TravellingStrom Does The Mae Hong Son Loop

[TravellingStrom]

Day 1 20th October 2012

Today we were riding, Gary Deeks came around for breakfast while I checked out of Riders Corner, a great place to stay, well worth it for the friendly company and the bike atmosphere, but cheap, clean and good tucker as well. The host, Philip Gibbins is bike mad and along with the other forum riders that hang here, have a wealth of knowledge about this whole area of Northern Thailand especially, but the surrounding countries as well. We were intending riding the famous Mae Hong Son loop which has 1864 curves, and is just over 1000km long, what a challenge! It leaves Chiang Mai and goes north, then heads west to Pai where there are heaps of hairpins, then back down south to Mae Hang Son itself, before heading south again to Mae Sariang, then back east and a small diversion up the tallest mountain in Thailand called Doi Intheron, back down and west to Chiang Mai. Once again Philip has been very helpful with info regarding this route, suggesting places to stay and things to see along the way. In fact, just by viewing the thread called Loop Rides from Chiang Mai on the RideAsia forum, you can get a good idea of what you can expect and of course there are a lot of ride reports of other peoples rides through this area as well, the map shown below is from there, thanks guys.

We got geared up and took a couple of photos for posterity, the first is myself and Gary outside the corner, the second is Philip and Som's daughter Allysala, a cutie

As usual it takes some sweat to get out of the traffic in town, but once on the dual highway north it cools you back down again

Once we took the 1095 to the west it started to get interesting, the roads were very twisty, but they slowly became badly potholed which makes you work just that little bit harder, trying to dodge the big ones and of course the oncoming traffic which may be in your lane dodging theirs!!!

Now, I don't have photos of the many many near misses along this whole trip, but have many hours of footage and no time to do much editing, but I did pick out some highlights(lowlights) which I will post up later After a few hours riding we reached a lookout near a fire control station where we stopped for an ice cream and a quick look around,

Then we headed off for another hour of fun riding the steep hairpins and dodging traffic and potholes. It was hot but still fun, of course the faster I rode the cooler I became, which can lead to problems on corners. I have noticed I have to slow down a lot for corners as my bike bottoms out a lot here which is not good, but I can live with that, it was the same down in Tasmania After an hour we got into Pai, where we decided to have some lunch, which was good as I was starving.

We rode around a bit looking for some place Gary remembered, but as it turns out we could not find it, so we picked a place at a crossroads which looked nice and ordered lunch. Now, here is where 'it gets lost in translation' comes from. On the menu was an item, fried pineapple with chicken and rice. Also on the menu was fried rice with chicken. I asked for "fried pineapple with chicken and fried rice. I ended up with two separate dishes, so I mixed them together, no worries or, as they say up here pop in yow. Well, that was a mistake, I took one bite and nearly burnt my mouth, crikey that hurt!!! I went and asked what happened and we studied the menu and it seems item 15(mine was item 3) was the exact same dish but with CHILLIES!!!!! :evil: :shock: Anyway, alls well that ends well, they had stuffed up and made me a new one which I tasted very demurely at first before I gave it the thumbs up

Of course during this time Gary had finished his lunch but was happy to relax and wait, not that he had any choice :wink: but it did add another 1/2 hour to the day. The thing is though, we planned to do this ride in 3 days, so we did not have to rush, which is a good idea. Although I do like to rush from place to place, having more actual stopping places means I stay cool and get to see things as well, the best of both worlds imho It was another 30 minutes up some more mountain ranges until we got to the Kiew Lom lookout where there were some girls in native dress posing for pictures, so I donated some Baht and posed with them.

[ I am noticing all the girls here are my height, hmm ] The mountain ranges in this area are great, it is not just one big mountain where it is constantly uphill turns, then all downhill turns, as you can see from the following photo, there are heaps of smaller ranges and the roads just go everywhere through them, so you are constantly going up and down and around, absolutely brilliant Now that the rainy season is over, they can get in there and repair all the damaged sections then this road will be fab, although it is a mecca for the small silver tourist vans/buses which are usually not good at being in their own lanes.

One of the many hairpin turns on this road, one of the smaller number of ones where you can pull up and take a photo safely!

There was some nice scenery along these valleys but as I have noticed in many places I have been, it has bloody power lines in the wrong place, if they had put them on the other side of the road this would have made a fine photo.

Finding a clear area to view what is down below is also hard to find, but when you do it is great

More great corners followed, some nice sweepers amongst them and around 4pm, when we reached the most northern part of the loop and had to turn south, there was a nice shady place to have a breather.

From here is was only a short run into Mae Hong Son itself where we made our way down to the lake in the town centre. This was where some accommodation had been recommended to us, but as we found out it was booked out with a heap of other bikers staying there. It was a very nice area though with this most beautiful Wat along the shore of the lake.

We went back up the road about 50m to a hotel we had spotted coming in and they had rooms, so we were soon booked in I enjoyed a nice cold shower to refresh. A nice gesture was the way the towels had been shaped into elephants, this was at the Ngamta Hotel, a nice place for a kip

We soon wandered down to the lake shore again just as the night market was being set up along the road leading down and also all around the lake. It seems the Thai people do most of their shopping at night when it is cooler, smart idea I reckon We went to a bar and grabbed some beer and headed out to the rotunda on the lake for a great view of the Wat Chong Clam and the Wat Chong Kham on the other side of the lake. There were some large fish in that lake, I reckon a lure should work, if it is worth going to jail for! When the sun went down the lighting on the Wat's were 'add your own superlative here' but my camera does not do very good night pictures, sadly.

After a few beers here we headed back through the night market which was now in full swing to a restaurant where we had dinner with Ben and Fern, some friends of Gary's. It was a good meal of chicken and large noodles, then it was off and up to the Crossroads Hotel for a few more beers. It seems the other riders were here for a memorial to some photographer who was also a rider and had died very young. As I did not know him I did not get involved but met a few people and enjoyed myself, as I do It was not a late late night but near midnight before crashing out.

Cheers from Mae Hong Son
TravellingStrom

 

[Jimmymaff]

Hi, Looks like a fantastic start to your loop ride. Enjoy :-) Jimmy in Oz

 

[TravellingStrom]

Day 2 21st October 2012

Day 2 21st October 2012

We had a basic breakfast this morning, not the best in the world, but not the worst I have had(as part of the room price anyway). We had decided on a 9am side stand up and that is what we did, after the management unsorted the parking lot, that was a mess, all the cars blocked us in, but I think they are used to scoots not big bikes with panniers We were going to do a small detour up towards the Myanmar border area which meant going north and a small amount of back tracking. So, after we asked some locals about fuel, then fuelling up we headed off north around 9.15 or so and it was lovely weather for it, a blue sky with a slight overnight chill but it will warm up very quickly I am sure

We found the turn off quite easily but for some reason the actual full route was not able to be done on the SatNav as it said there were no roads, but we knew there were and went anyway. This first section of road towards this small village was along the valley floor and gave us some excellent photo opportunities, the greens were magnificent

Once we got to the next small village it was not so hard to find the right road as a sign said go this way to the Kings Palace and I had seen on the paper map, this particular POI, so we headed off that way, at different speeds of course and after another 30km of nice winding roads we eventually arrived at the village by the lake called Ban Rak Thai. There was a Chinese influence here and the local grown tea crops can be tasted for free, and bought of course, they also sold dried and semi dried fruits, it was a nice place for a rest The Myanmar border is just over those hills in the background of the lake shot.

We then followed the road down both legs of the T-junction but were foiled by the mud, it had rained heavily the day before, so we never got to the actual 'closed' border point, oh well, never mind.

On the way back from this failed attempt I was waved at by a couple of the local lasses(not the first by the way) so I decided to stop and take a photo, but they were too shy, what a shame they did not see the helmet cam
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On the way south out of the border area we took a slightly different route (bypassing the small village we went through on the way up), a different road but just as nice, I loved this little ride Just for the record, while here I entered Mae Hong Son as the next destination, the SatNav then decides to tell me to ride along this particular road and it knew there were roads there. Hmm, so that should work OK, if I ride up a road and then need to find my way back, I will be right, gotta love these Adventure Rider SatNavs eh, you get lost, it'll get you out

The next detour we had was south of Mae Hong Son, only a few kilo's and a turn off to the right, we were off to see the Long Neck people in a place called Karen Village. This involved some wet crossings, avoiding elephants and was very narrow and quite slow due to traffic. Most of the crossings were shallow over concrete with algae and I was warned by the chap near the elephants to watch out as they were slippery. No worries, but the deep one, which had no solid bottom was deeper than I expected and I managed to fill my boots with water, that was fun
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So we got to the village OK and then paid the entry fee to go and see these traditional tribal people, here is what it is all about:
The Long-neck women are one of the main reasons tourists come to Mae Hong Son. These refugees from Burma's Karenni state, located just over the border from Mae Hong Son, are called Padaung in Burmese, but this is also an inappropriate label because the Burmese are an occupying army in the state. In their own language, this ethnic group is called Kayan.

The price for visiting these villages is 200B. Half of this money goes to the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP, the main opposition force to Burmese control in Karenni state). The remainder goes to the Thai Ministry of the Interior. The women receive 500B each month for wearing the rings as children and 1,500B when they reach adulthood. It is a level of financial security unheard of for the average refugee family.
The decision about whether or not to visit the village can be a difficult one. Many people believe that paying to see and take pictures of women physically disfigure themselves is wrong. The tradition of donning the neck rings is largely dying out in Kayan areas. If you talk to many of the Kayan people, however, you will find that despite the difficulties they face in Thailand, for now their prospects in tourist villages are better than their prospects inside Karenni state. At the same time, most of them would like to return home to Karenni state when there is peace or a cease-fire.

The refugees in these villages represent only a small handful of the 20,000 living in the refugee camp on the other side of the mountain. They are allowed a great deal of freedom compared to the non-Kayan refugees and some of the money that they earn goes to help all the refugees. Some people believe that it is the tourist money that these women attract that allows all the Karenni refugees to stay in Thailand. A lot rests on those neck-rings.



The first part of the village was a tourist trap, these were normal Thai people with normal Thai things to sell, you have to cross the little bridge at the end before you are amongst the Kayan people who are working on their own items to sell to the tourists. It is normal for these people to pose for photos and they don’t not mind, but it is best if you ask first, the ones I spoke to were happy to comply and I did buy a small gift for someone, but I do not have much space at all to carry stuff around too long.

We spent about 1/2 an hour there and just for the record, those copper rings are heavy, the first girl had about 3kg and the older women about 5kg hanging on their shoulders. And that is what happens with time, the neck only gets longer because the weight of the copper pushes the shoulder bones down into the chest area and away from the head, thus making the long neck.

It was now around 1pm and we had not covered any distance south and it was very hot, we needed to get moving now and this may have led to the next error on my part, I rolled the bike through one of the wet crossings but needed power to get out and up the other side and well, the pictures say it all for me

Oh well, not the first nor the last to have that happen, when you have a very greasy bottom, any deviation from the main path can cause this, the chap near my bike was walking in the water so I had to change lines. The video showing this will be seen tomorrow on the day 3 post of this loop amongst a few other ooops moments So we headed off to the next town south, it was a pleasure to be back on the main road, after finishing with all the rest of the uneventful water crossings and passing some elephants on the road and also them bloody silver mini vans/buses who never get out of your way. We stopped around 2.30 for a late lunch at a small cafe that Gary had been told about and the info was correct, the food was nice and also cheap, a nice little place and very welcome as I was starved. (Toby, one of these shots is similar to what you posted on Facebook one day, not the same but just as much fun)

We had a great run south to our next stopping point of Mae Sariang, but there was a bad section of road about 10km long filled with potholes and then some nice sweepers to make up for it. It was during this time I nearly had an off moment. I had just waved at some oncoming adventure riders and following Gary, I went around the 2nd of two left hand corners when the bash plate or centre stand dug in and kicked the bike over a bit, so by the time I got around the corner I was a bit out of shape and although I waved at the two HD riders just coming up to the corner, I am sure they were wandering what I was doing This was oops #2 for the day and the video will be posted tomorrow

We rode around for a bit trying to find these guest houses but in the end it was easy, find the river, ride along the street and they are there. The one we chose was called The Good View and it had a brilliant view, it was a new place, around 12 months old and cheap, 500B for the night including brekky We were soon booked in and showered and after a few sunset photos, ready for some beer

We met up with Ben and Fern(they live in this area) up at the Cowboy Night bar and grabbed some beer and food while the late rain storm passed over us. They had chosen some food dishes for us to try(non ring burning for me please), the first one was different. Catfish steamed, defleshed and minced then bread crumbed and deep fried, it was very nice and probably all you can do with catfish The second one was also seafood, a fish whole fried and covered with a mixture of veggies, also very nice

I am going to have to admit to a shameful secret here. While drinking beer in a hot climate, it does not take long before the glass and the beer bottle gets warm, or hot, so what they do here is add ice to the glass. Now, sacrilege is what I was thinking for the past week or so, but tonight I bowed under pressure, no stubby cooler, no glass cooler, yep I had ice in my beer It was not so bad and I guess when in Thai, do as Thais do eh We had a few beers here until the rain stopped then said goodbye to Ben and Fern, nice to have met you both. We then went up to a pub I had seen on the way in called the Drunks Place, it turned out to be a dive and empty with the bar across the street having loud music, so we grabbed a few beers and had them on the balcony that looks out over the river and chilled out for a while. Tomorrow we were heading back to Chiang Mai, via a detour up the highest mountain in Thailand but we did not have far to go. Even so, it was an early night for both of us as we were quite tired, it had been a long hot day but fun.






Cheers from Mae Sariang
TravellingStrom

 

[KTMphil]

Wonderful report Richard, many rider s have fallen in those slimy rivers in Mae Hong Son on the way out to the Long Neck village. I'm sure you'll enjoy the Nan-Loop-Ride immensely, safe travels.


A Map below of where the Long Neck Villages are in the Mae Hong Son area






Long Neck Village: Ban Nim Pang Ding

 

[TravellingStrom]

Mae Hong Son Loop Day 3

The mountains were a bit hazy this morning, so I did not get a nice sunrise shot like I was hoping for, never mind though. We had a skimpy breakfast, a few bits of toast and some shocking tea(I should have brought a tea bag as they used leaf tea of some funny tasting model) Then we packed up and headed east, not for long though as my front end felt funny so I had to stop and add air, it had dropped to less than 20psi. When we did get on the road again, I hit the front early as Gary was taking it a bit easy for me and following smoky cars, yuck But there were a lot of nice flowering trees to make up the smell

I crossed a tall bridge over this cultivated valley and stopped for some photos, the workers down there had a long way to go, but it was a nice scene and some stunning views.

When you ride through this region you always have to pass farm utes, stacked high with vegies. They pick them up from the farms and take them to a central area where larger trucks haul them to the bigger cities and other markets, lettuce guess what is in this one?

A little way up the road we stopped for a snack and a cold drink, a freshly cooked chook leg at a roadside stall, very nicely done and it certainly filled the hole that breakfast didn't. We met some girls up from Bangkok, but wouldn't you know it they were on a religious sight seeing tour of churches and Wats

We followed a river for a while and of course that meant the road followed the river, which means sweeping bends and lots of them. When we arrived at the town of Hot we grabbed some fuel at a servo, I am still having trouble identifying the correct bowser, but lucky for me the people there point me in the right direction. This is where we have to turn north for the ride to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand and after a short while we get to the National Park entrance and have to buy a ticket, only 60B, but you need the ticket later on so don't lose it!

The chap with his hand in the air is a Russian chap from Siberia, down for some riding and had hired a 125cc rocket. When Gary took off he went like a rocket after him, I was about 30 seconds later leaving and did not catch him until a waterfall turnoff. Gary told me later he was trying real hard to pass him, but there was no way Gary was going to let a measly 125cc pass a 650cc LOL : The funny thing was, when we saw him again at the top he asked us where a servo was as he had used a lot of fuel making that thing scream, hahah. As we went further into the park we came to another checkpoint, here they tore a section off the ticket we bought and this allowed us to actually ride up to the summit which is 2565m, not bad and the temperature went down the higher we rose, a welcome relief from the sweltering valleys. We got to the summit area around 1pm and had the obligatory photo taken at the sign.

I was a bit disappointed in how this was set up. The actual highest point was in a different spot and the sign did not have the elevation on it. There was an air force listening post up on the hill as well with lots of radomes, but I took no photos of course as I want to keep my arse out of a Thai jail The ride down the hill was just as much fun as the ride up and from there it was not far to Chiang Mai itself. The only thing of note was oops #3, as I was negotiating traffic at some lights, I did the usual thing and filtered up the kerb side which is reserved for bikes and nearly got taken off the bike by a ute driver who did not look as he tried to get around a TukTuk that was turning off. So, I have posted this video on Facebook the other day, but for those that don't use it, here it is and it has the three oops moments of the trip that I mentioned on the last two posts. There were many more, near head ons etc but I do not have the time to go through 3 days of video footage and grab them, maybe later.

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I was not hurt and amazingly I actually stayed upright, that makes a change eh So I got back to the Riders Corner around 3pm and booked back in, the same room I left a few days ago. It had been a fantastic 3 day ride and great to ride with a fellow strommer here in Thailand, cheers Gary Vstroms are very rare here, the import duty is massive as they do not build them here. Other bikes are more prevalent, namely the Kawasaki Versys because they do make them here. After a nice cool shower I ventured down for a beer and took all my washing down to the laundry lady, including the helmet liners, which were real greasy I could wash the lot for a change as I could now officially wear the T-shirt which says I have been there and done that, which I had bought from Phil here at the corner before I left

Later that evening as the usual crowd of local riders refreshed themselves, Na Cho and Louis came down for a farewell drink, his dad was returning home tomorrow and Na Cho was going to pick up his bike in Bangkok, nice to meet you again, and maybe we will meet up again sometime.

It was not a very late night as I was certainly tired out from the 3 days of fun, but I could sleep in and relax for a few days while I sorted out the next leg of the journey.




Cheers from Chiang Mai
TravellingStrom

 

[KTMphil]

It didn't take much to convince Richard to head to Nan on his way to the Laos border. This is the route we've given him which will be a very fun ride.

 

[Just Bob]

Great write-up Richard. Nice to see lots of photos. No shame in letting the bike take a nap now and then.

Maybe see you in Nan.

 

[TravellingStrom]

@Phil I was just trying to make sense of my written notes and that map there certainly is easier to follow, thanks for your help

@JustBob. Thanks, I am heading east tomorrow so will be there for the weekend

That damm bike spends more time on its back than me!

 

[Ally]

Great report there from you 2, having a nice adventure around northern Thailand, meeting some locals & enjoying the roads

Thanks for sharing your photos & commentary, very entertaining.

Ally