Unusual Chiang Mai - Mae Sai loop

KTMphil

Senior member
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Location
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Bikes
2007 KTM 990 Adventure Suzuki DRZ 400
We were looking at 3 days of riding including Nan but ended up on a overnight-er to Mae Sai due to visa issues.



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A bit of lost-in-translation with the route planning with Mr. P, but it all worked out in the end and great riding:



CNX - R 1001 - R 1150 - R 107 - R 109 - R 118 - R 1 - Mae Sai


Mae Sai - R 1 - R 1149 - R 1334 - R 3051 - R 1234 - R 1089 - R 3037 - R 118 - CNX




Looks like round trip 670KM



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Nice & dry on R 1150 with tight turns, inspecting how much of the tire we're using



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West's rear Multistrada tire


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My Hypermotard rear tire



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A nice ride north in great weather, the Cabbages and Condoms restaurant in Mae Sai seemed shut for some reason. Co-ords: N20.24358 E99.85564



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Being a holiday weekend in a busy border town we didnt want to get too cute with hotels, the new Nangfa Hotel south of Mae Sai town caught our eye.


Co-ords:


N20.25557

E99.85575



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But was full!!
 
About 15 km south of Mae Sai you have the Du Doi Suai Resort, co-ords:



N20.33718


E99.88450



It is beautiful, in a well thought out location with Doi Chiang Mup & the Myanmar border mountains in the back drop to the west




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But it's not cheap and being a holidayb weekend they wanted 3,000 Bht for this room, West checking out the upstairs sleeping to see if it was possible for the 3 of us to sleep in one room


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This smaller room was 2,700 Bht


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Expensive but a beautiful resort


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We turned that down at managed to get 3 rooms at the Waing Thong Hotel 50 meters from the Mae Sai border crossing bridge 1,100 Bht with aircon, breakfast and wifi



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Superb location & not bad rooms, co-ords:


N20.44335


E99.88153



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Their insistence on the big bikes being parked it the tiny scooter parking was a pain




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Late start and time to get out of the Mae Sai border chaos


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Westwards on R 1149 signposted to Doi Tung and the twisty backway down to Doi Mae Salong



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Perfect time for lunch at the Sweet Mae Salong in Doi Mae Salong, co-ords:

N20.16503

E99.63171








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Very well run, excellent food, but not cheap (but worth it)



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It's really easy to miss as their signage doesn't stand out as you drive by on R 1234 in Doi Mae Salong, a quick map below might help


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Where else are you going to get good "Cornish cream teas " in north Thailand?

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Bodies refueled with Panini's & raspberry bombs, off south down R 1234, westwards on R 1089, to pick up R 3037, which runs south to Mae Suai and links to R 118.



R 3037 has only been paved all the way through for a couple of years, it's still potholed in sections, here you can see some quick repairs that have been done. This is a huge coffee growing area, many dont think to ride this road when heading south


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At the southern end of R 3037 you hit the pristine Mae Suai reservoir, its a beauty



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From the R 3037/ R 118 junction, its about an hour and 45 minutes back to Chiang Mai SW on R 118, a great 2 day route.
 
Excellent report. Really appreciate that you supply co-ordinates with each photo. Would like to know how you put this together to be viewed by scrolling.
 
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