Cloud Busting Trip To Loei

[bsacbob]

This year has been a wet one so far, so planning any kind of trip can hit and miss and the weather can be very unkind. However, a small bunch of us tired of hanging around the house decided to make a dash for Loei this is how it went.

Day 1

GPX at the foot of the post.

After a meet up at the PT at the Hwy1 - 120 junctions we wasted a little more time than we aught gassing which came back to bite us in the bum later, once underway it was the quiet 1154 passing Mae Yom NP, the Huai Pong Nam Ron looking very swollen from all the rains.

Foolishly I had washed my bike for the occasion.

Reaching the 101 which appears to be forever under construction it was off in the direction of Na Noi.

The 1216 is a fabulous road and amazing views although the elevations are only around1200 metres.

The 1216 snaking off ahead.

The majority of the farmers in the area are Hmong, the main crop at this time of year are cabbages and the boiled cabbage aroma is everywhere !!

All the coffee shops are predictably closed during the rainy season, even the Facilities at the Khun Sathan NP campsite closed for business but a good opportunity to enjoy the views for a moment.

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Farmers loading up, well you guessed it cabbages.

Once you pass the Sathan Water Management offices the road opens up to some fantastic twisties as you descend down toward Na Noi

The best of the road starts at.

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The guy's hadn't ridden this stretch so off they went big smiles i'm sure.

If your ever this way make the turn onto the 2051 - 3042 it cuts out the corner and although it was a bit muddy on this occasion it makes for an interesting detour.

The easily missed turn is at
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So far making good time to the amazing 1339 and reached the ferry, time for a sit-down and some grub.

150 baht a bike for the 5 minute trip.

Approaching the landing area, the exit was fun in the mud.

The 1239 was great and little rain so far.

The rest of the ride was a bit of a nightmare as we turned onto the 1268 the rain fell and the road was thick with mud from the pineapple farmers trucks, our moving speed dropped dramatically as we slipped and slided along at a snail pace.

Finally reaching Loei just before 8pm 628 km for the day a cold beer at the saloon was desperately called for after we checked into the Muang Thong Grand Hotel still an amazing 290 baht a night.

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More info here post #7.

Loei Accommodation

We hoped the next day would be a better ride the prospect of a repeat of today's ride was not enjoyable.

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[bigntall]

This tide was indeed going to be a shot in the dark weather wise. Storms were brewing and passing the whole week prior. We tried to time it as best we could. Time to roll the dice. Since we all live in different cities we decided to meet up in Phayao. Good news was that meant I got a dash on the 120 and sliding on the 118 to get warmed up. Going with these two guys are the type yer mum warned you about when you were 13 years old.

The Triumpg street triple I set up for multi day rides was the meat in the Vstrom sandwich.

Upon completing the ride what I loved about it most is there was only 20 KM of boring highway into Ngao from Phayao. After hat nothing but fun twisties for 3 days. Hats of to Bob for designing a route that got the brain firing the whole time, into and out of corners. Gorgeous.

The 1216 was a jewel and will definitely put this on the to do list when the skies turn into puffy white clouds and the grey skies part, Upside is it was never hot and awful. Great temps to ride in this time of year.

750 KM is a long stretch when there's no highway to eat up the KM. Since my eyesight makes every gal look great and me look 20 years old in the mirror, obviously I don't see so well and am practically night blind. So it was a huge challenge trying to wobble into Loei in the dark . I think the last 60 KM's I did 85 KM wobbling all over the road trying to follow bobs brake light. A special thanks to Steve N Bob for pretending to be airplane torch wavers guiding a fighter jet onto an aircraft carrier getting me into Loei without running off the road. I believe I aged another 10 years that last 60 KM's.

Was a nie long day that gave us a good excuse to imbibe in some Beers at the Saloon in Loei. Decent food and some pretty lasses for me to focus my eyes on instead of Bobs derriere, Very grateful for the change.

 

[bsacbob]

Thanks for the kind words, i think. Your right that last stretch into Loei was a real grind, didn't realise the V Strom would go that slow, made the drinks later so much more enjoyable.

 

[bsacbob]

Day 2

Well what a difference a day makes, we awoke to clear skies and made our way to Dan Sai for breakfast, this time Justin could actually see the road ahead

First stop was to visit Wat Somdet, pretty impressive wooden complex.

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Some real craftsmanship on display by the wood carvers, four of these building corner the main wat housing a huge Buddha image.

Beautiful painting of the late king

Passing through Dan Sai we headed north on the 2113 to Wat Phochai Ban Na Phung tucked away seldom has visitors, the Wat has some fantastic murals and dates back to the 17th century.

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A nice new stupa has been completed, with a stunning mural interior but the main attractions are the older buildings.

The interior of the new stupa.

The oldest of the buildings

Not sure of the nature of this building but that ladder looks sketchy.

The interior of the oldest building and some of the best preserved murals.

Enough Wat's for the day as we continued onto the now completely mud free 1268 and enjoy the roads.

Passing by Wat Si Pho Chai on the 1268.

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A quick stop at Phusoidao Waterfall and the park ranger wanted to charge us 100 baht each to walk 20 metres to the lower waterfall for a picture.

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Still dry and time to hit the best section of the 1268.

If you can stay clear of all the pineapple pickup's this is a fun section.

Made a bit of a mistake routing us along the 1083, it is a great road but some much gravel and debris on the road sucked the fun out of it as we all agreed as we had a rest break on the bridge over the Nan river

The river as high as i had ever seen now a nice muddy brown from erosion.

Reached Nan late afternoon and checked into the Muan Thong Grand Bunkhong Hotel, great rooms and pretty good breakfast too for 600 baht.

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The good thing about the hotel it's just a short walk to the Gin Restaurant which is maybe one of the best eateries in Nan, to cap it off we had been blessed by the guru himself Mr David Unkovich stopping by for a bite, sadly though he decided to sit in the corner for fear of entering into conversation with us mere mortals, oh well.

So the end of a great days rain free riding 388 km on some of the best roads in the area, in the morning we would take in the 1091.

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[bsacbob]

Day 3

After a good nights sleep and nice breakfast, it was time to head home, the weather had been kind so far but another storm front was backing up, so time to hit the 1091.

After gassing up, Justin went to top up his tyres unfortunately, the air point decided to deflate his tyres instead so out came the hand pump.

After a great ride on the 1091 time for a stop at the Viewpoint - camping spot.

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Always a good sign after a ride, good tyre wear wall to wall

House Coffee in Ban Mae Phrik is a great stop over for a nice coffee or two.

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The owners insisted on a photo call, very friendly folk

We reached Phayao and bid our farewells, a great few days riding the rain gods had indeed smiled on us, until next time

254 km covered on this leg, 1270 over the three days.

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[2wheels]

Day 2

Well what a difference a day makes, we awoke to clear skies and made our way to Dan Sai for breakfast, this time Justin could actually see the road ahead


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First stop was to visit Wat Somdet, pretty impressive wooden complex.

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Some real craftsmanship on display by the wood carvers, four of these building corner the main wat housing a huge Buddha image.

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Beautiful painting of the late king

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Passing through Dan Sai we headed north on the 2113 to Wat Phochai Ban Na Phung tucked away seldom has visitors, the Wat has some fantastic murals and dates back to the 17th century.

N17.40882° E101.04868°

View attachment 63643

A nice new stupa has been completed, with a stunning mural interior but the main attractions are the older buildings.

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The interior of the new stupa.

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The oldest of the buildings

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Not sure of the nature of this building but that ladder looks sketchy.

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The interior of the oldest building and some of the best preserved murals.

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Enough Wat's for the day as we continued onto the now completely mud free 1268 and enjoy the roads.

Passing by Wat Si Pho Chai on the 1268.

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A quick stop at Phusoidao Waterfall and the park ranger wanted to charge us 100 baht each to walk 20 metres to the lower waterfall for a picture.

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Still dry and time to hit the best section of the 1268.

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If you can stay clear of all the pineapple pickup's this is a fun section.

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Made a bit of a mistake routing us along the 1083, it is a great road but some much gravel and debris on the road sucked the fun out of it as we all agreed as we had a rest break on the bridge over the Nan river

View attachment 63664

The river as high as i had ever seen now a nice muddy brown from erosion.

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Reached Nan late afternoon and checked into the Muan Thong Grand Bunkhong Hotel, great rooms and pretty good breakfast too for 600 baht.

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The good thing about the hotel it's just a short walk to the Gin Restaurant which is maybe one of the best eateries in Nan, to cap it off we had been blessed by the guru himself Mr David Unkovich stopping by for a bite, sadly though he decided to sit in the corner for fear of entering into conversation with us mere mortals, oh well.

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So the end of a great days rain free riding 388 km on some of the best roads in the area, in the morning we would take in the 1091.

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Those Temple murals are fascinating, depicting a time long gone and activities that (for me) need interpretation. Wonderful.
What a pity you missed a potentially enthralling discussion at the Gin Restaurant!

 

[2wheels]

Road block.

Landslide blocks Nan road - The Nation

(The nation)

 

[bsacbob]

Road block.

Landslide blocks Nan road - The Nation

(The nation)

Sadly Bo Klua is prone to such landslides. Reports of 7 dead in the area on various news sites.


7 dead in Bo Klua landslides

 

[Ally]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1908641272515427

(Shame about the music)

 

[bill]

Great information guys !
Attached is my usual route from Chiang Khan to Nan. It's around 8 hr leisurely ride for me in the dry season including lunch stop. Full day if stopping for sight seeing.
Hope I can get up there again soon and checkout the roads in your route. The area looks so much better while everything is green.

 

[bigntall]

Those Temple murals are fascinating, depicting a time long gone and activities that (for me) need interpretation. Wonderful.
What a pity you missed a potentially enthralling discussion at the Gin Restaurant!

2wheels this temple was one of the more enjoyable ones I've visited. I bean to abhor most of the gaudy gold leaf adorned temples from modern era Thailand. I do enjoy the Anghor Era Stone temples in Isaan but most of the modern Thai temples are not high on my priority list for stopping. Wat Pho Chai with the painted murals was awesome if you are into the culture of Thailand. We were going over the murals and trying to interpret what they were depicting.

They had some deep hulled boats looking ocean going (Loei is landlocked with no ocean nearby) on the inside of the building where it supposedly depicts the biography of Buddha and Vessantara. Our versions of what it was depicting no doubt were far off the reality. As you mentioned it would be nice to get an educated insight.

Outside Murals are supposed to depict the local lifestyle when it was supposedly painted in the 1700's. Steve noticed some of the people looked to be dressed in what looked like French foreign legion uniforms with dark boots versus the barefeet of the locals. Curiosity was piqued. Very nice to see the murals still in good nick after about 300 years. A great stop and thanks to Bob for suggesting a stop there.

 

[Mistah7]

Beautiful photos as always!