[Trip Report] My Crazy "LITTLE" Adventure Up North - 11 Apr to 18 May 2008

[shorty]

double thumbs up for u!cant imgaine such a small bike going for such a long far trip.my butt went to sleep after riding from jurong to pasir ris.cant imagine wat will happen to my butt if i were to ride to malacca!don say thailand!hehe.

n how de hell u get to get away from work for 5 wks?!if i get 1 or 2 wks leave happy like siao already.

[Nighthawk_250]

Power man! what can i say....another psycho long distance rider

 

Dun get me wrong..its a compliment

 

Totally unrestricted...go means go...I like !

[whisperer]

Day 22 (continue)

 

as i carried on my way from mae sariang, i met and hung out with some "locals" along the way

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an interesting sight... there was only one of it for miles around, wonder what it symbolizes

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some of the roads were nicely paved, looked almost fresh

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while some were shitty, but nothing my little lamb couldn't handle

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the famous curves of Mae Hong Son lived up to her reputation(ok, that almost sounds kinky, but what the hell...) She was rough and wild most of the times, occasionally gentle enough to slow down the pace for me to catch my breath and enjoy the ride. Then there were moments of extreme tightness that would take my breath away in fleeting moments of exhilaration. My rubbers were used to the max, and deep down, i was worried the constant rubbing and friction would puncture the rubbers, leaving me with a heavy responsibility...

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one of the tight curves

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my number! almost there

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somewhere along the way, both my tyres went straight over this block of wood which was lying parallel to the direction of travel, at 70kph!

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for a split second, i had a balls wrenching moment mixed with a feeling of being airborne. somehow i managed to land straight when a sense of dread came over me, fearing that my tyre must've taken some damage. i quickly stopped to check for damages, but there were none! *big sigh of relief

 

soon after, i reached my destination for the day

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[mtb]

awesome.... respect

[whisperer]

A bloody Damn Interesting story to read....... can any bro help to get this on a blog with all e pic attached..... U r my HERO....... superb Veri Inspiring...

 

uh, haha... it's ok man, i'll do up the blog sometime, with a better write up and more photos. i'm flattered, but i'm still human after all

 

great writeup, great adventure!

 

your trip has certainly proved to many others who thinks that bike size does matter.

 

haha... thanks, and i'm already trying to condense my trip write-up, no fun trying to upload hundreds of photos on a 512 connection!

 

double thumbs up for u!cant imgaine such a small bike going for such a long far trip.my butt went to sleep after riding from jurong to pasir ris.cant imagine wat will happen to my butt if i were to ride to malacca!don say thailand!hehe.

n how de hell u get to get away from work for 5 wks?!if i get 1 or 2 wks leave happy like siao already.

 

i think my butt slept through most of the rides, but it does wake up to the nightmare every now and then i just finished studies, so kinda have like a vacation until my employment starts in september

 

Power man! what can i say....another psycho long distance rider

 

Dun get me wrong..its a compliment

 

Totally unrestricted...go means go...I like !

 

no worries mate, i think i'm crazy as well! haha...

[shorty]

wat a long vacation u r having!upz for u la.i know me....n i know i am nvr gonna make dis kind of trip.not even by driving.now...u make me wanna buy de KSR...!lol

[varadero8212]

U have proven the phrase "where there is a will, there is a way". RESPECT my brudder.

 

I am really looking forward to reading everything about the trip. Maybe even a meet up and chat over coffee bro. Positive ppl interest me. Cheers

 

Regards

Zac

[whisperer]

Day 23 - Ride to Pai/ the day cyclone Nargis struck

 

i woke up about 7 to a gllomy weather. Contemplated on waiting for the rain to subside, but decided to set off anyway. Headed for the popular wat in mae hong son town, which overlooked the entire town.

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the view of mae hong son from the wat

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proceeded to ride to one of the "nearby" karen trips along the way. made a pretty far detour through a couple of villages before i hit a dirt road, which was stony and muddy due to the prolonged drizzle. i pushed on in hope that the karen village would be close by, but after half an hour of struggling over the muddy and rocky terrain with no signs of the village in sight, i decided to turn back, that was after i skidded on the muddy track and fell. being a ksr, there were no damages sustained, save for a few scuff marks on my handguards.

 

i had lost almost 2 hours looking for the karen tribe, and the light drizzle didn't help to lighten the mood. when i finally hit back to the main track, i proceeded to ban rak thai, which is a chinese village right at the border of myanmar. the temperature had become so cold that i was shivering even with a raincoat on, so i decided to stay for the night at the chinese village, hoping the weather would be better the next day.

 

i lost track of time riding in the freezing rain, when i finally reached the village.

i turned into the first guesthouse i found, which happened to be the best one around.

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the lady landlord with her daughter. they were from yunnan, and spoke mandarin! the feeling of finally being able to speak and be understood was out of this world.

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the guesthouse happened to be a wine brewery as well, and not the normal grape wines. there was peach, cherry, lychee, etc. the old lady actually let me sample some of the wine, which tasted pretty good. apparently, the wines are not available anywhere else in thailand

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cleaned up my stuff and bike with the water hose that the lady landlord allowed me to use. after a long hot shower, the lady landlord lent me an umbrella and i went out to explore the small village

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spent the rest of the evening holed up in the cosy room while the raindrops patted lightly on the roof. read a john grisham novel and retired to bed early, praying for the sun

[adr77]

u r my idol. Hope to have the luxury u have on a long solo trip.

[whisperer]

Day 24-26 - Pai

 

my prayers were answered the next day. My stuff had all dried, and i was ready to ride!

 

a friend of the lady landlord with her grandson

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workers of the brewery crushing up fresh cherries for fermenting

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before i left, my landlord informed me that her son had told her of a typhoon in myanmar heading towards thailand. weather seemed to say otherwise, with no traces of the rainy weather fews days back.

 

as i left the village and proceed to Pai, there was a whole stretch of road up in the hills where it became so foggy that visibility was only about 10m

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the weather was good, cloudy but not in a threatening sort of way. temperatures dipped and the winds up on the higher parts of the hills made it even colder, to the point i was shivering despite my armor jacket and a long sleeve inner top. it warmed up as i descended and i managed to reach Pai by mid-day

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rode around town in search of a guesthouse, and chanced across this beautiful resort style guesthouse tucked away in the outskirts of the main town in the middle of the paddyfields, for only 350bht for a single/double bed bungalow, each with its own rooftop terrace

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pai soon topped my list of favourite places, and i stayed longer than intended.

 

the 2 dogs belonging to the lady guesthouse owner

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parking restrictions

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[whisperer]

a blackout at night. i learnt that blackouts were common in Pai. good thing is they don't last long. i was wondering about the candle in my room

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a coffeehouse overlooking the valley

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WWII bridge

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a huge swing standing about 4m high played by the kids in a chinese village near Pai

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[Allan82]

:thumb:

[YZFx]

bro... glad that you had made it!!! My turn should be coming soon!! hahaa... Looking forward to it too...

 

KSR!!!! YEAH!!!!

[Magnet]

NIce write up and pictures taken bro... using ur 350?? Glad that you are safe back and enjoyed the entire trip before work starts

[whisperer]

bro... glad that you had made it!!! My turn should be coming soon!! hahaa... Looking forward to it too...

 

KSR!!!! YEAH!!!!

 

hee... somehow i didn't get to meet any round the world bikes or as many locals as you did. KSR dun really stand out cuz of the size! haha...

 

NIce write up and pictures taken bro... using ur 350?? Glad that you are safe back and enjoyed the entire trip before work starts

 

thanks bro! yup, 350d with kit lens. unfortunately i lost my whole collection of photos when my pc crashed after returning from thailand so the only collection i have now are my thailand trip photos

[whisperer]

Day 27

 

with a heavy heart, i bidded farewell to my friendly hosts, promising to return soon

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i ride towards Chiangrai, but somehow missed the turn to the city. instead i ended up at the border town of Mae Ai

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Day 28 - to Laos

 

Thai-Myanmar Border house

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there was a parade going on

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the opium house

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i reached the thai-laos border shortly after visiting the golden triangle

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ticket for the boat cost me 30bht. i paid 500bht in total to get my bike across. somehow, i think i got chopped

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The customs procedure was as confusing as it gets. One can literally cross over to Laos without getting a customs clearing, but the again, don't get caught. Houay Xai was a very laid back town with minimal amenities, accept for a couple of tour agencies and internet cafes. There wasn't even any atms around, and i found out the hard way. I checked into a room by the pier, 150bht with a king-sized bed, and they actually asked me to park in the living room after nightfall!

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The roads in Laos are left-hand drive, something which i was unaware of until i almost went head on with a motorcycle while i was riding on the left side of the road it was wierd at first, being the first time doing left-hand driving, but i got used to it quickly

[rizaldinho]

totally inspiring. the spirit, the attitude and everything that comes in between.

[AshBlack]

Hey bro, well done man! Write your stories and poems in a word doc, and pass them to me with the hi-res images, gladly design/compile it into a book for you. So you can show it to your grand children...

[ragnaphobia]

hey bro did u go alone? as in jus totally urself? very nicely done bro.. next we'll see the honda cubs going up to thailand trying to beat ur record.. lol.

 

if im not wrong, this has been done before. honda cubs and wave i mean.

[Odaka]

inspirational.only those who dare to dream will achieve tings like uve done.a real biker.tats wat u r. :thumb:

[whisperer]

Day 28 - Mekong River

 

i had decided to take the 2-day slow boat to Luang Pra Bang, as it was roughly 500km by road on the map. On top of that, roads to Luang Pra Bang were all unpaved, and i wasn't sure if there would be a place to spend the night if a wasn't able to make it within daylight. Most of the maps of Laos weren't detailed, and what seemed like 100km of a relatively straight route on

the map turned out to be more than 200km of mountainous roads, as i found out later.

 

my ride secured to the front along with a cub

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judging from the width of the boat, i doubt if a full sized tourer could be loaded. and having seen how the bike was loaded, i definitely wouldn't want to take the risk either. even if they managed to get the bike onto the boat, the risk of the boat crashing into rocks was there. That was what happened to a traveler i met in thailand, who went to Laos a few days after me. Good thing the boat didn't sink. and that was for the slow boat. passengers of the fast boats were required to wear life vests and helmets. go figure...

 

early birds had the good seat. the latecomers... well, don't even ask.

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locals making the most of the ride

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brown murky waters of the Mekong

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lunch time

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sticky rice

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M.O.C (mekong obstacle course)

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the boat was so crowded that some endured the noise and fumes from the motor to form a tiny circle beside the huge pile of backpacks

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local kids selling their wares

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a fast boat

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beer lao, a favourite past-time for many of the travellers

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stopping to let local passengers off. not exactly the best platform

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a fresh catch

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[whisperer]

wat a long vacation u r having!upz for u la.i know me....n i know i am nvr gonna make dis kind of trip.not even by driving.now...u make me wanna buy de KSR...!lol

 

get it, you won't regret!

 

U have proven the phrase "where there is a will, there is a way". RESPECT my brudder.

 

I am really looking forward to reading everything about the trip. Maybe even a meet up and chat over coffee bro. Positive ppl interest me. Cheers

 

Regards

Zac

 

sure thing, i'm pretty free at the moment

 

u r my idol. Hope to have the luxury u have on a long solo trip.

 

you'll get your chance mate. Make use of the time between jobs especially, work is never-ending!

 

Hey bro, well done man! Write your stories and poems in a word doc, and pass them to me with the hi-res images, gladly design/compile it into a book for you. So you can show it to your grand children...

 

wah bro, you so free ah? haha... thanks for the offer, i'll keep that it mind

 

if im not wrong, this has been done before. honda cubs and wave i mean.

 

to hatyai yes, to bangkok i think have, anything beyond i'm not sure. do find out more and let us know

[whisperer]

Day 28 (continue)

 

getting bored from the long ride

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evening approaching

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at long last, we reached our destination for the day

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and the nerve-wrecking(and expensive:sian: ) process of switching my bike to the other boat leaving for luang pra bang the next day

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phew...

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pak beng, a laid-back little stopover.

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the generators only operate from 6pm to 10pm each day, that means the whole town didn't have electricity during the snoozing hours. imagine: no lights, no fan, warm weather, stuffy room, mosquitoes all around, and the list goes on... needless to say, almost everyone didn't get a good night's sleep

[lokb72]

This is indeed one of the most inspiring journey i have ever read...ure one hell of a determine soul....loads of respect for u....n im sure u can conquer anything u one....4 thumbs up 4 u...kudos....

[brinsley]

woah respect, i have dreamt of touring up thailand on my honda chaly before, but self-inflicted doubts and my machine condition hampers my dream of cubbing solo.

 

your photos of Pai bring fond memories, i went sometime last year and i totally miss the village now, the budget airline to chiangmai and the 3 hour bus ride alongside the mountain roads to the village. it gets cold, and packed with

tourists towards year end, and was hot during april last year when i was there.

 

Cafe Del Doi, Mo Paeng, Countryside, Bebop Cafe, Golden Hut...

 

you really travelled a long way on a small bike, and i can very well relate to the kind of fatigue you experienced. and you take very engaging photos along the way despite your fatigue and solitude.

 

my heart goes out to you, and it inspires me to relive and rethink about my own personal adventure.

 

Pai away yeah.