Wiang Tha Kan stupa's and Mae Waing to Doi Inthanon

[KTMphil]

Jeff's waiting for the Registration for his new Suzuki V-Strom 650 & had a few days to kill, new to north Thailand, so I took him around Chiang Mai around some backroads


DSC_7028_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

Wat Klang Wiang with its 1,000-year-old pagoda's in the Wiang Tha Kan district had interested me, so that, hopefully would be part of the ride.

 

[Ally]

I have a geocache there

 

[KTMphil]

First job was to check out the San Pa Tong bypass, a Godsend which will avoid the single lane, R 108 bottle neck. through San Pa Tong. Dual carriageway, its fantastic.








Once we'd researched it, we took some back roads (& dirt!) south to R 1013. Checking R 1013 west of Mae Wiang, the only road work section left is at co-ords:


N18.68115

E98.62657


Its 500 meters long, on a hill, hard packed, graded, smooth sand. The other half of the road is concreted, only half (on lane) is currently usable. Looks like in a couple of weeks, the whole of R 1013 to the R 1284 junction, will be sealed road.



Westwards on R 1013 to the junction south on R 1284, south on R 1284, the only unsealed road is road works at co-ords:


N18.60151


E98.51409



Again, hard packed sand and gravel, this time for about 1km but on mostly a flat surface (no gradient).

 

[KTMphil]

I have a geocache there

Dang - I wish I'd known

 

[KTMphil]

South on R 1284, through the clouds at 1,700 meters & then more south with the view westwards of the Siri Phum Waterfall.


Siri Phum Waterfall co-ords:


N18.54672


E98.51561





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Jeff & his V-Strom


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R 1284



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[KTMphil]

Down to the junction with R 1009/ Doi Inthanon Rd, then eastwards to the Wachirathan Waterfall on R 1009, co-ords:



N18.54160


E98.59915


Jeff wasn't expecting this & was quite gobsmacked



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[KTMphil]

The 1,000 year old, Wat Klang Wiang pagoda's in the Wiang Thakan district was my real reason for headed this way, even though we'd done a major detour. Andrew Bond had talked about it last week and looked really interesting.



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This was a Royal temple inside the Royal palace. Archaeological work shows it dates back to the Heriphnchai period, 7th to 12th century AD & the Lanna period, 13th to 15th century AD. Some of the porcelain discovered dates back to the Yuan period (1280-1368 AD) & were Royal vessels, these were ONLY used by kings from China. This can be identified by the handle being in the shape of a dragon. These could have been a present from the King of China to the king of Lanna.



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V-Strom 650



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Really worth a visit and only an hour from Chiang Mai



DSC_1422_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr






A great day out and back in Chiang Mai by 4.30 PM

 

[Ally]

Your very pink map makes difficult reading, especially as the pink hides interesting road details, suggests that the canal road is the 121 all the way down when in fact it's the 3035.

If you take a look at google earth it is very clear where the new road connects, joining the 116 to the south with the 3035.



Google earth shows the road very well as the yellow dust stands out against the green.

The underpass at the 1013 is complete and the road surface all the way to the 116 / 108 is solid.

Ally

 

[KTMphil]

This might be a bit better, we u-turned so didnt have the track data

 

[Ally]

That map/track Phil, shows a word "Dirt" it's certainly not related to the new road .

Seems you took a little detour.

I like google as it allows you to see the surrounding area in more detail. It's surprisingly up to date and full of interesting info.

https://www.google.com/maps/@18.3346692,98.8856898,5752a,20y,79.49t/data=!3m1!1e3

Ally

 

[oldbloke]

Jeff's waiting for the Registration for his new Suzuki V-Strom 650 & had a few days to kill, new to north Thailand, so I took him around Chiang Mai around some backroads

That Strom'll need a good bashplate if Jeff's gonna venture off road much with you... even then, clearance can be a bit of an issue... but the motor is an absolute gem!
Great pix!