Pottering About Chiang Mai For A Rainy Couple Of Days

[alant]

Last week my friend from the UK came over so despite the fact that rain was a high probablity we decided to do a little wandering about on bikes. One of the great things about living in Chiangmai is just how stunning the scenery can be. So I thought I would pop it onto the forum, it will probably be a poor post but I wanted to try uploading some photos anyway!

The first day was a bit of a late start, well in truth they all were as we are not quite the young spring chickens of old and passing through the night bazaar area we saw this nice old capri, havent seen one of these for ages.

Paul needed to hire a bike so following the lead of a previous post on this forum we headed for Pops. I have nothing but praise for Pops, Paul got an ER6n with about 7000km on the clock which we managed to get down from 1200b to 900b per day for 4 days. Once the deal had been done it was over to mad dogs via the gas station for what i guess could be brunch, well all day breakfast, a ton and a half of cholesterol, good job I took the statin then.

With both our bikes and ourselves fully fueled it was of down the road to the cave at Chiang Dao, not very far about 70 to 80 km including bits of messing about and really quite nice once you get into the countryside. That is until you come to the roadworks that are just before Chiang Dao, what a mess, dust, trucks, you literally couldn't see in front of you and there are some pretty varied road surfaces as well. Nevertheless Chiang Dao cave was still there when we emerged from the dust although the weather had closed in and the wonderful peaks were not visible for cloud.

Having got to the cave we had to do the tourist thing even with thunder in the distance Then it was off back to home as the weather closed in.

The weather kept us to short runs on all days and the trip over to Chiang Ria was a classic of stop start biking. Shortly into the climb out of Chiang Mai the heavens opened and eventually we headed for a roadside shelter to wait it out, the road was a river in many parts and fun it was not. The little village store had probably not seen 2 drenched farangs pull up on bikes and buy a can of orange pop and iced coffee, still no farang pricing 22b for the lot. After a while the rain eased so off we jolly well went again calling into the Chiang Rai hot springs for a coffee and cake and of course a p**s

They do a decent coffee at this place and the price is good but once again the clouds were getting more threatening by the second. The lady at the coffee shop asked which way we were going and we indicated towards Chiang Rai, she pointed at the sky and shook her head. Oh well, off we went only to shortly heed her advice as it was clear there was real weather trouble ahead. The weather however was deterined to get us nomatter what and even heading back to Chiang Mai the heavens opened and let us have it. Again it was just not worth riding so we called in to a great little coffee shop at a resort and grabbed a brew

and that was how the days progressed, we rode on some of the roads I like around here, for example when I want to go to Lamphun or Lampang (or further on the 11) I like to start on the Lamphun road by the side of the railway for the first 28km its much nicer than the 11 it is nice and there are some little bars en route and routing from the 11 to Sankampaeng hot springs via Banthi is a twisty country road but we never got to the hot springs at Samkampaeng as it always poured down when we tried.

We only did 160 to 200 km a day with the rain cutting into the plans but it was fun, Pauls ER6 behaved perfectly even though he needed to insulate his arse from the heat but on the other hand there were no hotspots that prevented him from wearing shorts where as if you try that on the Harley you will burn your legs on the casing and exhaust (well if you have short legs like me you will). So there it is rain stopped play in Chiang Mai.

[neverdie]

Great post & great pics. Not bad for a new er6n @ 900/day either.

good on you

[alant]

Great post & great pics. Not bad for a new er6n @ 900/day either.

good on you

many thanks, i had put titles on the pics like "guess which bike the fat bloke rides" but they are not shown, i will know next time.

thanks again

[thaicbr]

Neverdie. In Patters they go for 800 a day. rent 5 days get 1 day free. cool eh. Fancy a ride sometime?

[BigBikeBKK]

Neverdie. In Patters they go for 800 a day. rent 5 days get 1 day free. cool eh. Fancy a ride sometime?

Great report and pics!

Yeah- rental prices are often lower in Patters cuz their business plan is to make money on the repairs when the squids crash...

[alant]

Neverdie. In Patters they go for 800 a day. rent 5 days get 1 day free. cool eh. Fancy a ride sometime?

Great report and pics!

Yeah- rental prices are often lower in Patters cuz their business plan is to make money on the repairs when the squids crash...

made me smile , what is a good place to rent in pattaya?

[PeaceBlondie]

Nice story, great trip despite the rain. But for a road trip in rainy season, full raingear is a must.

[alant]

Nice story, great trip despite the rain. But for a road trip in rainy season, full raingear is a must.

must admit we were a bit light on the rain planning so next time we will know better, any suggestions on where to get lightweight rain gear in chiangmai that will fit fat blokes? many thanks

[PeaceBlondie]

must admit we were a bit light on the rain planning so next time we will know better, any suggestions on where to get lightweight rain gear in chiangmai that will fit fat blokes? many thanks

Nope. I bought my Ducati rainsuit at Houston Ducati discounted fron $129+tax, and Steve2UK brought me an expensive two-piece suit from London.

[CanInBKK]

Great trip report! Fun is what biking is all about and it seems like you guys had plenty of it!

[BigSnake]

Nice pictures, great idea to do your Pottering around/about Chiang Mai, for sure because around Bangkok no doubt you and your friend would have been pottering in POT HOLES, during this rainy season.