The 3228 is a mainly flat road but well surfaced
I run parallel with and cross the railway line a fair bit for a while
Buddha looking out over the tapioca
After about 25 km I take a left onto the 3455, this is just a flat straight road, after maybe 10 km there is a right turn which is where the 3455 goes, I go straight ahead which is signposted for Kra Sae Cave but no road number at first then after I go over a crossroads it is numbered the 4032
There are lots of these non barriered crossings out here but not many trains per day
The road goes to Thamkrasae train station but about 1 km before that I take the left which still is the 4032
A couple of km later I reach a T junction and turn left, this road is the 6018 and I am now out on roads that are not on any of my maps
Some good hills out here to look at
This is more like it, some decent bends
This is the nicest section of todays ride about 2 km before the Burmese border
The end of the tarmac, 1 km later its Burma. I rode as far as here last year then did about 100 metres of dirt before turning back. Today as I stopped here there were a couple of very nice people from Taiwan who live in Bangkok who came over and asked about where I was travelling to. The Gentleman was amazed that I even knew about this road and got his own map out clearly showing the area in great detail. PN Map Centre was the map he had and the scale is much better than my 1/590000 Thinknet map, I must look out for some of these maps. I was informed that the Burmese border was only 1 km away by him as I didnt know that it was this close, he also informed me that the soldiers are no longer guarding the gate so there is no one to stop you crossing, so that was it I just had to go
On my way to Burma
The border, my bikes gone on ahead and has already crossed, as I walk back into Thailand to take this picture I suddenly see there is somebody in the guards hut, he sees me but doesnt seem at all concerned so I hurry up and get going before he changes his mind
Its a steep climb on a rutted dirt track so not easy going
All I see growing today in Burma is bamboo
2.5 km I rode into Burma, all of it uphill and just hard dirt, my second Burma trip in 5 days this year
Even the Burmese have got these in the middle of nowhere
2.5 km was enough of this, its time for a water stop, a motorbike comes past and heads further into Burma and then I hear a lorry coming but its not army and a Thai lady in the passengers seat speaks reasonable English. She asks where I am going, I say how far to the first village she says 55 km and theres nothing there to see. There is no way I want to tolerate 55 km of that track so I turn back then
I dont know where they came from I certainly didnt see them on the way up
Plenty of logging going on but bamboo not teak
Back to tarmac and civilisation at last
Looking at that nice tarmac stretch from the other direction
2 km later back in the village I take a right, no road number
A nice piece of tarmac and nice scenery
It runs for 2 km then its just a dirt track
I am heading back now and after a few kms there is another turning to my right, I take it
Its the same as the last road, only a couple of km then just a dirt track
I ride on back for a further few kms and theres a turning to my left for Ban Ma Soe Yo and the road number is the 5059, I turn left onto this road, after less then a km there is a turn to the right but I carry on straight ahead
This is a very nice road, good surface and good corners too
After 5 km the road to Ban Ma Soe Yo turns to unmade and about 100 metres before this there is a turning to the right for Ban Pradu Thong so I take this
What a smasher this is too
After 13 km of riding I have looped back to the 5059 and I am on the road what would have been the right turn, I do a left then at the T junction with the 6018 its another left and I return home the way I went. Before I get back to the right for the 4032 I see another turn to the right and I remember seeing another road out here on the Taiwanese Gentlemans map but its getting late so I will have to explore that one another day. When I get to the right turn for the 4032 there are no signs giving the road number but there are signs for Krasae Cave and for Mueng Sing Historical Park if you are out here looking for it.
About 25 km before home I hit a dog, my first time in 34 years of riding that this has ever happened, the score was BMW 1 dog 0, the funny thing was a couple of weeks ago at V V P in Chiang Mai the mechanic was saying if you hit a dog dont brake or you will come off, I didnt touch the brakes and I heard the impact rather than felt it, I turned back and as I slowed down to where the dog was moving in the road the dogs mother ran for me. I managed to deter it and I thought the dog I had hit was just hurt at the rear but then the dogs owner came over and said it was dying and then I saw the damage done to its head, then it just died. The owner said dont worry which was good, it wasnt a particularly large one but then it wasnt a baby either, I guess I got lucky
