Epic Road Trip (Episode 13) - SOLO RIDE: Thousand Corners & Golden Triangle (Part 2: Kanchanaburi - Mae Sot - Mae Hong Son - Chiang Mai)

Hello Hello Hello.

It's PART 2 boys and girls so lets dive straight in!

Day 3 (Kanchanaburi - Mae Sot)

I left Kanchanaburi after the brief photo session and headed straight to Mae Sot. I followed route 324 and did not expect at all what was ahead of me.

Route 324 was freaking fantastic! It was a long highway with very little (and I mean very little) amount of traffic. It was mindbogglingly straight and quiet. I think It was straight (well, sort of) for about 90km or so? Amazing. In addition to that, because it was early in the morning, the view was spectacular.

From there I pointed myself to Suphan Buri and then Chai Nat. As I was approaching Chai Nat, the bike was due for fuel and my stomach was rumbling. Just like before, I only had bread for breakfast and intended to do the same for lunch. A few kilometers to the city, I noticed a signboard for 'Masjid'. I quickly followed that signboard and true enough, where there's a Masjid, halal food will be there as well. I stopped for lunch.... and that was where I found out my top box bracket was broken and will later haunt me in my journey.

After lunch, I continued and rejoined route 32/highway 1 heading to Nakhon Sawan. The road condition was not so good since there were numerous highway constructions and resurfacing.

I finally arrived at the the intersection heading to Mae Sot (route 105) where I stopped by to take a photo and that's where I said to myself "This is it man, this is the opening/gateway to the highlight of our journey".

As soon as I entered route 105, I was greeted with corners. Lots of it. With many types of corners, it was best for me to take it easy and enjoy the scenery. There were some sections under construction so I had to ride carefully, but it was an enjoyable ride.

I arrived at Mae Sot around 5:00pm and started to look for the hotel where I will be staying. I pre-booked the hotels in Mae Sot and Mae Hong Son because I knew it was peak season and they didn't have a lot of hotels. Mae Sot and Mae Hong Son both are not really big towns. It took me a while to find my hotel but as usual, I arrived, check in, showered, prayed and prepared myself to go out.

I asked the hotel staff to recommend me a place to weld my bracket but she didn't know. So I thought to myself, I'll just cable tied it up or something and weld it when I get to Chiang Mai. I saddled up and headed to Myawaddy, the border of Thailand and Myanmar.

" Read about Myawaddy here "

As it was already quite late and almost sunset, I just took some photos and didn't go across. On my way back to the hotel, I saw a Honda CB400 parked outside a small motorcycle shop. I stopped my bike, and talked to the guy at the shop to see if he can help me weld my bracket...and he could! So we worked on the bike, talked, change numbers and added each other on facebook.

I saddled up and went in search of a Muslim Restaurant but couldn't find any. I quickly search on my GPS for any 'masjid' nearby. Found it, followed the route and found a good Muslim Restaurant for dinner. Yummm!

That night I was able to sleep peacefully because:
a) I had a good dinner
b) I welded my bracket.
The only concern that I had was tomorrow, I will ride from Mae Sot - Mae Sariang - Mae Hong Son. From Mae Sot to Mae Sariang is 240km of quite rough road and my 9.5Liter tank can only carry me across 180km..... but that is a story for tomorrow.

Day 4 (Mae Sot - Mae Hong Son)

Finally! The long awaited day had arrived. The day I start my journey to the 'THOUSAND CORNERS'. It begins today with route 105 from Mae Sot to Mae Hong Son.

Some people will take the 'easy' route from Highway 1, but not me. No no no. I'm taking the 'fun' route. The REAL route to the Thousand Corners.

So I began the morning by loading up my panniers and taking a trip to the petrol station, where I filled my fuel tank full and the two additional 2 Liter bottles (totalling 4 Liters) which I will throw once I arrived in Mae Hong Son. After all is done, I began my journey. I didn't know what to expect, only know that the road is not good.

As I made my way through route 105, the scenery changed from a small town to what looks like a farm and then turn to a jungle-like road. The road was paved but you are riding in through trees whilst navigating corners. I will (or maybe already have) upload on board videos of this route. You can see it to understand what it is like. In addition, because route 105 is running parallel to the Myanmar border, you will be greeted with Police/Army checkpoint every 10-15km or so.

I continued to navigate my way along route 105. Then all of the sudden, the road becomes quite bad like the surface of the moon. The number of potholes along the way increased and it was difficult for me to avoid because of the shadow cast by the trees. I can't really see whether there were potholes or not. After that I encountered sections of damaged roads....which ultimately leads to about 2km of unfinished road. Yeap, that's right, pure soil road. (Thank God it wasn't raining on that day).

Nevertheless, all of the difficulties are hardly felt because you are traveling on one of the most scenic road. Imagine traveling parallel to the border, you are on this side, separated by a river and Myanmar is on the other side. Imagine stopping by at the local villages and seeing faces of kids smiling and then seeing their houses, built alongside the hills. It is nothing short of spectacular!

It took me about 5 hours to complete Mae Sot - Mae Sariang. I stopped by for fuel and had a drink at the cafe next to the petrol station. That gave me time to take off my leg after an exciting morning of riding.

After about 20 minutes of resting, I continued to Mae Hong Son. I rejoined route 108, a nice sight to finally ride on good paved road. There was another 180km or so and I took it easy along this route. It was all corners with very nice long sweepers. Make sure you guys watch the video!

The GPS finally showed that I was less than 10km away from Mae Hong Son. Yes! A sense of achievement suddenly lit up inside me. I did it! Solo on my first attempt. SOLO BABY!

After taking photos at the Mae Hong Son gate, I proceed to the hotel. Checked in, showered, prayed, get dressed and ready to ride around town. I tried to get the famous '1864 Corners Certificate' but the office was already closed. So I rode around town to see what Mae Hong Son has to offer. After that I parked my bike and took a walk at the night market and Mae Hong Son lake which was located in front of my hotel.

That night, I had a simple dinner and had a good night sleep. I think I slept smiling over what I have achieved! :D

Day 5 (Mae Hong Son - Pai - Chiang Mai)
 

Today's journey was quite easy (so to speak) because it was only around 250km. Nevertheless, I was warned not to underestimate the route today so I kept that in mind. I had my breakfast in my room, checked out, collect my certificate and went on my way.

The route heading to Pai and Chiang Mai consists of different type corners compared to what I experienced the day before. The road had switchbacks....lots of it. (Switchbacks are U or V shaped corners). Not only that, it had some crazy (and I mean crazy) elevations between switchbacks. You will feel that you are doing a lot of climbing....and when there is climbing, there you will surely need to descend, and that was the scary part.

There were a couple of place where you can stop along the way.

Here's another rest area/lookout point.

After about 110km or so, I arrived in Pai, just in time for lunch. I stopped and searched for a masjid and found a nice little Muslim Restaurant where I ordered chicken rice for my lunch today.

While having my lunch, I searched on my GPS for 'COFFEE IN LOVE', a famous cafe in Pai. A must go place. So after I finished my lovely chicken rice, I made my way there.

I had a nice coffee and photo break in COFFEE IN LOVE.  I then continued my journey to Chiang Mai. Eventhough the road still consists of some crazy switchbacks and elevation but one thing that I noticed is the temperature starts to go up. This was because we are no longer in the highlands.

I finally came to the intersection that lead me to Chiang Mai. As I am entering Chiang Mai, the traffic increased and I was greeted with traffic jams but finally made my way to the hotel.

While unloading some of my stuff at the hotel, I noticed that my top box bracket is broken... AGAIN! This time, it was broken on both sides. That was a really frustrating moment for me. However, I didn't wanna think about it yet, so I checked in, showered, prayed, got dressed and then I will see what I can do about the damage.

I was told that whenever you are in Chiang Mai, you have to find the 'Rider's Corner Bar and Restaurant'. The owner, Phill is a biker himself. So I did exactly that. Found my way there, ordered a cup of Mocha while I waited for Phill. Ended up hanging out at his Restaurant for four hours as we talked and I met a few of his friends who have travelled all over Thailand. I listened to their stories, added them on facebook and asked for a few pointers. Unfortunately they couldn't stay for too long as Phill had planned a ride tomorrow and they were loading their bikes on Phill's pick up.

I decided to call it a night, got back to the hotel and went to bed as tomorrow I will go to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle.....and then back to Chiang Mai. Goodnight.....

END OF PART 2.... PLEASE CONTINUE TO PART 3 :)

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