Backroad From C.Rai To Taton

[brahmburgers]

I'm sure readers here have been on the road which goes along north side of the Mae Kok going west (upriver). I had taken that scenic trip several times over the years, some of those times traveling a bit farther along. Today I made it all the way to the 2-lane blacktop hwy which connects Taton and Mae Chan. The last part of the dirt connecting road is pretty bad.

If anyone tries it, here are some suggestions: try taking a dirt motorbike (motocross?), not a car or a regular motorbike. I did it on a regular bike (it's 13 yrs old) and just barely made it up a couple of the last hills before the hwy. The hills were about 40 degrees angle and covered with shallow ruts, and a two to three inch layer of clay dust. Fathomable in dry weather, but I bet they're near impossible in wet, even with a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

Also, the road is rather easy to stay on and not take wrong turns. The whole trip, from C.Rai to the hwy is not too long. I did it in about 2.5 hours with no stops, and I drive slow.

Here's another similar trip, though there's no outlet, so it's up and back: Go NW over the Mae Fa Luang bridge - about 25 Km until the road T's right after a small bridge. Go left. Pass Mirror Group property and just keep going, on and on, about 20 Km - very scenic. Eventually the path peters out to nothing, so you'll have to turn around, unless you sell your bike for 500 baht and hoof it back - or just make a bamboo hut and go native for a few years.

[toybits]

Have done this on the north and south side of the Kok River. Road on the north side (Ban Ruamitr) ends at Kiew Satai. The south side of the Kok River (Pa Soet) ends up at Mae Salak. The road on the south side sort of disappears - and becomes like a single track then widens again to a fire road until a few kilometers from Mae Salak widens again. On a motorbike this is really fun. Make sure to go with other people.