This tour took place in January and involved myself and Somboon traveling by motorbike, (150cc JRD Chopper), and Somboons father who traveled by bus.
Riding time from Chiang Mai to Thaton, approximately 5 hours, with stops.
Bus journey time approximately 4 hours.
Day 1
It should first be acknowledged that having investing a slightly more powerful bike, with a much more comfortable seat, this trip was much more enjoyable and traveling times cut tremendously compared to using the less powerful motorcycle.
We left Chiang Mai at around 12.30pm. Our original target was Mae Ai, where Boons father hoped to find an old Monk from his past to advise him on the auspiciousness of starting a new business.
For the most part, the road to Thaton is very good and the ride up there was fantastic, going through some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen yet.
The lush greens of the Thai mountain forests never cease to take my breath away, and there is so much of it on the road to Thaton. Being in an almost constant state of ‘WOW’, it was quite a quiet trip, mostly because words were useless in the face of such natural beauty.
We stopped at a quiet little place called Tam Daang, about halfway through the roadworks, for a rest and a coffee.
And a little later we stopped again at a quiet one street town, Chai Prahkan, where we got something to eat at a local cafe.
Not far down the road from here was a most impressive mountain view, that I’m guessing from my map was Doi Ang.
It must be said that if scenery is your thing, this trip could be made a lot longer, because there is so much along this road that just begs for you to stop and soak it in.
Aware that Boons father would be waiting for us at Mae Ai, we pressed on, arriving there at around 5pm.
All our inquiries suggested that there were no guest houses in Mae Ai so we then made the further 10 km journey ahead to Thaton.
Thaton sits on the Kok river right next to the Thai/Burmese border. Don’t expect much night life as this is a quiet place that shuts down early, although the guest houses will generally serve you as long as you are up.
We found a very pleasant guest house close to the river.
From the Thaton Boat office it is possible to take a boat trip to Chiang Rai, but this was unfortunately out of our budget and time scale for this trip.
Tired from the trip up , after eating at a local cafe, we spent the evening chilling at the Guest House and took an early night.
Day 2
Up early as ever, I took a stroll up onto the bridge to get some shots of the river as the sun rose and was rapidly accosted by many smiling Hill tribe ladies selling their wares.
With a limited budget for this trip I stuck to buying one friendship bracelet off each of the ladies who laughed a lot as I haggled and resisted all their attempts to seduce me into buying the more expensive clothes items.
Boons father had been unable to locate the Monk he was looking for, who had apparently moved on to a Temple in Chiang Rai. So, after breakfast, he left us to catch a bus on. For myself and Boon it was time to take a hike up the hill to check out the Temple. On the way up the grass path you pass some very colourful characters set on a grey/white rock formation.
Passing a delightful pagoda you turn the corner at the top to the main Temple grounds, where you find many more amazing statues, many of which you will have seen from a distance from the street below. The Temple itself is surprisingly modest but the buildings that go with it and their lay out are quite impressive.
The grounds are quite extensive , so have your walking legs on, but I assure you the views are worth it.
Further along the mountain ridge is yet another Temple and we walked back down to get the motorbike and take a ride up the narrow mountain road. On the way we stopped at the site of what appears to be a newly built, Indian style Temple, making another big impression on the local skyline. It also had a quaint shop, come exhibition hut in its grounds.
Stopping here briefly to rest the bike and take in some more views of nearby mountain villages, we then carried on to the Temple at the end of the track.
The Temple here ad a very stately looking building to house its Monks and Novices with a long treetops walkway, on concrete stilts, offering yet more amazing views.
If the ground between the trees was not so barren brown looking I’d question whether this could be Eden.
It was so cool and peaceful up there and we stopped for some time, taking a drink at the cafe in the car park and watching a Thai family offering prayers.
It was about 2pm before we got back on the bike for the long ride home.
With a few rest stops on the way; including a roadside Buddha; a wooden Temple near Chai Prahkan and an elephant farm not so far from Mae Rim, where we also caught the sunset; we were home for around 8pm.
I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to go on such journeys as this and can only hope that these notes and photos may inspire you to grab the chance to do the same when you can.
As with all posts on this site, there are many more photos in our photobucket.com album here …
