Off road Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Fang fairy lights & beyond

[KTMphil]

The burning is well underway but not too much smoke around yet, the dirt trails north of Chiang Mai and nice and dry, near perfect conditions.

Found a new Akha GF in the Fang Kareoke, new fashion of rice bag attire she was wearing too.

 

[KTMphil]

Off the hard top and onto the dirt, time to let some air out

RIMG3499 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




Headed north in the sticks, there's lots of ethnic villages that are hidden away


RIMG3498 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Then off to have some fun


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This was very interesting, in the middle of nowhere, not near ANY paved road, an illegal immigrant catcher, im sure he s given many without a Thai ID a nasty shock. The drug trade/ Yabba pills is what they are trying to stamp out & he's there waiting for them.


RIMG3504 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



The KLX 220 running strong, no issues so far with carrying overnight gear and tools


RIMG3506 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

You can get fuel in the Lisu village just north of R 1150 near Phrao before heading north


RIMG3509 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Lovely shy, polite locals in this village


RIMG3510 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



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Full of fuel out in the wilderness


RIMG3513 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




Then a real shock, what used to be a beautiful dirt track, bright white brand new concrete


RIMG3516 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



This will now make an amazing motard road, not all is lost


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More beautiful ethnic villages as we head north



RIMG3522 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



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We're wondering how far this concrete will go north


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As we get further north only single lane


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Finally it stops and back on the dirt


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More villages pop up along the main trail



RIMG3533 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



...More to come

 

[KTMphil]

Normally Akha & Lisu tribal regions is where you see where the missionaries introduced Christianity, here you can see gravestones with crosses

RIMG3538 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



RIMG3541 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Huge village in the middle of nowhere, with Jin (Chinese decent) & Akha ethnic tribes side by side


RIMG3544 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



The local store makes the school clothing


RIMG3542 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



The village areas are concreted to stop the dust, there's also concrete on steep inclines that lead to vegetable gardens


RIMG3553 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



There's some really beautiful poking around north of Phrao with some hidden gems of villages


RIMG3558 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



We kind of knew this would go nowhere but gave it a try anyway


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Another one of the Akha lady wearing the rice bag


RIMG3562 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Then of north into the remoteness


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The trail/ now road towards Mae Suai is being graded and now concreted, it will make it real quick to get deep into some fun trails when finished


RIMG3574 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




You can see the preparation for the concrete to be laid to the left


RIMG3575 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




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They always do one lane at a time to keep the road open


RIMG3579 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



In the dark this might catch you out'


RIMG3583 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



As you get east, closer to R 118 some finished sections


RIMG3584 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Into Chiang Rai for the night and a real horror shocker, The Red Rose is shut


RIMG3586 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Big festivals on in Chiang Rai, 6 hotels fully booked, we found rooms in the end


RIMG3587 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




RIMG3588 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

A few more photo's north of Phrao in the mountains


P1050006 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr





Harvesting to make brooms and brushes was underway everywhere we rode


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Not a bad place to work


P1050012 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr







More to come

 

[KTMphil]

Next day a fun route had been planned westwards from Chiang Rai to Fang

RIMG3589 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Through the Singha Farm

RIMG3590 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Sad to see lots of the trails in there now barring motorcycles


RIMG3591 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


Wasn't long before we were out in the beautiful countryside still very green everywhere here


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This has to be one of the best off road riding areas in Thailand because of the range of trails and amazing scenery

RIMG3595 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



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Cute villages nestled away in the mountainside

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Buffalo's are a common site


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They dont seem too bothered about the motorcycles



RIMG3602 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Lots of Akha ethinic tribe in this area

RIMG3603 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


RIMG3605 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

Out of the Akha villages and back onto the trails with some fun shallow stream crossing close to Chiang Rai

RIMG3608_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



RIMG3609 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Some unusual sights around Chiang Rai, I've never seen this Wat before


RIMG3614 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



RIMG3615 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Strange designed granny annex on the rice field


RIMG3617 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Another Wat

RIMG3620 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Back through the river

RIMG3622_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Slippy round pebbles in this one, like riding on marbles

RIMG3625 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


Exhaust side up luckily

RIMG3626 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Turn it off and get it up quick


RIMG3627 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


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"Did anyone have a camera"?

RIMG3629 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Water out of the bike and boots

RIMG3633 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Looks like the bamboo bridge is just about kaput

RIMG3634 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



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RIMG3636 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




Another crossing not so hard

RIMG3639_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



With the drought in Thailand, there must be plenty of water around here, look how green everything is in the middle of dry season

RIMG3640 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



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This looked like it would make a great camping spot\


RIMG3643_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Up to Doi Chiang for a coffee, no-one around, was shut!

RIMG3646 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



The village has fuel, good place to top up before heading west to Fang on the trails

RIMG3647 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


Whisky bottle fuel, its fine


RIMG3648 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Some nice single track out of Doi Chiang

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Then it gets really gorgeous

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A bit smokey, in November is would be amazing

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P1050019_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[schrauberklaus]

Hi Phil

Are this Pics from your new sony ?

 

[KTMphil]

Poking around some new stuff not on the maps

RIMG3658 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



This was trying a link up which looks like it goes through


RIMG3660 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


From the trail to the south we could see the link trail, pretty sure it joins (see the red line)


View attachment 44939



We were very close here

RIMG3662 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



A bit of surveying by foot, down to the right there was a trail

RIMG3664 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



There were some locals there, they said that side didnt go through


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There was a trail to the left/ south it didnt look right, looked as though it was just garden access but actually when looked at from the main trail, is probably the one that links


RIMG3668_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Back out to find another way around


RIMG3672 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Onto the road, Akha lady in the pick up ahead

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RIMG3682 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



As with a lot of the Akha villages, the missionaries had found them, here an unusual church


RIMG3684 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Back out on the trails westwards towards Fang

RIMG3685 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



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Not too hot, a really great days riding, time for a water break

RIMG3695 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

Hi Phil

Are this Pics from your new sony ?

99% are from the Ricoh waterproof camera

 

[KTMphil]

The fun didnt stop great ridge line elevation all the way through to fang


RIMG3698 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Concrete on the steep bits as you approach the next village


RIMG3701_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



This is what's killing our viz

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More Akha sweeping brush manufacturing in the next village

RIMG3706 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



We VERY nearly stopped at this Akha new year village party, the ladies were drunk & very friendly

RIMG3708 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



The daylight clock was ticking so time to push on

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Looking west, still can't see Fang

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Praying no pickups coming the other way

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Look at those dirt curves


RIMG3723_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Spot the dirt bike

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The bike is a bit clearer in this one

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Another area with plentiful water for rice growing


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Into Fang for the night, the Fang Pub is now the Punna Bookshop Cafe.


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I think the owners cat is called Punna, first time ive seen one content on a scooter


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Looks like they like the cat


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Even badges

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Nice clean room for the night ready for another great day off road tomorrow


RIMG3741 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Nice view from the room too


RIMG3742 - Copy by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

Westwards from Fang towards the super-fun single track around Wiang Haeng, the reminiscence of Chinese New Year in Ban Arunothai

RIMG3744 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr


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Then off onto the single track


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This is one of the most fun tracks in Thailand, hard enough where you have to concentrate, first and second gear most of the way through


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Further down turns into more of a double track


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Found this unusual temple i'd never seen before

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A fun ride all the way through to Pai

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As you approach Pai, sad to see they are grading and concreting, as many will say its good for the locals


RIMG3768 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Again one of the best days off road riding you can have in Thailand, into Pai for a good nights sleep


RIMG3772 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[Johnsy]

some nice photos and some great tracks there Phil

 

[schrauberklaus]

99% are from the Ricoh waterproof camera

And the 1 % like the one with Bob in front of the Singha Park .
That don't look like a tiny fixed lens .

 

[KTMphil]

And the 1 % like the one with Bob in front of the Singha Park .
That don't look like a tiny fixed lens .

Thats was the Ricoh waterproof ...auto settings got lucky

 

[KTMphil]

Pai to Chiang Mai has multifarious options off road, some easy, some down right nasty & impossible it wet season. We picked a route south with some single track in the middle to keep it prepossessing.


A quick stop at the Memorial Bridge out of Pai


RIMG3775 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Then onto the trails.


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The KLX 220 still going strong after several days of first gear trail riding.

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Getting south and closer to the fun sections

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New bridges going in here and there

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Then onto some beautiful single track


RIMG3784 by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr



Everything ready for the next rainy season

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What a fun trail

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Safely back in Chiang Mai, no motorcycle issues and just a whole load of off road riding fun