Stunning roads and stunning scenery

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!

It Rained for a while

But it was mainly this

And a lot of this

And many of those

At last we are on the road

 After having a last breakfast in Chiang Mai until just before xmas we ordered a Bolt ( Uber thing ) to take us to the bike shop. The guys had the bikes ready for us and after  getting our stuff loaded we rode tentatively out into the traffic, of course we took a wrong turning but eventually having fueled up we headed towards Lampang . A busy town which we visited before, main roads the whole way. Driving is different but in general much slower so you get a chance to think. Found a coffee shop near our hotel and had some slightly spicy food and at the 7/11 ( spar type shop ) got beer, all good so far.

The following day we rook some amazing back roads where we saw a guy riding an elephant with a baby elephant in tow, you don't see that in the sma glen! We stayed in Sukhothai , a braw day and even found a biker bar for beer and food. We then headed to lom Kao over some amazing very twisty mountain passes, but dual carriageway the whole way, and I though we were the first world country, we are having the wool pulled over our eyes by politicians that's for sure.
Thursday into Nong Bua , wonderful very high passes but only two lanes and very quiet, spectacular views everywhere. Roadworks to improve bridges and upgrading the roads and more importantly the drainage, passing through very traditional villages where the people are still working the land.
A visit to the very busy market and then a sports bar later for burger and chips and HP Sauce, amazing.
Friday and we only had roughly 60 miles to do today, it was very hot and the traffic busy as hell, stopped about half way for food and petrol. Ran into a German biker who stays here in the winter with his Thai wife, talked nonsense with him and then headed towards Nong Khai which is on the other side of the river from Vientiane capital of Laos. 
En route the roads were packed with people waving Thai Flags and at one point  a whole school waving ft us, Fiona had spotted a official looking convoy but I realise it was for my benefit, thanks guys, i'm touched.
We looked for a viewpoint to see the bridge to Laos but got lost and ended up at a customs station, quick u turn and then headed to our Hotel. 
Super nice staff so we decided to stay another night. Out for a wander down the walking street where the market was happening. A beer and food and plenty people watching , plenty to see. Fiona joined in an impromptu dance at some point, crazy woman !
Over 750Km so far, bloody warm though but all good.

The route so far

Favorite Snap

Market

Night traffic

Bikes resting

Temple at night

KFC, sometimes you just have to do it

Beer, sometimes you just have to do it

Chinky at the side of the road

Bikes at the side of the road

Not a bad view

Fifi's new pals

Nice place

The Mekong, and the bridge between Thailand and Laos

Street market

Fiona joining in Later

And again

Beer time

The band

And we're off

 We left Embra airport on Monday the 1st of December for what will hopefully be an epic trip. Air France did their best to induce a stress related heart attack due to their lateness and lack of time for changeovers at Paris and Bangkok airports but our supreme fitness helped us to make it. Of course we had the obligatory crying bairns and people with no manners but that seems to be the way of it these days. 

Security at CDG Paris excelled themselves by being incredibly inefficient and not giving a damn  but great at talking amongst themselves rather than doing their job, makes the UK look brilliant.

We arrived in Chiang Mai Thailand and were impressed our luggage arrived as well, taxi into the old town to our Hotel and a wee sleep (none at all on the flight) then out for a meal, much cheapness ( less than £20 for both of us including Beer ) Then to the 7/11 store for essentials, whisky and M&M's , we thought we had done well, Glenlivet for £22 but today when I checked again it cost us £52! Still don't  have the conversion sorted!

Wednesday out to get our sims sorted for Thailand on the road back we saw a boy opening a clothing store with a Norton 650SS in the shop, transpires it was his brothers and his R75/5 was next to it. Not bad, first full day and i've seen my first Norton . Later we tried to get bikes organised which was more difficult than we thought, we were  told that we couldn't take the bikes out of the province which is actually bullshit. We eventually  managed to get bikes sorted from Monday for 15 days , then back to Chiang Mai for Christmas, we've managed to get a deal at the hotel here for then. Friday we tried to get bikes organised for after Christmas but the shop won't guarantee us bikes until the day before! Nightmare, nobody said it would be easy,

I had to get cash out to pay the landlady yesterday for the Xmas and just before we go to Laos and Fiona said she was told her chase bank card was being renewed the day after we left, cutting a very long story short her card runs out in January and mines in February. We did check before we left and we both had an expiry date of 28 but apparently that's a virtual expiry date. The customer service staff didn't give a jot., try paying virtual cash in Asia All's not lost though I can still get cash out my other account but i'll be subsidising the BOS until I get home , next update hopefully from on the road

Night time

Beer Time

Tourist

My new pal

City wall

Deranged Tourist

Keep Clam and carry on.....

Nice but very cold

 Saturday and we got a message from David T asking if we were going out on the bikes, we were so we decided to meet at St Fillans at the shop / Cafe as our favourite haunt at Cultybraggan was closed for a couple of weeks holiday. we set off and at St Fillans the cafe / shop was closed, Scotland at its best. David appeared and we set of up Loch only to find everything seems to be closed. A short chat and I grabbed the Norton Club Calendars which was the main reason for our meeting. For some reason despite the sunshine I couldn't get warmed up so after a quick chat we went our respective ways, luckily the Cafe in Comrie was open so I got warmed up a bit before heading home. The bikes were filthy so we weren't done yet, problem with salt on the roads is you spent as much time cleaning the bikes as you do riding them, life as a motorcyclist isn't easy, it looks great in the movies, never ending quiet roads and marvelous sunsets but the reality is different, it can be hard going , especially in Winter but having said that we have a cunning plan to quote baldrick, all will be revealed soon and it involves sunshine and different cultures and escaping the constant bad news which is all we seem to get just now. Keep tuned to see the plan evolving, tell your pals and keep checking in for the All roads lead to the Moon part 2 tour...keep on keeping on

Loch Earn

Fi happy with the T3

David on his Triumph

And getting the bitter cold coming off the Loch

Some sanity and some insanity

 I woke up this morning which was good because it meant I was still alive which is a bonus, the alternative is not waking up which would have been a bit of a bummer, in other good news the rain had stopped which made me want to get out on the bike. I actually woke up quite tired, don't know why but a quick walk to the local shop woke me up and definitely made me want to get out on the bike.

I dragged the R100 out to enjoy a few miles on the airhead and warmed it up, got all my gear on ( a right pain at this time of year) said Au revoir to the overworked Fiona and headed towards the Sma Glen, as I turned off towards Glenalmond I was surprised and a tad angry that it has been festooned with signs saying its now a 40 MPH walking and cycling route, multiple new signs (adding roadside danger to any unfortunate crasher on this route) So the cyclists and walkers are alright but feck the motorists who are being gradually run down (metaphorically) to the gutter. The council have obviously got enough money to  implement these schemes ( under who's say so?) but not enough money to repair the roads, fix potholes or tidy verges.

What a shower of cretins, time for a serious revolution to take back control from these chinless and brainless wonders.

On a positive note what a great day to be alive, even managed to avoid getting wet almost but largely impossible because the roads are flooded because the Cooncil can put up signs but not clear the drains, don't tell them or they will spend money on putting up signs to say possible flooding ahead!

Soon be time to escape for a while so keep on keeping on.

Ragin, but braw view

Back to 60 MPH

Sma Glen at its best, quiet and no stupid signs

Wade Bridge, marvellous

sun and clouds

Riders eye view

This had subsided a bit from the outward journey

They should add Not Motorcycle friendly to the bottom

Some computer issues and counting down

So my main computer is b7ggered thanks to the robbing barstewards that are Microsoft. Long story but the last part of the scandi trip will be delayed for a while.

On the positive side we are getting ready for our next big adventure, escaping the miserable weather and the miserable news of the UK for a while. We has a wee run to Cultybraggen at the weekend to catch up with some friends and say au revoir for a while

. All will be revealed soon meanwhile keep on keeping on.