Big C car park was a warm sunny desolate spot, until Ken(yam) & his dear lady Poo turned up.
After a natter we set off down the 108 to Hang Dong, through San Patong & eventually Chom Thong. We took a short break at the pump before continuing to the traffic lights in Chom Thong and making a right turn, up towards the market, we took a right and then a left and this road is clearly sign posted at various places along the way “Mae Ya Waterfall”.
Capt Slash’s directions here https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorc ... t5076.html were ideal for us to find the entrance to this route.
What that post doesn’t tell you is that Mae Ya Waterfall is inside Doi Inthanon National Park & that an entrance fee is demanded at the check point. Never mind, it’s cheaper with the Thai Driving Licence.
Before reaching the check point, there is a fabulous temple, Wat Phra Gert, where the Abbot spoke very good English and wanted to assist us during our visit. It’s a vast area and lots to see. He made a special effort to tell us about the new seating area for visitors to sit & relax at the top. (We chose to ride up… far easier! )
But more interestingly, he told us about the pathway which starts at the blue sign, remembering the event of the Japanese Army walking from here to Mae Hong Song via Mae Chaem, Khun Yuam, during the second world war.
The road before & after the checkpoint is excellent and the surface is ok, some nice twisty bends, a couple of hairpins and very little traffic.
Arriving at the end of the road & therefore the waterfall visitors car park, we were greeted by the food vendors who took on a new role of car park attendants, in an effort to start the sales patter but we weren’t hungry yet.
As Slash said last week, the walk to the waterfall view point is well worth it and indeed the water cascading down in this dry season is stupendous. I will definitely revisit this place later in the year to see the contrast in the wet season.
Back down to Chom Thong Temple & the car park restaurants for lunch and then we continued our ride down the 108.
This busy road can be a real pain at times but today it wasn’t too bad. A few empty cabbage trucks but plenty of road to overtake them.
Hot… well we just rode through it & then turned left onto the 1103 and rode the winding open road down to Doi Tao to visit Huai I Muang view point. The surface of this road was at times a little broken and patch work quilted with repairs, especially on some of the corners ! But with care, the road is very rideable!
The pics taken today compared to previous years / seasons show the changes.
This place isn’t brilliant but it offers a welcome loo stop and an opportunity to feed the dogs a couple of tasty chews.
We set off again east and towards the 106. As well as the beautiful colours in the leaves, the style of road and its surface make for an excellent ride.
Eventually joining the 106, we turned left and headed north towards Ban Hong.
At Ban Hong, we enjoyed a 7 -11 refreshment stop. All the school children gave us long stares and I wondered if they were looking for Slash but they were disappointed.
Then a relatively uneventful trip up to the outskirts of Pa Sang where the traffic just got really busy and that was how it was all the way through Lamphun.
A round trip of 315kms.
It was great to ride with Ken & Poo, I really enjoyed their company.
As usual, there are other photos of this trip in my album here …
Ally
After a natter we set off down the 108 to Hang Dong, through San Patong & eventually Chom Thong. We took a short break at the pump before continuing to the traffic lights in Chom Thong and making a right turn, up towards the market, we took a right and then a left and this road is clearly sign posted at various places along the way “Mae Ya Waterfall”.
Capt Slash’s directions here https://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorc ... t5076.html were ideal for us to find the entrance to this route.
What that post doesn’t tell you is that Mae Ya Waterfall is inside Doi Inthanon National Park & that an entrance fee is demanded at the check point. Never mind, it’s cheaper with the Thai Driving Licence.
Before reaching the check point, there is a fabulous temple, Wat Phra Gert, where the Abbot spoke very good English and wanted to assist us during our visit. It’s a vast area and lots to see. He made a special effort to tell us about the new seating area for visitors to sit & relax at the top. (We chose to ride up… far easier! )
But more interestingly, he told us about the pathway which starts at the blue sign, remembering the event of the Japanese Army walking from here to Mae Hong Song via Mae Chaem, Khun Yuam, during the second world war.
The road before & after the checkpoint is excellent and the surface is ok, some nice twisty bends, a couple of hairpins and very little traffic.
Arriving at the end of the road & therefore the waterfall visitors car park, we were greeted by the food vendors who took on a new role of car park attendants, in an effort to start the sales patter but we weren’t hungry yet.
As Slash said last week, the walk to the waterfall view point is well worth it and indeed the water cascading down in this dry season is stupendous. I will definitely revisit this place later in the year to see the contrast in the wet season.
Back down to Chom Thong Temple & the car park restaurants for lunch and then we continued our ride down the 108.
This busy road can be a real pain at times but today it wasn’t too bad. A few empty cabbage trucks but plenty of road to overtake them.
Hot… well we just rode through it & then turned left onto the 1103 and rode the winding open road down to Doi Tao to visit Huai I Muang view point. The surface of this road was at times a little broken and patch work quilted with repairs, especially on some of the corners ! But with care, the road is very rideable!
The pics taken today compared to previous years / seasons show the changes.
This place isn’t brilliant but it offers a welcome loo stop and an opportunity to feed the dogs a couple of tasty chews.
We set off again east and towards the 106. As well as the beautiful colours in the leaves, the style of road and its surface make for an excellent ride.
Eventually joining the 106, we turned left and headed north towards Ban Hong.
At Ban Hong, we enjoyed a 7 -11 refreshment stop. All the school children gave us long stares and I wondered if they were looking for Slash but they were disappointed.
Then a relatively uneventful trip up to the outskirts of Pa Sang where the traffic just got really busy and that was how it was all the way through Lamphun.
A round trip of 315kms.
It was great to ride with Ken & Poo, I really enjoyed their company.
As usual, there are other photos of this trip in my album here …
Ally