Just when you might think we couldn’t better the last day out….this one will take some beating, involving, as it did, a stunning forest waterfall, more off road mountain tracks with stunning views and lots of fun as we had to fight our way through some very thick mud.
Its on days like this that I start thinking I should get a bike like Allys.
This week our chosen meeting place was Mee Mees cafe at Meechok Plaza.
This week I made sure I arrived early and had breakfast whilst waiting for Ally.
While I was there Roger, and old ‘customer’ friend, from my Brick Road Cafe days, appeared, in his Hillman Hunter. He was just preparing to leave Chiang Mai and head back to the UK for a couple of months.
We had a good chat and when Ally arrived at 9.30am we all drank coffee before Ally and I headed off on this weeks ride.
We took the 1001, 121 and the back way along the river road to the 107 and Mae Rim.
Just after Mae Rim centre we turned off left on the 3009 riding up the hill as the rain started.
We had to shelter for a while but then carried on up to Pankled Coffee, which sits at the turn off for Mork Fa Waterfall.
Whilst we enjoyed coffee and lunch the heavens opened again. In the end it died down enough for us to carry on, all beit donning raincoats, and we took the small road up to Doi Suthep Pui National Park.
My entrance fee, not having a local ID, was 70 baht.
It was 350 metres walk through the forest, which, in the rain, was at its lushest.
On the way we spotted a sign that tells you to ‘Please beleive alarm sound’.
We asked at the ticket kiosk later, wondering whether there was an actual alarm and what it was for. Turns out it is a slightly misleading translation with the actual meaning being to take note of the sound of surging water due to the risk of flash floods over the waterfall.
Ally had previously beleived it to mean to listen out for falling trees.
I would say listen out for both, they are equally a significant risk, especially during this season.
We decided that it was too wet ant slippy to take the nature trail and see the Bat Cave but we did get to the Waterfall…..fantastic.
In better weather i”d have taken a dip, same as some braver local girls there at the time.
By the time we got back to the bikes the rain had got heavier and it was time for the leg-ins too.
We then headed on through the National Park, along a track that does not always appear on Allys GPS. She has been this way before so we relied on her memory.
As the rain continued and the track got progressively worse in places we had to decide whether or not to carry on. After on stretch that had been quite lumpy and slippery, Ally declared that if her memory served correctly it didnt get much worse after that.
Well I for one am quite glad that her memory was well off on that one. Had her memory served her correctly then we might have turned back, and as messy as it got, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
It took us through some fantastic scenery, and this is where the ‘Real Lanna Land’ comes in.
Another lesson for me, Ally tells me that Lan means million…and Na is a rice field… Lanna, the land of a million rice fields…and we saw a fair few of them on this ride.
I have heard opinions about the Hilltribes being lazy, what I saw on this ride says that cannot be true.
The undulating landscape is transformed, in a stunningly beautiful way, by intricate terraced rice paddys.
It really is something to behold. There is much more agriculture going on besides, we passed many dragon fruit plantations, and other ‘nursery’ operations.
It was worth battling our way through the deep mud we found waiting on several corners of the track through the hills.
At the worst, I nearly lost one of my shoes and came pretty close to blowing my engine as the bike sank low into the thick red mud and it took all my strength to push it through.
Then, here in the middle of nowhere, we come across the electric guys, fixing lines.
This meant that electric cable lay strewn across the track and we had to trust that we wouldnt get electricuted riding over it….oh Joy!
Eventually we made it through and came back out, close to the Buddha on Pink Lotus, onto the road down to Mae Rim.
It had been a long ride, 16.45pm by the time we got to that point.
The weather had dried out half way through the ride but as we headed home the thick black clouds ahead said more rain for sure.
We parted company at the 121 and I headed home to Lamphun riding through an horrendous storm. But as heavy as the rain was, it still couldnt remove all of that thick red mud.
For many more photos of the rice fields and more , please visit our photobucket album here.
And check out Allys’ here.
We had arranged to meet at the point where we had parted company last week.
Ally had promised more hills, lakes and a Cave Temple this week, so off we went heading out towards San Kampaeng Hot springs but almost immediately turning off onto a dirt track that follows the irrigation canal there.
Whereas the terrain along this canal route was not especially exciting , sometimes it is enough just to be away from the main drags, surrounded by trees and passing through genuine rural communities, and then out of nowhere coming across…a Temple.
With no English translations we had to photograph the Temple name sign for translation later to Wat Doi Zill.
Reaching our first planned destination was delayed a little when we took a diversion, turning right, across a small bridge over the canal, to another reservoir, that appeared on Allys GPS, as Thi Reservoir; not to be mistaken for the Thi reservoir we visited last week, a few miles away at Banthi.
The track ended up veering off into the forest, and although we continued into the trees a ways we turned back when it was clear that there were no other visible motorbike tracks.
Heading back to the canal and soon returning to tarmac we headed right,up to Huai Hong Khai 7 , a huge reservoir. Riding into the government buildings there, Ally pointed out the restaurant. Food at last!
The coach party were clearly late and the caterers took pity on us and promptly laid out 4 different dishes plus rice and water. A much nicer lunch than we would likely have bought elsewhere. The chef and waiter were very friendly and chatted with us for a while and refused to let us pay, although we did insist on leaving a tip.
It was not so far then to the 3005 where we went to the 196 Coffee Corner. Ally is now good friends with the proprietors, Khun Keung and Khun Chai, a lovely Thai couple. Whilst we chatted and drank our coffee they handed us bananas from their own trees, deliciously sweet and great with the coffee.
Be warned, the steps here are deceptively steep, especially if you’re an out of shape smoker. Luckily there are not so many. But still, by the time we got to the viewing platform I did wonder how on earth I made it up the 
The bigger problem for me was more steep steps to the lower levels.
We detoured on the route home, through San Kampaeng, navigating our way through the Saturday Street Market and on to a Coffee shop on the way to Bo Sang.
