We left the very pleasant Maceo hotel in Non Kai and made our way to Chiang Khan, all following the Mekong, there were a lot of trucks in some bits, when I say a lot ,one or two occasionally, they are carrying material for flood defenses and they occasionally held us up but not as bad as Motorhomes back home. We were pretty wabbit so stopped at a small roadside cafe with a tremendous view of the river for a coffee to try to revive us. Unfortunately it was strong a hell and had other side effects which I wont go into. Quite happy to call it a day at around 1pm. Had some food ( noodles) and eventually, found our hotel "the Pud Dee" a nice town, very rustic and full of preserved old wooden buildings. After some food at night we had a wander along the market where Fiona bought a enormous bunch of bananas for 20 Baht (around 50p)
Dogs, I am not a fan of badly behaved dogs especially when as a big group they start barking and howling every hour as if trying to outdo each other, then at 6am the monks in the Wat next door start chanting and playing a drum, very authentic.
On to a small village Na Hao over the most tremendous pass with stunning roads, obligatory photo stop at the top. A young Thai couple were there and I asked if they wanted me to photograph the two of them , I took two shots then realised it was a old Nikon film camera, i hope they came out ok and I didn't waste film.
Our digs for the night was an group of cabins by the roadside, once again super nice people who couldn't do enough for us. Two motorcyclists rolled in later Bernard and Russell all the way from Singapore, nice meeting them. It turned cold later and I actually put a jacket on, my god! It was cooler in the morning but by the time we had the bikes loaded it was roasting again.
We took a short cut which was mainly a single track over the mountains and quite honestly the tightest gradients and hairpins i've encountered for a while, certainly kept us on our toes. Eventually pulled into Uttaradit roasting and very wabbit at 1.30, that was enough for the day.
Fi found a steak house just round the corner from the Hotel and a 7/11, a great result. Very nice sirloin and chips washed down with a couple of beers ,felt much better after that, the diet gets to you sometimes and although it was expensive for Thailand it was still less than half price from home.
It was busy leaving in the morning all the way to Phrae , stopped for a KFC to keep the spirits up then the road was great twisting and turning all the way to the outskirts of Nan. By then it was almost 1pm, the sun was relentless as was the locals driving! Glad to get to our hotel.
We left Nan and headed over to Chiang Khan, spectacular roads , the 1148 must be one of the great motorcycle roads anywhere, hairpin after hairpin and when you could take your eyes off the road stunning views. Eventually we rolled into town and even managed a nice pizza for.dinner!
Friday we decided to stay in the Another great day same hotel, £10 for the night, our dinner costs more.
Went out for.a run on 1093 & 1155, once again stunning but there's been a bit of damage with landslides which started to freak me out, one roadworks in particular was through wet mud, arse twitching time especially when we are on rented bikes, we have been on this road before 12 years ago, because i have the photo of the Wien keng police station. Another great day. Headed North to the tea region again some stunning roads and some quite scary , it was cold and I ended up feeling quite miserable at night because of that but next day it was sunny, the roads headed south were full of roadworks and crazy driving which wasn't the best but had a good night in wiang pa pao , found a nice place to eat and met some scooter guys, great to see youngsters having a life rather than playing games.
Monday we stopped at a hot spring place just down the road, been here before. A couple rolled in on a 1250 gs whilst we were having a cuppa, of course I went to speak to them, from luxenbourg, enough said , she asked to use the toilet and didnt even buy anything, full of their self importance I reckon, not planning to be buddies with them.
Pics tell the story, but aren't in order but enjoy anyway!
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| It Rained for a while |
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| But it was mainly this |
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| And a lot of this |
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| And many of those |
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