Planning on motorbiking northward for requisite visa run and taking it sloooow with a night or two here or there. I've always been intrigued by the look of the mountains to the left as one approaches Mae Sai and wondering if anyone has gone up and sussed out any villages, snakes, or hooligans. I have spied at least one village nestled up among the clouds. Any reports on it? Or for that matter, what other trouble might one (two in this case) become entangled in around those parts, both in and out of the city?

Cheers cheers....

I can't add much to this discussion but an elderly friend of mine rides around the boondocks heading toward Mae Sai all the time. He's out of the country now so I can't ask him for details. He wouldn't remember anyway. He always has a great time and never has problems finding food, water, place to sleep, etc. He really takes it slow as well.

Drove the border road several years ago. Had to go through army check points.

Might do better posting in the Chiang Rai forum.

thanks, I'll try posting in CR forum....

Moved from CM to CR forum

If you are coming up on 118 turn off at Mae Suay & check out Wawi etc. That road will take you into the back of the mountains you are talking about south of Mae Sai.

There are plenty of villages up there plus places like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doi_Tung

We just returned last week from a 4-day ride that followed the border around from Doi Angkang, all the up through Mai Sai, and down around to Chang Saeng.

Between Doi Angkang and Mai Sai, we encountered dozens of hill tribe villages, incredible mountain views, and some wonderful motorcycle riding. However, be aware that much of the road close to the Burmese border is straight up and straight down.... check that.... hairpin turns up and hairpin turns down, kilometer after kilometer, often of unimproved roads. In some cases, so steep that even engine-breaking in first gear combined with front and rear breaks 'almost' wasn't enough to keep the bike from going off the high side. Still in all, a great motorcycle road. You will also go through 5-10 police or military check-points daily, however we were always waved through and never checked. It was a ride worthy of repeating, and we'll do it again towards the end of Rainy Season when everything is lush and green. I'm putting together a video right now of what we saw.

Thanks all for the replies and sorry for my late response. As it turns out, just back from Mae Sai now and had to go by bus...just couldn't spare the time for a slow jaunt. However, the mountains looked as intriguing and mysterious as ever and the future will indeed entail, at some point, a trip by moto. Folkguitar, would love to see that video...

Cheers.

FolkGuitar, did you ever get to making the video of the above mentioned ride? I'm about to head up tomorrow…this time in a 4x pickup and will surely do some exploring this time around. Is the ride you mention above do-able in the pickup truck?

Thank you, ~Bam.

FolkGuitar, did you ever get to making the video of the above mentioned ride? I'm about to head up tomorrow…this time in a 4x pickup and will surely do some exploring this time around. Is the ride you mention above do-able in the pickup truck?

Thank you, ~Bam.

You may want to send him a private message in case he isn't following this topic. I have yet to encounter a paved road that a 4x4 couldn't handle so I say go explore and have a great time. Dirt roads which are well used are usually not a problem either.

This time of the year there is no/little mud to negotiate so I'd say that you may get a few bumps but you're not going to get stuck.

We just returned last week from a 4-day ride that followed the border around from Doi Angkang, all the up through Mai Sai, and down around to Chang Saeng.

Between Doi Angkang and Mai Sai, we encountered dozens of hill tribe villages, incredible mountain views, and some wonderful motorcycle riding. However, be aware that much of the road close to the Burmese border is straight up and straight down.... check that.... hairpin turns up and hairpin turns down, kilometer after kilometer, often of unimproved roads. In some cases, so steep that even engine-breaking in first gear combined with front and rear breaks 'almost' wasn't enough to keep the bike from going off the high side. Still in all, a great motorcycle road. You will also go through 5-10 police or military check-points daily, however we were always waved through and never checked. It was a ride worthy of repeating, and we'll do it again towards the end of Rainy Season when everything is lush and green. I'm putting together a video right now of what we saw.

Some photos our MTBike I did last year with two friends from Belgium and France

Great pics, very interesting.