Northern Thailand Tour With 2 Ducatis

[RusticCharm]

March 2009.

The Route- Bangkok-Khon Kaen-Udon Thani-Loei-Nan-Chiang Rai-Chiang Mai-Mae Hon Song-Mae Sot-Bangkok.

Outbound Map- Bangkok to Chiang Rai. http://tiny.cc/BangkokChiangRai

Inbound Map- Chiang Rai to Bangkok. http://tiny.cc/ChiangRaiBangkok193

Riders and Bikes- Grant on a 2007 Ducati Monster S2R1000 and myself on a 2008 Ducati 848 Superbike.

The 400 klm route from Bangkok to Khon Kaen is pretty unremarkable; mostly flat straight highway. Really opened the throttle on the 848 but everytime I got up some real speed, something would happen in front of me. If it wasn't Farmer Somchai in a pick-up doing a unrecommended u-turn or some teenager with a c**ting Korean boy-band haircut being a total <deleted> on his Honda Wave, it'd be a sleeping dog on the road. 

A shout out to the Khon Kaen Orchid hotel. The best hotel we stayed at on the entire trip and where we met up with John Gooding who showed us the sights.

The rides at the dinosaur park just outside KK on the way to Udon.

Army and police checkpoints are a regular occurrence in these areas. The army ranger stationed here was barely awake though.

Grant checking his GPS which is a necessity, especially as his natural sense of direction leaves something to be desired. 

I've heard the 848 isn't really recommended as a touring bike but that was half the challenge.

The scenery was amazing but very desolate in parts. Check out the twisty road in the distance on the right.

We'd often stop for lunch at roadside shacks. Great food!

Loei to Nan; the most technically difficult part of the journey. Many curves were on severe inclines.

Loei is the most desolate and uninhabited part of Thailand and it showed. We wouldn't pass another vehicle for hours or even see any houses for that matter. This is unusual as you'll always see a rubber-tapper's shack, a little hamlet or whatever, wherever you are in the Thai countryside.

But here there was nothing!

Not a good place to run out of gas, right? Taking a 50 klm unsceduled detour on a mountain road that eventually became a dirt track causing us to turn back didn't help but toward the end of the journey, dusk was falling and I was 40 klm into the fuel reserve. And starting to worry. This wasn't a good place to become stranded. And to add to the worry, Grant's headlight stopped working and would remain dead for the remainder of the journey. Luck was upon us and we came upon a Thai army ranger checkpoint who told us of a little village 15 klm away that had gas. More luck kicked in as most of the ride from here was downhill so I could coast down in neutral to save gas. It worked and we topped up with gas sold in plastic Coke bottles from the ubiquitous roadside shack.

We didn't make it to Nan so stopped in the town of Na Noi for the night and would ride on to Nan the next day. The technical nature of the ride was starting to tell. Slightly swollen hands and a backside that was showing signs of wear and tear.

All we could find in the way of accomodation were these 250 Baht bungalows. Not recommended though Na Noi was a nice place.

Made our way to Nan the next morning.

My favourite part of the trip. Great sweeping curves at speed. Chiang Rai was fairly developed compared to the previous 2 towns. It had a Pizza Company  but far too many backpackers for my liking.

As this part of Thailand is much more developed than the Loei area, roadside cafes were easy to find.

Grant still trying to see whether he can turn on his headlight. 

And 'Sharp Curve'? F*cking 'A' sharp curves!

We spent 3 days in Chiang Mai, in part to recover from the previous week's riding and the good nightlife here.

Doi Suthep.

The GPS often came in handy as Grant's natural sense of.....oops...already told you that. 

At a temple in the hills above Mae Hong Son. 

A view from a hill. Note the airport on the left.

On to Mae Sot on the Burmese border, stopping off in Mae Sariang for lunch. Stayed at the Depavej Hotel. Excellent room service!! 

Also, just around the corner (out the hotel, right, right again the left) was a western-run cafe with amazingly cheap beers and very large food portions. Forget the name. Grant?

It was at this point that saddle-soreness was really starting to kick in. Maybe in need of a touring seat. 

We decided to ride straight back to Bangkok the next day, all 500 kilometers. After some serious twisties (which didn't do my arse any good at all!), it was on to the highway and blast to Bangkok. Managed to double-back and take the bypass after getting caught in Nakhon Sawan taffic.

Riding gear- 

Arai Super Rapide helmet

Ducati Corse perforated leather jacket (The leather did start to get a little hot when at a stop.)

Icon Recon Jeans (with sewn-in knee pads)

Sidi Vertigo Corsa boots

Photos- iPhone. 

Accommodation was at-

Khon Kaen- Khon Kaen Orchid Hotel, 550 THB.

Udon Thani- Top Mansion, 350 THB.

Loei- King Hotel, 550 THB.

Na Noi- Bungalows, 250 THB.

Nan- Depavej Hotel, 700 THB.

Chiang Rai- Diamond Park Inn, 550 THB.

Chiang Mai- Top House, 450 THB.

Mae Hong Son- Romtai House, 400 THB.

Mae Sot- Pornthep Hotel, 600 THB.

Edited May 23, 2009 by RusticCharm

[dave_boo]

Good report, great pictures.

Only one beef, why are neither of the Ducatis red? Although the 848 does look stunning in white, kinda like a James Bond tuxedo or something.

[RusticCharm]

Only one beef, why are neither of the Ducatis red?

We're rebels! 

[BigBikeBKK]

Awesome report Rustic! Sounds like a great trip!

Ride On!

Tony

[HAWKHILL]

Good report nice pics

How many KM on your 848 now ?

HH

[Zzinged]

Hey Terry! Looks like a good trip Nice photos too... but buy yourself a compact digital already!

[RusticCharm]

Good report nice pics

How many KM on your 848 now ?

HH

Nearly 10k.

Hey Terry! Looks like a good trip Nice photos too... but buy yourself a compact digital already!

Yeah, you're right. But everytime I take a look at the prices, I think what could I spend this on for the bike instead. Some rearsets maybe....

[AnthonyR1]

nice report, cool pics.

i have pics of myself or friends taken from some of the exact locations you took pics at

[gragra]

Dunno the name of the restauarant in Mae Sot - but owned by a Canadian guy, and here's the Google maps link to it's location:

(http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPB_enTH235TH236&q=mae+sot)

Almost every kind of food on the menu, good quality and super reasonable prices.

Great write up - here's a snip and paste from a little post I've put on the SSR site under the touring section:

Not sure if this is the right place for this or not, but here goes...

Below are two links to Google maps of a trip I recently completed with a fellow rider, over a period of two weeks.

There are two links - first and second half - as it seems like google maps couldn't hold all the info in one hit.

While a lot of this may be a well worn path, in my opinion the stretch/s between Udon and all the way around to Mae Sot are simply stunning and really not to be missed.

You may have heard that there has been a lot of burning off in Nan and other provinces North. This has left a kinda eerie feeling landscape in parts - and while it would be nice to see it all green again, the lack of foliage makes seeing the road somewhat easier.

A particularly stunning piece of hotmix is the 1168 due east out of Nan. I got wonderfully lost on this pristine piece of civil engineering and ended up at some shanty town near the Laos border.

It really is God's country up there when it comes to riding and other things and I only hope that I can spend a few weeks there again enjoying some new spots towards the end of the year when things cool off again.

Props to John Gooding, Trent, Tony, Tia, Jay and my riding buddy "Rustic" for tips and advice along the way and for helping to make this trip so memorable.

Oh, and to my trusty Monstalicious steed - I couldn't and wouldn't have done it without you, and the various other "test-rides" sampled along the way meant nothing...

Rustic, in the Hotel summary, it is correct - but in the write up, the hotel name for Mae Sot is incorrect.

There is also a Hotel in Nan right next to the Depavej Hotel called the "Nanfah" hotel. Lovely old wooden style Thai hotel - which they were in the process of renovating downstairs in the "pub" area - which could be worth a look in the near future.

(I haven't bothered to add in the Map links here, as I'm sure they are the same).

[johngooding]

Thanks guys for the write up and pics, great to hear you had such a good trip.

Really enjoyed meeting up with you in Khon Kaen and getting a bit of a ride in together, sorry about the rain but I guess you got a bit more of that later on as well.

Hope to run in to you again before the year is too old. john

Edited May 24, 2009 by johngooding

[Ithailian]

Nice report. Keep em coming.

[Pdaz]

Great report Terry.. Hope the bike sounds as good as it looks with those new Termis !

[RusticCharm]

Rustic, in the Hotel summary, it is correct - but in the write up, the hotel name for Mae Sot is incorrect.

Yeah, the Pornthep. Where's the 'EDIT' button gone? 

Great report Terry.. Hope the bike sounds as good as it looks with those new Termis !

Oh yes!

So. Who's for riding down to the Sepang MotoGP in October? 

Edited May 25, 2009 by RusticCharm

[Zzinged]

Come on Terry... not like that Duke needs more clearance for corners! A decent camera can cost as little as 4000 baht and you can carry it anywhere! Unlike your bike

[RusticCharm]

A decent camera can cost as little as 4000 baht

You can get some good carbon fibre for that. 

[gragra]

Yeah...like one - or maybe two, cnutting heel-guards!!!

[Netfan]

Great report Terry (and Grant). I gotta get out more. I'll be in Sepang, but due to work schedule looks like a fly down, not a ride down.

Still got that jacket Terry? PM or SMS me....we can hook up next Sunday and watch the race if yer free.

[RusticCharm]

Yeah...like one - or maybe two, cnutting heel-guards!!!

That's an idea! 

Great report Terry (and Grant). I gotta get out more. I'll be in Sepang, but due to work schedule looks like a fly down, not a ride down.

Still got that jacket Terry? PM or SMS me....we can hook up next Sunday and watch the race if yer free.

Okay. I usually watch the race in Soi 8 Pub with Grant (that's if the cnutting waitresses can be arsed to turn the sound up) so I'll probably be uptown this weekend. I'll sms you.