No Plans Tour.

**marcusb** · 7th August 2011, 02:58 PM

It is weird to wake up in a bungalow inside a warehouse, I had no idea if it was sunny or overcast. I felt confident about sun and packed up my rain gear. It was nice to put dry clothes on, the last few mornings I have been putting on wet gear and shoes. On the road at 7:00.
Straight south out of town on the 333 for about 5k, then a right on the 3086. This highway is in excellent condition and well signed. It was interesting going through Bo Phloi as I spent a couple weeks there 3 years back. Now they have 2 7-11s and a Tesco. Just before Kanchanaburi I took a right on the 3199. Mountains all around but the roads just kind of slithered through them, no real climbs at all. Left on the 3457 for a bit and then onto the 323 to Sangkhla Buri. Once I got 80k on the 323 it started to rain, just as the first real climbs were starting. I pulled over for once and put on my rain gear before I was soaked. Good thing, it rained all the way to SB and all the way back to kancanaburi. The 323 starts out nice and wide but towards the end it narrows down quite a bit. Just south of SB there is a helluva steep climb, which was fun. On the way back the steep wet descent had me a bit nervous. On the way down I saw at least 50 bikes heading up the mountain, everything, big big harleys, sport bikes, and even a few little classics, that was about 14:00 so I am guessing they came from Bangkok. The 323 is a highway of contrasts, weird to see all the high end resorts mixed in with Thai villages, and what I am guessing were small burmese settlements. Got to Kanchanburi around 17:30, had a quick look at the "bridge over the river Kwai' . I do understand it has historical significance, but really, it's just an old steel bridge. Off to look for a guesthouse, wow, plenty of falang in this town too. Got a very comfy room with wifi and fan in a small motel style building, 350B.
Today I did about 200k in the sun and 300k in the rain, I am knackered, tomorrow I will spend the day bumming around Kanchanaburi.

**2wheels** · 7th August 2011, 03:09 PM

I do understand it has historical significance, but really, it's just an old steel bridge.

It's much more than 'just an old steel bridge' Marcus.
It's a memorial.

**marcusb** · 7th August 2011, 04:37 PM

Yes your right 2wheels. I had heard reference to it before and was expecting an engineering marvel such as the huge trestles through the mountains in Canada. I was pretty disappointed when I saw it. Today I did some reading about the bridge and I get it now. It's about the people.

**2wheels** · 7th August 2011, 05:10 PM

Good on you Marcus.
It's not about aesthetics; it is about the people.
ie the POWs who survived and, most importantly, those who didn't.
Safe travels.

Lots of info here,

http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-mot...-Hell-and-back

**Captain_Slash** · 8th August 2011, 05:49 AM

You dont even need to use highway 1 to get from Mae Sot to Kanchanaburi, take a look at the gps map at the bottom of this trip report http://www.captainslash.com/kanchana...e-gps-at-last/

**marcusb** · 6th September 2011, 12:46 PM

Captain I had read your post for the Kanchanburi run previously, but when I was in Mae Sot I just couldn't find it in the archives. There are a helluva lot of posts to go through if one enters "Captain Slash"

Thanks for the link will use it next time.

**marcusb** · 6th September 2011, 01:09 PM

A little after the fact but I just wanted to finnish this thread.
Kanchanburi was good good fun. Could have stayed even longer. I was planning to go south but I woke up one morning and could feel I was about to get sick, not self induced beer sick, but flu type stuff. I did not want to stay in the hotel sick for 3 days so I high tailed it home, or at least I tried. I was going to take big roads back and save some time but the fumes were making me sicker. I headed for Ang Thong and then just did small roads from memory. By Lopburi I was quite ill and coughing and hacking, not pleasant in a full face helmet. I made it to Kok Samroeng at 14:00 and had to get a room as I was getting worse. I fell down on my bed at 14:30 and slept(with all my gear still on) till 20:30 that night when my friend phoned. Few minutes later and back to sleep till 10:00 the next morning, wow was I knackered. It was then an uneventful ride back home to amazing Nong Song Hong, where I rested. I ended up at the hospital a week later as I just couldn't shake it. A big bag full of medicine and all was well a few days later. So glad I went home.
What a great fun tour!!! Highlights for me were the road from Tha Li to Luang Prabaung, Umphaung, Seeing all the destruction from the rain (nok ten?), the sweet girl in Kanchanburi who had a CBR just like mine.
The stupidest dog award goes to the dogs in Kanchanaburi, it's like I had porkchops tied to the bike, they were forever coming onto the road right in front of me.
The CBR got serviced when I got home. New Shock, new Speedo, headlight reflector, and the usual stuff.
Thanks for reading.
next visa run sept 10, stay tuned.
Life is swell.
marcus