Some days you just want to get out, see some people, speak your native language, enjoy the company. Living out east of Tha Ton, that chance doesn't come without a ride and I've been putting a lot of miles on my machines doing a 360kms return trip to Phayao where a Friday lunch at the P W Nature farmers ticks all the boxes. Yesterday I chose to go but got it all wrong. I set off at 8.30am and hit cold and wet mist all the way to Fang, then heading up the 109 to Mae Suai the sun was often in my eyes through a visor filthy with dust that stuck to the damp inner and outer. I arrived with eye strain, tired and cranky. Not wanting to do a return the same night I heading for Chiang Kham after lunch was finished and booked into that old, central, Chinese run Chiang Kham Hotel which at 250b a night (fan + TV + hot water ) is at least cheap if not cheerful. Good bed, quiet interior room, so at 7am I checked out to do what I hoped would be a highlight to cancel yesterdays upset felling well rested and sparkly. Took the usual 7-11 rice porridge and coffee breakfast and I was on the 1093 heading through the Phu Sang National Park by 8.30am, with the sun just getting over the hills and the weather clear and cool.
The climb up into the mountains was lovely. A smashing road surface considering its remote location, no local traffic and the start of perfect weather day. What more could man on machine want?
The first part is through a lot of rubber plantation and some old natural forest but little chance to see the views. Then the road emerges on the edge of the steep slope and to your left is the stunning views down into Hmong and Thai farmland with a mix of crops but, yes, a lot of corn.
It was at this point I realised how lucky my choice of return journey had been. So often the weather lets us bikers down but today was just perfect in temperature and clarity. You could see for bloody miles! I know I'm not discovering anything, we've all been to Phu Chi Fah and know how good it can be but I dont think the approach through the National Park is as common as the other routes. Once getting up into the higher altitudes their is a scattering of tourist places, resorts, camping areas and restaurants but on this southern side they are not quite so modern or tacky. I actually saw a few places I would like to stay and that doesn't happen often in these quick build- quick money districts. I finally pulled over at a place not long finished and not ready for business. It was a cafe and it opened onto a completely untarnished view and I wanted that picture of my coffee cup on the rail. Not expecting business there was 4 young kids playing on the floor, a mum cleaning in the kitchen and it was all of 10 minutes before her husband responded to her phone call and came to make my coffee. By that time I'd played pick up stones with the boy, lofted his little sister over my head and driven the baby in buggy around the room. Meet the family.
One of the bigger Hmong villages had a local market going, a few guys were busy on the fields and by now some kids were out on their bikes calling on friends or shopping. A few trucks on the road but nothing to call real traffic. It was all just bright and beautiful and even the few tourists were just enjoying the moment.
I finally made it into Phi Chi Fah where there were cars and bikes parked outside of many resort rooms, and it was sort of wrong to suddenly have my isolation ruined. Most of this journey I had covered at 50kph, enjoying the view and the moment and now all these people had impinged on my paradise and they were driving too fast.
The bikes and cars appeared to be mostly coming from the 1155 and once I had crossed over to the 4018 to do the big dipper I was back on my own. It was finally warming, the road in excellent condition, I think resurfaced since I was last here, and the air as clear as you could wish for.
I got a shot of the bike in the cavern between the big pines tree just above Dragon Pool and then it was the drop off to the lowland, the arrow straight 1421 (with nothing on it) and what for me is the usual Chiang Rai, Mae Chan and the 1089 home.
What a terrific way to spend a morning. Even the highways and the city traffic didn't get me down. I must be a lucky man, my first visit to Phu Chi Fah was just into the Covid era in Jan 2020 and I hit empty highways and clear skies and here I am 4 years later doing it the other way round and seeing it all anew. What does that man say? Power On!
The climb up into the mountains was lovely. A smashing road surface considering its remote location, no local traffic and the start of perfect weather day. What more could man on machine want?
The first part is through a lot of rubber plantation and some old natural forest but little chance to see the views. Then the road emerges on the edge of the steep slope and to your left is the stunning views down into Hmong and Thai farmland with a mix of crops but, yes, a lot of corn.
It was at this point I realised how lucky my choice of return journey had been. So often the weather lets us bikers down but today was just perfect in temperature and clarity. You could see for bloody miles! I know I'm not discovering anything, we've all been to Phu Chi Fah and know how good it can be but I dont think the approach through the National Park is as common as the other routes. Once getting up into the higher altitudes their is a scattering of tourist places, resorts, camping areas and restaurants but on this southern side they are not quite so modern or tacky. I actually saw a few places I would like to stay and that doesn't happen often in these quick build- quick money districts. I finally pulled over at a place not long finished and not ready for business. It was a cafe and it opened onto a completely untarnished view and I wanted that picture of my coffee cup on the rail. Not expecting business there was 4 young kids playing on the floor, a mum cleaning in the kitchen and it was all of 10 minutes before her husband responded to her phone call and came to make my coffee. By that time I'd played pick up stones with the boy, lofted his little sister over my head and driven the baby in buggy around the room. Meet the family.
One of the bigger Hmong villages had a local market going, a few guys were busy on the fields and by now some kids were out on their bikes calling on friends or shopping. A few trucks on the road but nothing to call real traffic. It was all just bright and beautiful and even the few tourists were just enjoying the moment.
I finally made it into Phi Chi Fah where there were cars and bikes parked outside of many resort rooms, and it was sort of wrong to suddenly have my isolation ruined. Most of this journey I had covered at 50kph, enjoying the view and the moment and now all these people had impinged on my paradise and they were driving too fast.
The bikes and cars appeared to be mostly coming from the 1155 and once I had crossed over to the 4018 to do the big dipper I was back on my own. It was finally warming, the road in excellent condition, I think resurfaced since I was last here, and the air as clear as you could wish for.
I got a shot of the bike in the cavern between the big pines tree just above Dragon Pool and then it was the drop off to the lowland, the arrow straight 1421 (with nothing on it) and what for me is the usual Chiang Rai, Mae Chan and the 1089 home.
What a terrific way to spend a morning. Even the highways and the city traffic didn't get me down. I must be a lucky man, my first visit to Phu Chi Fah was just into the Covid era in Jan 2020 and I hit empty highways and clear skies and here I am 4 years later doing it the other way round and seeing it all anew. What does that man say? Power On!
