This Is The Other Reason I Love It Here

[IanForbes]

This is the OTHER reason I love it here in Thailand for the winter... Long distance motorbike rides

Packed and ready to go on my Kawasaki 250 motard.

Stop beside a river...

A few road hazards to keep things interesting... and the main reason why I never ride faster than my field of vison allows me to stop or take evasive action. The cone is the first indication that a portion of the road is missing... and a good reason NOT to ride at night.

but there ARE some rewards along the way..

A nice fat mahseer on a small parachute dry fly.

[BigBikeBKK]

Fantastic!

I was wondering why your bag was so big, but then discovered you're hauling fishing gear along- awesome!

That washed out road looks quite familiar, though when we rode by most of the markers were lying in the river!

Thanks for the great pics!

Happy Trails!

Tony

Edited February 3, 2012 by BigBikeBKK

[NormanW]

Fantastic.

Great to 'get away from it all' eh?

Keep those good times rolling.

[IanForbes]

Fantastic!

I was wondering why your bag was so big, but then discovered you're hauling fishing gear along- awesome!

That washed out road looks quite familiar, though when we rode by most of the markers were lying in the river!

Thanks for the great pics!

Happy Trails!

Tony

Different spot, but I counted at least 4 sections between Hot and Mae Sariang that had sections of the road missing, and very little warning beforehand. There were a few more like that further north near Mae Hong Son. If you are going flat out and meet a group of road hog vans coming your way it can get VERY interesting. Lets just say I am glad I was wearing body armour.

[moe666]

Hey Ian great photos, when did you get the Kawa. What did you do with your Phantom

[wantan]

Really nice pictures. Seems you had a lot of fun. Do you ride alone or are the others a bit shy? I often ride alone. No need for making arrangements and i can do what i want whenever i want to do it.

I guess the broken road shown on Tony's picture is considered as less dangerous, so it doesn't need the same attention to secure it. Crazy nice Thailand.

Hope you have a nice time. And yes, sometimes in hot summer i doesn't like it that much here too

[Fishenough]

Nice report Ian, any fishy videos?

[JonnyF]

Nice report Ian, I could do with some of that R&R myself.

[villagefarang]

These are the sections that annoy me more than the cutouts. There seemed to kilometers of this stuff on the 108 this year. Even with all the washed out sections around the North, it has still been a good riding season so far. Nice to see you moved up from the Phantom Ian and hope you are enjoying the heck out of it.

[Familyonthemove]

Great pics from all!

Ian - you still seem to have the original D-Tracker seat? What's the Kawasaki like as a touring bike?

[IanForbes]

Hey Ian great photos, when did you get the Kawa. What did you do with your Phantom

I've still got it, but maybe either sell it or give it to a needy Thai family I know.

[IanForbes]

Great pics from all!

Ian - you still seem to have the original D-Tracker seat? What's the Kawasaki like as a touring bike?

As long as you don't plan on riding more than about 4 hours straight it's not too bad. Many of my friends who have them have changed the seat to make it more comfortable for touring. But, as it is right now I like being able to move my seating position around just to stretch a little. And, it's better for a passenger the way it is. Either of my two gals fit up tight behind me and I don't know they are there. Of course neither of them weigh more than about 40 kilo... and about the same weight as my luggage on a long trip.

[IanForbes]

Nice report Ian, any fishy videos?

Yah, I got some good fishing video, but don't know how to edit it on my laptop. It's all shot in High-D with a Nikon and it comes as an MOV file and not an AVI file that I can edit. I have the editing programs back in Canada on my big computer.

I agree with Villagefarang that there a LOTS of washouts and dirt or gravel on the road. And, there is no warning when approaching such an area. That is why I ride like a 72 year old fart and not some young hotshot who can do wheelies in the dirt. I don't trust ANYTHING in Thailand and just won't drive beyond my vision even if I'm being passed by little old ladies carrying a whole family of kids on a 20 year old Honda dream.

Here's a couple more photos...

[moe666]

Great stuff Ian

[submaniac]

Nice pictures and report Ian. Really, you should come and hang out with us here more often.

[flying]

That looked like a great adventure Ian

Thanks for the pics!

[nikster]

I agree with Villagefarang that there a LOTS of washouts and dirt or gravel on the road. And, there is no warning when approaching such an area. That is why I ride like a 72 year old fart and not some young hotshot who can do wheelies in the dirt. I don't trust ANYTHING in Thailand and just won't drive beyond my vision even if I'm being passed by little old ladies carrying a whole family of kids on a 20 year old Honda dream.

It takes balls to do that!

Nice pix, keep them coming

[KRS1]

Did you eat the fish? Looks like you know where their biting.

[IanForbes]

On any ride over one day long it pays to do a little research. Not much fun arriving at some small village expecting to find accommodation and learning there is none, and the nearest place is another 50 kilometers away. Google Earth is your friend for some things but not all. It won't point out a place to sleep. And, even though most GPS units have a few points of interest they don't always have up to date accommodation listed. Case in point is Mae La Noi which lists the nearest accommodation being Mae Sariang... another 30 km away. or a further 68 km north at Kuhn Yuam. The fact is that Mae La Noi has two places for visitors. I've stayed at both and each has its own unique attraction. One is rather fancy and and closer to town. It is nicer if you are traveling with a woman, and it also has a separate dining room. The other is a mile from the highway and located off a little soi against a hill side. They are a few clean hill side huts suitable for back packers and cheap charlies like me. Take your choice.

The hill side huts are also nice, but a "bit" more rustic.

[Beardog]

Nice Pics Ian Glad to see you are active & in good shape for the road trips! Great looking fish by the way! Your new Kawi must be a huge step up from the Phantom!!!!

[villagefarang]

On any ride over one day long it pays to do a little research. Not much fun arriving at some small village expecting to find accommodation and learning there is none, and the nearest place is another 50 kilometers away. Google Earth is your friend for some things but not all. It won't point out a place to sleep. And, even though most GPS units have a few points of interest they don't always have up to date accommodation listed. Case in point is Mae La Noi which lists the nearest accommodation being Mae Sariang... another 30 km away. or a further 68 km north at Kuhn Yuam. The fact is that Mae La Noi has two places for visitors. I've stayed at both and each has its own unique attraction. One is rather fancy and and closer to town. It is nicer if you are traveling with a woman, and it also has a separate dining room. The other is a mile from the highway and located off a little soi against a hill side. They are a few clean hill side huts suitable for back packers and cheap charlies like me. Take your choice.

Personally I like to wing it but that has left me scrambling to find a place to stay before dark. This place in Khun Yuem is a bit off the main road but has a nice view and got the stamp of approval from our little princes.

[IanForbes]

Thanks for that, Villagefarang. We'll have to compare and share notes. I don't like to divulge too much information, but it would be nice to know of reasonable accommodation when and where I travel. Besides, I'm not sure if we are allowed to promote any particular accommodation on this forum. A few of us are planning on heading east right after the Superbowl and search out some rivers along the Thai border with Laos. I'm always searching for clear mountain rivers that may have insect feeding fish of some species or another. The hopeful target is mahseer, but they are only specific to certain watersheds.

Most of the time the mahseer are small, even when we find them...

But occasionally we get lucky and hook a big one...

The D-Tracker is just a means to an end, even though the ride is part of the fun.

[BigBikeBKK]

Fantastic stuff Ian! You are living the dream!

[janverbeem]

Ian,how you manage to never wearing those rose tinted glasses when one takes a picture of you.

You wear lenses?

[Fishenough]

Great last picture there Ian! Wading boots work well for both their intended purpose and as riding boots: just remember that steel studded souls and 7/11 tile floor do not mix. 'I had to lay her (me) down', all over that floor in the 7/11 outside Mae Sariang - good times.

Looks like the nice accommodation in Mae La noi has be kept up and improved some since my last visit. Plus our mutual friend in Mae Sariang told me last year that suspension bridge would be gone very soon, though I didn't understand why they'd bother.

Most importantly; have you ever eaten a Mahseer? I've always released all the ones I've caught.

Was looking through my Mae La Noi pictures and noticed the shots of that nice guest house in the folder were taken on a Nikon, not my Panasonic or Olympus. So this must be your picture, the view behind said guest house.

[IanForbes]

Great last picture there Ian! Wading boots work well for both their intended purpose and as riding boots: just remember that steel studded souls and 7/11 tile floor do not mix. 'I had to lay her (me) down', all over that floor in the 7/11 outside Mae Sariang - good times.

Looks like the nice accommodation in Mae La noi has be kept up and improved some since my last visit. Plus our mutual friend in Mae Sariang told me last year that suspension bridge would be gone very soon, though I didn't understand why they'd bother.

Most importantly; have you ever eaten a Mahseer? I've always released all the ones I've caught.

Was looking through my Mae La Noi pictures and noticed the shots of that nice guest house in the folder were taken on a Nikon, not my Panasonic or Olympus. So this must be your picture, the view behind said guest house.

Yup, that's my photo taken a few years ago.

Here is a similar one taken this year

Here is the bridal suite that Noland and Katherine slept in.

I agree about the boots used for riding and wading. I put screws in all the lugs to prevent slipping on rocks in the river. But, they are REALLY slippery on tile floors. I take them off before going inside. That is the one drawback of wearing protective clothing on a bike ride. It's great when riding but not so great when stopping on a hot day.

As far as eating mahseer is concerned I've never tried one and don't expect I will. Same goes for Giant snakeheads... even though I know it's popular with locals. Food is so cheap in Thailand that there's no need to supplement it with fish. The only fish I've killed were Jungle perch for Thai friends and they said they were good. And, jungle perch are quite numerous so no need to worry about conservation.

Thanks for sending me Colin's blog. It might come in handy depending on where Ziggy and I go.

On a further note, I really enjoyed the 4 km ride from Mae La Noi to the caves up the scenic valley. Unfortunately, they won't let you take photos in the caves. Apparently a flash does something negative to the limestone formations.