NW of Mae Sariang trail riding to the border

[KTMphil]

NW of Mae Sariang trail riding to the border

A great 2 days exploring trails NW of Mae Sariang & was also the Poy Sang Long festival at the same time. (more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poy_Sang_Long)

 

[KTMphil]

A quick checkin at the 400 bht Mitaree Hotel in Mae Sariang

Good rooms with aircon

Then shoot out to photo the parade that was just passing

Looks like there were lots of proud parents watching their Son's coming-of-age

 

[KTMphil]

Been hearing good things about the food at the North West GH in Mae Sariang, so gave it a shot for dinner

Traditional tom-yum-kung & seafood in black pepper was pretty good - not expensive

Walking back, it was a pity to see this beautiful traditional teak house ruined with this modern shelter

 

[KTMphil]

Day 1's trail riding and data collecting route





Had planned to try and head as far west off this rout towards the Thai/ Myanmar border, but there were no trails

 

[KTMphil]

Off R 108, there's about 30km of tarmac, then it turns to dirt trails as you head NW.

1st thing i see as it turns to dirt is this poor lady with her firewood

As you head NW towards Ban Sao Hin, there a numerous river crossing, in September/ October this region must be impassable by anything but a boat

I kept looking for trails heading west to the border but found nothing


Makeshift bamboo dam over the river

 

[KTMphil]

About 1/2 way up the trail, i bump into these 4wd trucks on their way south back from Ban Sao Hin - they looked very well set up.

 

[KTMphil]

For about 20km, the trail basically followed the river bed

Some of the villages had fuel in whiskey bottles, we've got them waypointed, notice no power lines here, some of the villages had solar power

Seemed to be a huge region for growing garlic

 

[KTMphil]

Most of the trails were fast flowing, a couple of steep parts but nothing hard

Finally get up to the Thai / Myanmar border at Ban Sao Hin (it's a long dirt ride up there)-- here through the final Thai checkpoint (in no-mans-land), looking south back at Thailand

At the final border checkpoint, i managed to persuade the Thai soldier to accompany me through the checkpoint - as far north as he'd dare go. We get to a point where the Myanmar soldiers can see us and he says this is as far as we can go.

Funnily enough, there's some Burmese people at the same point that have come down from Rangoon!

 

[KTMphil]

Just around the bend to the left is the Myanmar checkpoint

We walk further along the border line, the soldier says he has something he wants to show me - from here the Myanmar soldiers can see us

Unusual pillars have been left from the soil erosion

 

[KTMphil]

The Burmese were curious about the KTM

Looking south back into Thailand - there are a couple of shops in no-mans-land on the right that it seems the Burmese come across and use

The shop luckily had stock of some fuel in whiskey bottles, 55 bht a litre, the most ive ever paid

He had some "interesting" chairs made from car tires

The guys from Rangoon, were having a ball in the shop, i suppose lots of stuff they don't see in Myanmar

 

[KTMphil]

Full of expensive fuel, back into Thailand -- a traditional house on the way south. It seems that all of the people in the region were of "Tai Yai" origin

Poked around all the off-shoot trails off of the main trail to the villages to waypoint where fuel was available

Some of the farms were like a painting - beautiful

Some of the villages had solar power & then would have a microwave cdma phone (phone box)

 

[KTMphil]

Not many of the villages had a concrete road in the main street, rainy season must be a nightmare here

Poked around a trail NW of Ban Sao Hin towards the border, but it was blocked about 2km from the border

MORE-TO-COME

 

[KTMphil]

Off on one of the tracks to the west, came across this beautiful palm forest

Irrigation preparations after last years disastrous floods

This was a brand new trail we got mapped, so in fact that it's not finished

The only way to poke around westwards seemed to be to ride in the rivers, there were no trails

There were a few nasty rocky sections on the main track - here looking south

Then some more fun, fast dirt

 

[KTMphil]

Looks like the locals don't like getting their feet wet

Some great twisty dirt on a trail to the west

Which then led to a beautiful bridge, crossing a rocky river - this was a fun trail that i want to give to the NOB riders

More new dam work in preparation for rainy season

A self sufficient farm in the middle of no-where

Back onto the tarmac section, there's a huge solar farm approaching Mae Sariang

Back to Mae Sariang, dinner at the Sawaddee Restaurant on the river - Beng does some of the best home made french fries in Thailand

From there, watching the locals night fish and crab in the Mae Yuam river

Lots of new waypoint data including fuel, villages and food to keep Auke out of trouble



End of day 1

 

[KTMphil]

Report on day 2's trail riding NW of Mae Sariang in the link below:


trail-riding-reports/day-2-nw-of-mae-sariang-trail-riding-t1716.html

 

[Captain_Slash]

Congratulations on riding all the way to the border Phil, I am not too fond of riding in the riverbed for long periods.
The scenery would be awesome at the end of the rainy season but getting there might be a problem

 

[KTMphil]

Congratulations on riding all the way to the border Phil, I am not too fond of riding in the riverbed for long periods.
The scenery would be awesome at the end of the rainy season but getting there might be a problem

Shame you weren't here Colin , would have been fun to do with you.