More trail links from Omkoi to B. Sop Khong / R 105

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Just linked another nasty trail through from Ban Sop Khong to Omkoi, here the morning school in B. Sop Khong.

 

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A real shocker to find IP Star satellite wifi at the school!



















More to come

 

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Some nasty twig bridges today with lots of twigs missing





Photo: David Bailey

Will load more when I can get to a computer.

 

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I think we both agree that the trails we just mapped, were the most beautiful and challenging so far in the Omkoi region

Coffee break on R 108

Then onto R 3017 towards Ban Sop Khong

 

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The school that we found has 600 pupils, about a third are borders

It looked like the perfect place for a child to be educated

 

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Got the most new trail and waypoint data that we've ever got on this trip too

There was so much we found and so so much more to do, we've got it all documented ready for next time

 

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The school dorms seemed in pretty good condition

Girls dorm

Designer walk-in closet

& everything powered by a solar array

 

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We manage to arrange some digs for the night

First time Mr Bailey says he's ever seen a Monk driving a car

Then get the sleeping arrangements all rigged up before dark

Some wild rice and omelette

A quick walk around the village, then off to sleep for a 0630am start

 

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0645am sawing some firewood before school

Safety first

Looks like they've done plenty

 

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A very chilly morning

& off we go mapping into the unknown

 

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..........more to come

 

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Off into the unexplored, scattered settlements along the way

You always find a lot of the trails follow the river valleys, many of them not possible in the SW monsoon

More villages

Photo's: David Bailey

 

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Early morning moisture rising east of B. Sop Khong

 

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A new bridge underway to be finished before the rain starts. Note the unusual hand saw, looks like a specific design for cutting planks

The old footbridge in the same area

 

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Lots of bulldust around making riding at the rear a pain and needing to keep some distance

Whenever you see riverbed terrain it often means it will be impassable in rainy season

This part was particularly nasty

 

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Quite astonishing to see where the remote areas that the missionaries got to, we were told these were from Norway

Above ground toilet exit, we presumed so that the waste can be used as fertilizer

 

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Ban We Nam Pur

B. We Nam Pur School

 

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A little startled, probably never heard a loud 2-stroke before

 

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Some more slippy-slidey riverbed stuff

Then back up into the remote hills, let's hope this goes through

.... more to come

 

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More villages to the east

They were not going to move

Scooted around them and up into the next remote settlement

A traditional Karen lady

More to come......

 

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More switchbacks to the east, this is starting to look like it will go through to Omkoi - fantastic.

Lots of forks in the road & with a lot of this not visible from Google Earth, it meant a lot of u-turns, but it meant that we got a lot more covered and mapped out for future mapping trips

Fortunately, we managed to get through to Omkoi from B. Sop Khong on this new trail, felt real good to have another R 105/ R 1099 link up done. Omkoi Resort had rooms so everything was perfect, a great day.


Freezing in Omkoi, the fire was delicous

.....more to come

 

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Up the crack of Dawn, 0630am start we knew this was going to be a long day, a huge linkup with some nasty elavation, we'd asked the locals and we coudn't find anyone that said they'd been from Omkoi through to R 105 on the route we were about to try and map, this might be interesting

 

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The rewards of an early morning start

The views over to Doi Tong were spectacular

 

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Grading underway on some of the high traffic trails

We flag down some locals and try to find out whether this goes through or not, they don't know, we are none the wiser

A constant trickle of villages keeps us optimistic

 

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More villages, now pretty remote

I can't imagine living here in rainy season, walking out would be the only way for sure

We start to rise up to about 1,500 meters and we're above the late morning, rising moisture

A few more villages and even some concrete on the steep parts

Some more nasty rutted stuff

Bump into a couple of Karen locals perched at 1,500m. We found out why, they tell us from there, they can get a 1 bar phone signal from the other mountain.

 

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It them went kind of single track for a while, could this be the end?

 

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As we rise up, some amazing views

Sill pretty early, it looks beautiful

 

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Some more routing headaches, as this wasn't on google earth

Across the other side of the ridge and we could see forever

 

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And then time for the decent, there was nothing at all in this steep, nasty middle section, it told us that in rainy season this is somewhere you cant get out of

It was like skiing down these powder cliffs, both wheels locked up

Then after several KM's, some concrete to aid farm access in the steep areas, there's a village coming for sure

The school at the entrance to Ban Chok Ae Phu

Traditional Karen scattered the village

 

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They seemed pretty surprised to see us

We're so far through now, that when we ask the locals if it goes through, we're getting timid yes's, things are looking up

 

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Out of the village and back into the steep, dusty, ruts

After a while, we reach the village of Ban Bohl Lu

They seem more positive about the link up

Lots of temporary stick bridges on this route that wont survive rainy season

Ready for road making

Could do with some here, this was nasty

 

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We then had 10km of real hell, immensely rutted steep nasty trail

As usual the photo doesn't capture the gradient

This stick bridge didnt look too nice

My surveyor did a great job and gave it a green light

 

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One of the best shots from the trip, more coming

 

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Into Ban Chee Bok Tee, not sure they'd ever seen western people before, maybe some Norwegian missionaries i suppose

Very unusual ethnic housing

Curious buffalo

We were trying to work out what she was making, the best we could come up with was something to hold fruit

 

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We were making good time on our estimates, things were looking good

Crystal clear day, the trail ahead could be seen for a long long way

A huge section in the middle of nowhere had been graded, we found out why later

More ruts and isolated villages

A washed away bridge with a temporary repair

 

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Back to the luxurious graded stuff for a while

This was why it was graded! A new road had been cut to replace this nightmare

 

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On the mountain to the west of Ban Chee Bohk Tee, a new Stupa is being built

They make their own bricks at the site

We were not sure if there was oil in the bottle as a release agent or just plain water

 

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They picked the perfect spot for the Stupa

 

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It was starting to feel like we might be through the worst and we were over the "hump" in the middle that prevents this area from being a used road, it is nasty, once you've been there, you understand why it's not on any maps!


The way ahead

Into the very poor village of Ban Chok Ae Phu

Again very unusual housing

Check out the boy on the left. Mr. Bailey has been here getting on for 30 years and has never seen ethnic clothing like this, very unusual pants

 

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Out of Ban Chok Ae Phu & ahead is looking good'

We got a bit lost here at first, there were several options all leading roughly in the direction we wanted to head, a bit of local knowledge saves a lot of benzine

All sorted and we're off