Best Biking Road From Bangkok To ? To Nan

[Gweiloman]

Planning to do this over 2 days (stopover in ??).

Any suggestions? Preferably keeping off highways, would prefer as many twisties as possible.

[loserlazer]

You can make nan road in a day actually only 670 km which might take around 9 hours.

But if you want to stopover, around pitsanulok is half the way and has good restaurants and night life:lol:

Or you can stop at sukhotai and discover the ancient city, cool city sukhotai is.

[Gweiloman]

You can make nan road in a day actually only 670 km which might take around 9 hours. But if you want to stopover, around pitsanulok is half the way and has good restaurants and night life:lol: Or you can stop at sukhotai and discover the ancient city, cool city sukhotai is.

Yes, was thinking of riding first to Lom Sak and then taking the Route 12 to Phitsanulok.

Any recommendations for overnight and night life?

[loserlazer]

I know chopper bar in sukhotai and a couple of thai night clubs.

Pitsanulok is full of thai bars/nightclubs karaoke etc and pretty hot girls:lol: but dont remember any names.

You can visit also one of the oldest and most famous temple in Thailand in pitsanulok - wat phra sri wattana mahattat. By the river.

Happy rides. I am going sakhon nakhon - 700 km - on my bike too!

[Gweiloman]

I know chopper bar in sukhotai and a couple of thai night clubs. Pitsanulok is full of thai bars/nightclubs karaoke etc and pretty hot girls:lol: but dont remember any names. You can visit also one of the oldest and most famous temple in Thailand in pitsanulok - wat phra sri wattana mahattat. By the river. Happy rides. I am going sakhon nakhon - 700 km - on my bike too!

When are you going? We could ride part of the way together, maybe to Lom Sak.

[moe666]

Check your map there is a nice road out of Nam Pat east of Ulttladit it runs on the southside of a mountain range noth and east to Nan. You can also cross the mouth of the big resovoir on a ferry and then ride straight northeast to Nan a few good twisties there as well PM me I just made this trip about 3 months ago

[Gweiloman]

Check your map there is a nice road out of Nam Pat east of Ulttladit it runs on the southside of a mountain range noth and east to Nan. You can also cross the mouth of the big resovoir on a ferry and then ride straight northeast to Nan a few good twisties there as well PM me I just made this trip about 3 months ago

I believe you are referring to the Route 1339. Apart from the ferry, it looks like you can actually continue on this road as well.

How much is the ferry crossing? Do you know if there's any decent accomodation around there?

[moe666]

Check your map there is a nice road out of Nam Pat east of Ulttladit it runs on the southside of a mountain range noth and east to Nan. You can also cross the mouth of the big resovoir on a ferry and then ride straight northeast to Nan a few good twisties there as well PM me I just made this trip about 3 months ago

I believe you are referring to the Route 1339. Apart from the ferry, it looks like you can actually continue on this road as well.

How much is the ferry crossing? Do you know if there's any decent accomodation around there?

I forget how much the ferry crossing 100baht or so. The road runs out of Nam Pat to the ferry and then up to Nan or take the other route thru Nam Pat to Nan some good roads thru here. After crossing on the ferry it isn't that far to Nan which has plenty of accomadation and places to stay. I stayed in Nam Pat a couple of nights visiting a friend and you can check out the dam as well. The small place I stayed at in Nam Pat was clean and ok but a bit hard to find not much happening here after hours

[Gweiloman]

Check your map there is a nice road out of Nam Pat east of Ulttladit it runs on the southside of a mountain range noth and east to Nan. You can also cross the mouth of the big resovoir on a ferry and then ride straight northeast to Nan a few good twisties there as well PM me I just made this trip about 3 months ago

I believe you are referring to the Route 1339. Apart from the ferry, it looks like you can actually continue on this road as well.

How much is the ferry crossing? Do you know if there's any decent accomodation around there?

I forget how much the ferry crossing 100baht or so. The road runs out of Nam Pat to the ferry and then up to Nan or take the other route thru Nam Pat to Nan some good roads thru here. After crossing on the ferry it isn't that far to Nan which has plenty of accomadation and places to stay. I stayed in Nam Pat a couple of nights visiting a friend and you can check out the dam as well. The small place I stayed at in Nam Pat was clean and ok but a bit hard to find not much happening here after hours

Thanks. Looks like I will probably overnight in / around P'lok (ride from Bkk to Lom Sak to P'lok just to take in Route 12). Next day, onto Nam Pat, route 1330, ferry crossing and then onto Nan. I have a friend in Nan who should be able to help me find some accom (maybe even one of those short time motels as per the other thread, )

[loserlazer]

^^

that is a great route to Nan. I never took that ferry or that route but it sounds amazing.

gweiloman, i am going to Isaan not up North so our routes are totally different.

Wish you a nice ride Up North. good luck.

[moe666]

^^

that is a great route to Nan. I never took that ferry or that route but it sounds amazing.

gweiloman, i am going to Isaan not up North so our routes are totally different.

Wish you a nice ride Up North. good luck.

The whole ferry scene is surreal they asked me if I wanted to go across alone it would have been on a small ferry which was a couple of boats with planks lashed across them and pulled by another boat. The actual ferry is a couple of pontoons with planks lashed across them and a boat pulling it, this ferry can take two cars and a few motorbikes. The roads leading too this location on bothsides of the lake are in fairly good shape with very little traffic, getting to the ferry on the southside is easy as the road leads directly to the ferry location on the northside it took a while to find the correct road to turn onto from the road leading into the fishing village.

[Gweiloman]

^^

that is a great route to Nan. I never took that ferry or that route but it sounds amazing.

gweiloman, i am going to Isaan not up North so our routes are totally different.

Wish you a nice ride Up North. good luck.

The whole ferry scene is surreal they asked me if I wanted to go across alone it would have been on a small ferry which was a couple of boats with planks lashed across them and pulled by another boat. The actual ferry is a couple of pontoons with planks lashed across them and a boat pulling it, this ferry can take two cars and a few motorbikes. The roads leading too this location on bothsides of the lake are in fairly good shape with very little traffic, getting to the ferry on the southside is easy as the road leads directly to the ferry location on the northside it took a while to find the correct road to turn onto from the road leading into the fishing village.

I'm back from Nan after a very enjoyable few days on the road.

Took the following route

D01 Bkk - Lom Sak - Phitsanulok (wanted to ride Route 12)

D02 Phitsanulok - Nam Pat - 1339 (including ferry crossing) - Nan

D03 Nan

D04 Nan - Nam Pat (1339 again - what an amazing road) - Petchabun

D04 Petchabun - Saraburi - Thanyaburi - Bkk

General comments

- road conditions were fine. Not too much traffic and at no time felt in any danger

- lots of people playing water by the sides of the road. Decided to enjoy the event and slowed down for most of them. Was in fact very enjoyable, especially those stops with girls in wet T-shirts. They were mostly delighted that a fully geared rider on a biggish bike would actually stop for them

- there was only one unpleasant incident on the way back when an idiot threw thickish red gunge. It splattered on my visor and impaired my vision signficantly. I got off the back and strode menacing back towards them. Most of the others ran away but the guy in question stayed there. I walked up to him and just said "nam" and pointed to my visor. He offered me a bucket of water but I made him clean my visor as well. The others were having a good laugh at him as was I inside as I believe I made him lose a lot of face, having to wash off my visor while I stood practically head and shoulders above him

- Phitsanulok has arguably the biggest share of pretties. Boy oh boy. There is also a very happening bar/pub in the Amarin Nakorn hotel (which itself is a dump)

- Nan surprisingly was quite lively as well - there is a place called Channel X and another place with lots of pubs (similar to Khaosan road)

- Petchabun was not too bad either. Went to a place (forget the name now) that had a very good live band and the atmosphere was great and lively

Route 12 Lomsak to Phitsanulok and route 1339 made the trip worthwhile, just for the sake of riding. The ferry crossing was quite interesting but a bit pricey at Thb 100 per way. Ate at one of the two restaurants (Nan side) and the fish was just superb. I had a steamed fish plus a plate of deep fried fish, plate of rice and a large bottle of coke - pricey as well at Thb 350 but so, so good. There were quite a few people waiting to cross so the ferry guys (and one very cute girl) told me to go and have lunch first and they will come to get me when it's my turn, which was the way it worked out exactly.

Had one nervy moments. One was on the way up, just outside of Saraburi. I turned off the highway 2 I think and felt the bike wobbling a bit more than usual. Stopped to check and could tell the tire was slightly deflated. Pull off at a petrol station, there was a guy filling up his bike tyres and he kindly showed me the way to a repair shop. Unfortunately, he didn't have the necessary tools to repair big tyres so he gave me directions to a car tyre repair shop. Got there, but they didn't know what to do so they called, guess who? the first guy . So between the two of them plus some big spanners and air drills, they got my tyre off, vulcanised and patched it and sent me on my way. I must admit to being quite nervous the next few days, in case of sudden deflation so took it fairly easy on the twisties

Has anybody ever had a blowout before? Can't be good news right? I don't know if it's my imagination but I've lost confidence in my current set of tyres, on some of the twisties. Don't know if it's the road, my tyres itself or just my own mind playing tricks on me but I thought the tyre was not sticking as well as previously. They are Pirelli Angels, about 12,000 km on them so it's maybe time to change (supposedly, they are good for up to 15-16000 km). I inflated them to 32/36 with full gear, tankbag, top box and hard side panniers. I weigh 90 kgs so the bike is fairly well loaded.

There was another thread about Show Po Pirellis. Is there a price difference getting the tyres from them as compared to other shops?

[loserlazer]

Cool trip gweiloman. I am curious about that ferry trip right now.

Hope you liked pitsanulok:lol:

Any photos?

And no worries for vulcanized tires. I got two nails until now, got them vulcanized and no problems at all. Still it is best to be precautious for 100 km after the fix.

[Gweiloman]

Cool trip gweiloman. I am curious about that ferry trip right now. Hope you liked pitsanulok:lol: Any photos? And no worries for vulcanized tires. I got two nails until now, got them vulcanized and no problems at all. Still it is best to be precautious for 100 km after the fix.

Sadly no pictures. I think if I have tried to take any in the pub, I would have been thrown out. Mind you, it was very dark as well but earlier on, I was walking along the river where they were having some celebrations and the quality is quite clear for all to see, if you know what I mean.

The ferry trip in itself is not much to write home about. Going down to the pier from Nam Pat side is a bit interesting, with a switchback on dirt. I'm on road tyres with zero experience riding dirt and the Versys is a tall bike as well but luckily, made it down safely, even though I have a pickup coming my way just at the switchback. The other side is no problem at all. On the ferry (or pontoon like Moe666 mentioned), be careful where you put down your kickstand as the gaps between the boards are a bit wide and I can imagine that the kickstand can fit quite nicely into the gaps . I have a bigfoot so no problems for me there. The best things about this crossing are the restaurants (great food) and of course the 1339 - guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, especially because there is very, very little traffic on this road!!

[moe666]

Thanks for the trip report, the ferry is cool and that is about it. The owner of the small hotel Istayed at in Nan told me about the ferry, he had a farang stay there a whilem back who was a writer for various motorcycle mags. in the states. From what the owner told me about the story the guy wrote that as he crossed the lake he could see the old motorcycles that had been sunk when the ferry went down at the time I thought ok must be crazy but when they showed me the small boat ferry it was like ok I know what he crossed on. The 1339 is a great road up to Nan except wwhen you get back on the 1 highway. The next time I go over there I will take the road thru Nam Pat on the southside of the mountains just for grins.

I was stopped at a police check point and a few wanted photos with me, asking where I am from and where I am going just shakeing their heads when I said Chiang Mai

[DualSportBiker]

I am planning to take the 1339 and the ferry again first week of May. For those who want to see what it looks like, you can check out these vids:

Enjoy

[Gweiloman]

I am planning to take the 1339 and the ferry again first week of May. For those who want to see what it looks like, you can check out these vids:

Enjoy

That section of dirt road in your first video (last trip of 2012) is now paved!! It's almost race track condition, you will thoroughly enjoy it.

p/s: those bananas in your tank bag will cook in 5 minutes given how hot it is going to be in May

[Gweiloman]

I am planning to take the 1339 and the ferry again first week of May. For those who want to see what it looks like, you can check out these vids:

Enjoy

Nice videos - like the comments about <deleted> and incompetent drivers

If you've not done it before, the road from Lom Sak to Na Haeo to Phu Chi Fah along the border are also very enjoyable.

[DualSportBiker]

I was hoping it would still be unpaved - I like riding tracks as much or more than roads. Although, the 1339 is pretty special...

Glad you like the vids - I try and film all my rides, especially when not alone. My next trip is May 2 to 5 with no real planned route beyond Mae Sariang. We will take all back-roads from just south of Suphan to Mae Sot and head through Mae Sariang to somewhere the following day. I did my visa run to MS last month and had a great time on the smaller roads. I actually only needed 45 minutes more than blasting up the highway... even allowed my GPS to take me on 20 km of unpaved roads north of Ban Rai

Anyhow, after Mae Sariang I might try and get West and try out the Na Haeo road - thanks for the tip. I rode the Nan loop which would be a northern extension of the road you suggest - hopefully it is similar because that was outstanding!

will take a blender for the bananas!