2 Days up Doi Mon Lan

[MastaMax]

]380796_10151129037995613_893090612_22326207_525574397_n.jpg[/attachment:13htolvr]

After we passed a small Karen village, the road started to deteriorate quickly, it wasn’t hard but started to get dangerous with the 2-3m deep drops due to the erosion and landslides.



Also one of the rented klx’s clutch gave up on the way up (KLX with only 3000km on it).


Me trying to fix the clutch without tools (I know I should bring tools…)

We left the bike on the side and thought going up and getting some tools later on the way back to fix it.
So up we went with 2 up on my bike. After a few km, the road got worse and worse, it was about 4pm by then and another 10km to the top on this dangerous trail so I decided that turning around was wiser.

We turned around, and on the way grabbed the bike we left on the side after I fixed the broken clutch (was barely ride-able... clutch was slipping all the time but at least we got the bike back to CM). A bit further on the way down my gf had to do an emergency break to not fall in one of the big ditch and hurt her foot somehow, luckily she could still ride so not too bad. Also one of my 2 friends is a doctor so at least we had that in case

We made it back to the small village and decided to give our clothes there. We went in and talked to a guy (who luckily spoke well thai) and he gathered all the people so we could give out the clothes. They seemed to be happy with it and thanked us, after what we left so we could make it back to Phrao before dark.





Went to the hospital with my gf to check her foot, she got strong painkillers and that was it, nothing broken.

That’s it for the adventure, sadly we didn’t make it to the top, but there is another way up from the side, which is mostly paved.
On top they have camping spots and even a resort.
Here are few pictures from Doi Mon Lan (pictures from the thai friend who recommended the place):







As I don't have a proper gps yet, this is what I could map with my phone, at the end it's where we turned around:



Directions: Go to Phrao, then road east 1150, in Ban Dton Gok (this is the best transliteration I came up for ??????????...) take a turn north (left coming from Phrao) then follow the road in the village that end in a trail. On the way there are always signs (only in thai, look for "????????" which means Mon Lan).

 

[mikehohman]

Lovely pix - the sun streaming thru the clouds is my favorite. Hope your gf is on the mend.

Mike

 

[Midnitemapper]

Sweet picks Max, Was "HDR" employed on the scene shots? Teach me how to make twinkling stars.

 

[MastaMax]

Sweet picks Max, Was "HDR" employed on the scene shots? Teach me how to make twinkling stars.

Last ones are not my photos, but to answer yes they are in HDR. Latest versions of Photoshop has a HDR tool built in, otherwise you can make them yourself using the same picture with different exposures, or my favorite one, use a great app called "Photomatix Pro", which gives the best results from far!

For the star you need to be able to setup the shutter speed to a very low speed. Leave it open for several seconds or even minutes and you'll get great night shots. Important is that your camera is very steady (best would be to have a remote to take the picture because pressing the button moves the camera slightly).

Here is an example of a HDR I made from a shot I took in Pai, this one is very strong (even over-done) but it shows artistic results:

 

[KTMphil]

Looks like the Swiss guys had a great time, I bet you scared the shit out of them with those drop offs!

great pichers Max.

 

[KTMphil]

Have you got the tracks?

 

[MastaMax]

As I don't have a proper gps yet (actually I'll come at the RC tonight to get it ) this is the gpx recorded by my phone.

The trail continues all the way to the top so this can be useful to know where it starts but it's not complete.

 

[KTMphil]

Thanks Max - Looks like an interesting trail with great views.