoi all the way through to R 105 via a northern route, a hugely successful day. Enough daylight left, we scoot north to Mae Sariang for a night in the fabulous Good View GH, 600 Bht a bargain, right on the river.

 

[KTMphil]

The next day, there was a particular village we wanted to spend the night in and having Mai with us we'd be able to find out about the river crossing that links to R 1267.


Entering the Mae Ngao National Park near the Sop Moei region, there was a flurry of activity clearing the concrete section

We thought it might be due to the rainy season just finishing, we later found out that it was because the Thai Princess was arriving in a couple of days by helicopter and they needed the road usable for her team and supporters.

 

[KTMphil]

Rafting on the Mae Nam Ngao looks interesting and those rafts might be able to get a motorcycle across the river

We found out from the locals that the yellow crop was soy beans. It had been heavily promoted as crop in the area to try give them an alternative income source from illegal logging.

An expensive suspension bridge had been built so that the soy bean crop could easily be transported across the Mae Ngao river

Looks like this was to feed the buffalo

 

[KTMphil]

We got to the village on the Mae Nam Ngao, where it links to R 1267 on the western side, they told us that the river is only crossable by motorbike from late December to the end of February and even then motorcycles have to be carried across, good to finally understand the situation there.