We meet up at Kawa Rama 9 on the 6.30am. 30 guys with KLXs and Dtrackers.
Ready to go!
On our way ...
The caravan is led by K.Ek (Outdoor Thailand)
After refuelling, we reach our first destination ..Wat Tham Phra Pho Tisak. Beautiful Thai temple and Cave.
Kids were our guides on our way to the caves. Earned 100baht from K.Ek.
All of us are hungry after the walk to the cave .. time for lunch!
Fantastic place. Very beautiful and lots of food.
We hang around for till about 3pm and leave for Wang Nam Kheo.
One of the bikes has a flat tire.
No problem. The Service van is with us.
Dirt action.
I am glad, I made it.
We reach the resort. Welcome drink and foot massage. We love it!
Shower and we meet up for dinner. Food, Drinks, Games, Singing and Dancing. Lots of fun.
Next day early morning..
Ready to leave for Khaoyai
K.Ek, our caravan leader, briefs us about the trail to Khaoyai. The trail is going to narrow and rough. We will have to ride in pairs and maintain distance from the pair ahead and behind us. This is to avoid dust and noise pollution. Point noted. We reach the entrance of the trail and line up.
It seems its a very remote trail thru the jungle and entry for outsiders is prohibited. We are told the place doesn't have enough budget from the government for the authorities to develop the area. They have place for a camping ground but no equipment to clean up the over-grown grass. Hence Kawasaki has decided to sponcer a lawn-mover for them and gets special permission for us to go thru.
Time for another group photo
A few kms inside, one of the guards takes us to a "Salt-lick". A place where the animals come to lick salt.
K.Ek informs us more about the place.
At the Salt-lick. The National Park Authorities mix additional salt and food suppliment in the soil for additional nourishment for the elephants, Krathings (Bulls) and other animals who come to lick the soil.
As a goodwill gesture to the National Park and the Authorities working there, Kawasaki's trip members offer help digging the soil and mixing the salts.
K.Ek himself..
Finally we leave the place and get to the dirt.
We reach a remote spot on higher ground
We manage to spot "Krathing"
and a family of wild boars
on the way back more dirt ..
One of the smaller bikes which doesnt make thru..
It was an excellent trip and a great adventure for me. All of them were youngsters, and had experience with dirt riding. Luckily I had one dirt riding training session at Redbull Park a month ago and I got to use all skills I had learned. The Thais were extremely friendly and fun loving. K.Ek is a very nice person. The food, accommodation and other arrangements were fantastic. 5 meals, overnight accommodation, insurance etc all for just 1000bht.
To my surprise, very few knew about the ECU bypass mod on the KLX. The shorting of the cables close to the clutch. I could easily keep up with the top guys with all the hardware mods on their KLXs and D-Trackers. I was happy on the road, but had a real tough time on dirt. We did almost 100kms of dirt track and there were some real tough patches where no one stopped for taking pictures and the service van couldnt follow.
One really needs to be extremely fit for riding off the saddle. Something I find extremely difficult.
Ready to go!
On our way ...
The caravan is led by K.Ek (Outdoor Thailand)
After refuelling, we reach our first destination ..Wat Tham Phra Pho Tisak. Beautiful Thai temple and Cave.
Kids were our guides on our way to the caves. Earned 100baht from K.Ek.
All of us are hungry after the walk to the cave .. time for lunch!
Fantastic place. Very beautiful and lots of food.
We hang around for till about 3pm and leave for Wang Nam Kheo.
One of the bikes has a flat tire.
No problem. The Service van is with us.
Dirt action.
I am glad, I made it.
We reach the resort. Welcome drink and foot massage. We love it!
Shower and we meet up for dinner. Food, Drinks, Games, Singing and Dancing. Lots of fun.
Next day early morning..
Ready to leave for Khaoyai
K.Ek, our caravan leader, briefs us about the trail to Khaoyai. The trail is going to narrow and rough. We will have to ride in pairs and maintain distance from the pair ahead and behind us. This is to avoid dust and noise pollution. Point noted. We reach the entrance of the trail and line up.
It seems its a very remote trail thru the jungle and entry for outsiders is prohibited. We are told the place doesn't have enough budget from the government for the authorities to develop the area. They have place for a camping ground but no equipment to clean up the over-grown grass. Hence Kawasaki has decided to sponcer a lawn-mover for them and gets special permission for us to go thru.
Time for another group photo
A few kms inside, one of the guards takes us to a "Salt-lick". A place where the animals come to lick salt.
K.Ek informs us more about the place.
At the Salt-lick. The National Park Authorities mix additional salt and food suppliment in the soil for additional nourishment for the elephants, Krathings (Bulls) and other animals who come to lick the soil.
As a goodwill gesture to the National Park and the Authorities working there, Kawasaki's trip members offer help digging the soil and mixing the salts.
K.Ek himself..
Finally we leave the place and get to the dirt.
We reach a remote spot on higher ground
We manage to spot "Krathing"
and a family of wild boars
on the way back more dirt ..
One of the smaller bikes which doesnt make thru..
It was an excellent trip and a great adventure for me. All of them were youngsters, and had experience with dirt riding. Luckily I had one dirt riding training session at Redbull Park a month ago and I got to use all skills I had learned. The Thais were extremely friendly and fun loving. K.Ek is a very nice person. The food, accommodation and other arrangements were fantastic. 5 meals, overnight accommodation, insurance etc all for just 1000bht.
To my surprise, very few knew about the ECU bypass mod on the KLX. The shorting of the cables close to the clutch. I could easily keep up with the top guys with all the hardware mods on their KLXs and D-Trackers. I was happy on the road, but had a real tough time on dirt. We did almost 100kms of dirt track and there were some real tough patches where no one stopped for taking pictures and the service van couldnt follow.
One really needs to be extremely fit for riding off the saddle. Something I find extremely difficult.
