Two Weeks in Isaan - 2020

[Heineken]

I have a bit of time to spare so I though I better start my trip report on our ride to Isaan


This trip was organized by Mike Gagne from Ubon Rachathani who I have toured with before, coincidentally this trip started exactly 1 year to the day from our ride to Northern Vietnam and return in 2019.


The meeting point for our Isaan Ride was in Phetchabun on the 22nd of November 2020, with the tour to start on the 23rd.


My 1st day on the road was riding from my place in Chiang Rai to Phetchabun, about 550km where we were meeting at a local hotel





My Honda NC750X fueled, checked and packed ready to leave home on the 22nd of November..............

Sunday 22/11/20


I left home around 730am for a casual ride to Phetchabun, came across a truck accident and stopped to take a photo, a local policeman came and talked with me, I said looks like truck go lil lil ?............NO this road no good.............but he go fast to make this happen ? ............No this road no good he said again.....................no rain, dry roads and mid morning clear skies, no other vehicles involved but its the roads fault

I continued on my journey and stopped for a snack and fuel @ Den Chai................................carried on through the mountains and came across a cool looking coffee shop, ive ridden past this many times but always with a group of mates so have never stopped, I sometimes like riding alone as I can check out a few sites at my leisure .......................

Back on the road heading towards Phetchabun and I came across another cool looking coffee shop, a quick stop and then back on the road...................

I arrived at Phetchabun around 3pm and fueled the bike up and then checked into our hotel, I decided to go for a few pre dinner beers and walked around and found a great bar "Bangon Bar" run by an Englishman and his wife, great hosts and friendly people .............................stayed for a few hours and then the owner Mark took me on the back of his scooter around to the nearby restaurant where I was meeting the group @ 7pm for dinner................

With all the preparation Mike does for these trips its hard to get an exact number of who is attending, at 1st there was about 15 odd blokes saying they were going to attend, Mike kept us all in contact via a messenger group chat, as soon as someone they could not attend for whatever reason they were removed from the group, which is a good idea as when there are big groups you lose track of alot of details with all the banter


I met the team of 6 x riders at the restaurant, I already new 4 of the riders, and met the other 2 new faces....................sometimes smaller groups are easy to manage IMO


The team : Mike Gagne - Honda NC750X Dct

: Toby - Honda CB500X

: Patrick - Honda African Twin CRF1000 Dct

: Colin - BMW F800

: Frank - Triumph Street Triple 675

: Heineken - Honda NC750X Dct

 

[Heineken]

Monday 23/11/2020


Stands up at 730am and then we headed up into the Khao Kho mountains, my first time up there and it was awesome, lots of twists and turns on the bikes for an hour or so before we stopped at a coffee shop overlooking the valley, the weather was perfect this time of year and the skies are nice with clouds and blue skies

Our next stop was the Khao Kho weapons museum .............................................

From here we rode back down the mountains and were headed towards our lunch destination, with a stop on the highway to have a drink and take a photo or two of this curved bridge ............

Our next stop was lunch at the Hill Top Retreat, Mike had phoned ahead to make sure they were open, the location is quite remote and a dirt road to access the premises, the owners and staff were very welcoming, beautiful resort and views, be careful of the guard dogs, they looked well fed so I doubt they could run very fast

 

[Heineken]

Monday 23/11/2020 continued


From our lunch spot we kept heading north, our next stop was The Grand Canyon ........................well thats what Mike called it, quite a different looking valley as it started with these rock walls before turning to vegetation as you look down the valley, I would say this would look great in the wet season as when we were there you can see lots of small waterfalls starting at the top and dropping down the face

From here we kept heading north, Mike had a great coffee shop he wanted to show us, decorated superbly with great views aswell ................

We carried on heading north again heading towards Loei which was our destination for the night, we had to look out for the local wildlife on the roads ...........................we stopped at a viewpoint for a look and cold drink on the way, must of been around 4pm by now ..........................

From here we continued on to Loei, checked in our hotel unpacked and showered ready for a night out at The Saloon Bar ........................................I went down to the What's Up Bar a bit later to have a few beers with Steve Coupland as well

 

[Moto-Rex]

Don't you just love these coffee shops. This one is a real winner. Where do they get all this cool stuff from.
I gotta check this one out when I return. Is it on the main hwy?

Cool report Heineken.... What a great part of the world to go riding don't you think?

Moto-Rex

​

 

[DavidFL]

Brilliant. Many thanks for that. You certainly get around too & it's great to see a write up on GTR. Love it.

 

[DavidFL]

I wonder how it sounds, goes & stops..

 

[Heineken]

I gotta check this one out when I return. Is it on the main hwy?


Cool report Heineken.... What a great part of the world to go riding don't you think?

Moto-Rex

​

Its on Highway 11, heading to Den Chai it is on the lefthand side, I think according to google its called the V8 noodle house


Yeah great country side out that way, too many of us just ride from point A to B and miss the local attractions

 

[Heineken]

Tuesday 24/11/2020


Loei to Nong Khai


After a night out in Loei it was again stands up at 730am, we had been invited to Chris's (Loei Saloon Owner) house for breakfast, so we took him up on his offer, he lives just out of town at the "Loei Loghome"....................................Beautiful home built on the side of a small hill, no nearby neighbors which would be great.


After breakfast we went the backroads to Chiang Khan, Chris decided to join us for 1/2 the day and led the way, he was riding his Honda CB500X, with a quick stop at a very scenic reservoir on the way, we then continued onto Chiang Khan to visit the recently opened Glass Skybridge which was fantastic, its a beautiful looking structure overlooking Laos and the Mekong River.


I will admit I was a bit nervous walking on the glass, everytime I looked down I had to grab the handrails, being twice the weight of an average Thai doesnt help

The reservoir we visited just near Loei...........................................

 

[Heineken]

Tuesday 24/11/2020 (continued)


The Chiang Khan Skywalk .........................................

 

[DavidFL]

That's a good mix of bikes on the trip, with 500X as the winner?

That Skywalk looks bloody impressive, I was out there in the early stages of construction & always wondered how it would look. I should go & take a look sometime. I can also relate nicely to "I was a bit nervous walking on the glass, every time I looked down I had to grab the handrail," because I'm not good with heights either. Or caving or sailing. I get sea sick on the Swan river. 55

 

[Heineken]

That's a good mix of bikes on the trip, with 500X as the winner?

Only 2 x 500X's and 2 x NCX750's so its a draw


Even though Chris's 500X is only with us until lunchtime

 

[Heineken]

Tuesday 24/11/2020 (continued)


From Chiang Khan we headed to our lunch location which was just down the road from our next destination, The Wat Pa Phu Kon Temple, which is also called the blue roof temple, even though it looks green to me


After lunch Chris left us and returned to Loei as he has been to this temple before and had to get back to work, we rode up the side of this mountain until we reached the Temple, 1st impression was this is huge

After leaving the Temple we rode to our overnight destination, Nong Khai, we did stop on the way at a coffee shop overlooking Laos and the Mekong River, weather was perfect for riding with very clear blue skies


Our hotel in Nong Khai was in the middle of the bar area, what a great location for a bit of R & R, we had a great night out, or morning for some of us

 

[DKT Dave]

I have a bit of time to spare so I though I better start my trip report on our ride to Isaan


This trip was organized by Mike Gagne from Ubon Rachathani who I have toured with before, coincidentally this trip started exactly 1 year to the day from our ride to Northern Vietnam and return in 2019.


The meeting point for our Isaan Ride was in Phetchabun on the 22nd of November 2020, with the tour to start on the 23rd.


My 1st day on the road was riding from my place in Chiang Rai to Phetchabun, about 550km where we were meeting at a local hotel





My Honda NC750X fueled, checked and packed ready to leave home on the 22nd of November..............

Sunday 22/11/20


I left home around 730am for a casual ride to Phetchabun, came across a truck accident and stopped to take a photo, a local policeman came and talked with me, I said looks like truck go lil lil ?............NO this road no good.............but he go fast to make this happen ? ............No this road no good he said again.....................no rain, dry roads and mid morning clear skies, no other vehicles involved but its the roads fault

I continued on my journey and stopped for a snack and fuel @ Den Chai................................carried on through the mountains and came across a cool looking coffee shop, ive ridden past this many times but always with a group of mates so have never stopped, I sometimes like riding alone as I can check out a few sites at my leisure .......................

Back on the road heading towards Phetchabun and I came across another cool looking coffee shop, a quick stop and then back on the road...................

I arrived at Phetchabun around 3pm and fueled the bike up and then checked into our hotel, I decided to go for a few pre dinner beers and walked around and found a great bar "Bangon Bar" run by an Englishman and his wife, great hosts and friendly people .............................stayed for a few hours and then the owner Mark took me on the back of his scooter around to the nearby restaurant where I was meeting the group @ 7pm for dinner................

With all the preparation Mike does for these trips its hard to get an exact number of who is attending, at 1st there was about 15 odd blokes saying they were going to attend, Mike kept us all in contact via a messenger group chat, as soon as someone they could not attend for whatever reason they were removed from the group, which is a good idea as when there are big groups you lose track of alot of details with all the banter


I met the team of 6 x riders at the restaurant, I already new 4 of the riders, and met the other 2 new faces....................sometimes smaller groups are easy to manage IMO


The team : Mike Gagne - Honda NC750X Dct

: Toby - Honda CB500X

: Patrick - Honda African Twin CRF1000 Dct

: Colin - BMW F800

: Frank - Triumph Street Triple 675

: Heineken - Honda NC750X Dct

An incredible cafe indeed Gav. Great write up, and awesome photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Heineken]

An incredible cafe indeed Gav. Great write up, and awesome photos. Thanks for sharing.

No worries Dave, alot more to come yet


My friends have probably seen most of these photos from my facebook when I did this trip, I agree with David Unk and what he told me once about facebook, your posts are looked at for a few days, you get a few likes and then forgotten, on the forum they are here for alot longer and may be of interest to another forum member

 

[DavidFL]

No worries Dave, alot more to come yet


My friends have probably seen most of these photos from my facebook when I did this trip, I agree with David Unk and what he told me once about facebook, your posts are looked at for a few days, you get a few likes and then forgotten, on the forum they are here for alot longer and may be of interest to another forum member

Great to have your trips posted on GTR.
They become a nice record of your adventures & will inspire other people to come and ride.
Many thanks again for contributing.

 

[Eoin Christie]

A great trip write up and photo’s, Gav. Thank you!

Brings back fond memories of Nong Khai / Loei back in the 1980’s...
A005 by Eoin Christie, on Flickr

 

[Heineken]

Wednesday 24/11/2020


Nong Khai to Bueng Kan


We left Nong Khai around 9am, after a big western breakfast at one of the local restaurants


Slight change of plans as I suggested we have a look at the statue park "Sala Keoku" in Nong Khai as Mike and a couple of others had never been here (very surprised Mike hadn't seen before)........................everyone was blown away by the size of some of theses statues, ive been there a few times

From here we kept heading east following the Mekong River to our lunch spot, on the banks of the river......................there was a lady here drying small fish, I presume caught by net in the river

 

[Heineken]

Wednesday 24/11/2020 (Continued)


After lunch we continued riding to our next destination which was called "Whale Rock"


We reached the lower part of this mountain at Whale Rock where we had to park our bikes and go with a tour guide in his pick-up via a few scenic stops, we had perfect weather and could see for miles, the views were stunning


Surprisingly there were no barriers, if you go past the tape on the ground it will be a quick few hundred metre fall to the ground, alot diffent to back in Australia where there would be barriers and signs everywhere


From Whale Rock it was a short ride to Buaeng Kan for the night

 

[DavidFL]

Wednesday 24/11/2020 (Continued)


After lunch we continued riding to our next destination which was called "Whale Rock"


We reached the lower part of this mountain at Whale Rock where we had to park our bikes and go with a tour guide in his pick-up via a few scenic stops, we had perfect weather and could see for miles, the views were stunning


Surprisingly there were no barriers, if you go past the tape on the ground it will be a quick few hundred metre fall to the ground, alot diffent to back in Australia where there would be barriers and signs everywhere


From Whale Rock it was a short ride to Buaeng Kan for the night

Great views & clear sky. Oh those were the days....55.
I wonder what it's like up there early wet season.
Should be even more impressive perhaps.
What's the entry fee?

 

[Heineken]

Great views & clear sky. Oh those were the days....55.
I wonder what it's like up there early wet season.
Should be even more impressive perhaps.
What's the entry fee?

I cant imagine the sky any clearer than when we were there, we could see the Mekong and Laos in the distance, over 20km apparently.

From memory you pay for the pick-up and guide and they take as many as you can fit in the back of the 4wd, the pick-up was about 500 Baht, in our case there was 6 of us, I think we just gave 100 Baht each so our guide got a tip, very nice bloke, it takes 2 to 3hrs to do the round trip.

 

[DavidFL]

I cant imagine the sky any clearer than when we were there, we could see the Mekong and Laos in the distance, over 20km apparently.

From memory you pay for the pick-up and guide and they take as many as you can fit in the back of the 4wd, the pick-up was about 500 Baht, in our case there was 6 of us, I think we just gave 100 Baht each so our guide got a tip, very nice bloke, it takes 2 to 3hrs to do the round trip.

Thanks good info & tip.

 

[Heineken]

Thursday 26/11/2020


Bueng Kan to Sakon Nakon, via Wat Phu Tok


Todays ride was not alot of distance, but included alot of walking, little did I know I needed to be a bloody mountain goat


We started with a short ride to Wat Phu Tok which is a Temple built on a 360m high mountain that is in the middle of alot of flat surrounding land, it stands out , the Temple is built on 7 x levels, with the seventh level being the top of the mountain


Each level is accessed by climbing wooden and old stairs and walkways, with alot of floor boards missing or broken, we start the climb about 930am, Mike suggested we take water as no supplies on the mountain, gotta say I sweated about 5 litres of Leo on the climb, I gave up on level 6, I was getting scared of the poor quality stairs and was imaging how many Thai people it would take to get Heineken back to the base, without pushing me over the side ...........................the other 6 of our group all made it to the top, well done boys .............It made me feel better seeing Thais giving up the climb on level 3, its not an easy climb

The view from the mountain was magnificent ..........................

We had lunch at the food stalls out front of the Temple, from here it was a nice ride through the back roads of Isaan with an afternoon rest and drink at a lake where the local Thai people were enjoying themselves, the water looked so tempting for a swim

Just before Sakon Nakhon we stopped for a drink and to fuel the bikes, nextdoor to the servo was a beautiful looking home, with nice gardens and even a few dinosaurs wandering around, it looked great...................

I forgot to mention the quality of the hotels Mike had chosen for this trip were unbelievable, ranging in price from about 400 Baht to about 600 baht per night, depending on the town, here is the hotel in Sakon Nakhon ......................

 

[Heineken]

Friday 27/11/2020


Sakon Nakhon to Mukdahan via Wat Pha Nam Thip Thep


And then there were 8 .........................Col's girlfriend flew up to Sakon Nakhon to join us, and Abe (Honda ADV 750) rode up from Bangkok to join us, he had visa issues to sort out in Bangkok before he could join us, ive been on many rides with Abe, a great fella who always enjoys a laugh


Whoever said that Isaan is all flat and boring needs to go for a tour with Mike Gagne for a few days , distance wise todays ride was not that far so Mike took us the long way which included alot of mountain roads, nothing like Northern Thailand mountains but still fun when your with a group

Mike had a favourite Coffee Shop he wanted to stop at this morning, we were very popular with the locals and the owner, all wanting a photo with us and our bikes...............................it was a very artistic coffee shop, we all enjoyed relaxing here

From here we continued south and Mike had a back road to a Temple he wanted to see if we could ride through, we were going great until on a super steep section we rounded a corner to see great big gates locked ............................we weren't going any further, as you know photos dont capture how steep these mountains are, believe me this was steep as

Next stop was another Temple called Wat Pha Nam Thip Thep, simply amazing and huge, the interior was spectacular, we went up to the very top via the staircases

From here we rode onto our hotel in Mukdahan, a couple of pre dinner drinks at the hotel and then a Tuk Tuk ride to our restaurant on the banks of the Mekong River, hard to believe that we had to wait for seats to become available as the restaurant was full, looked like seating for 100+ people ...............................We had a great night, one of our group announced it was his birthday, Happy Birthday Frank , and many thanks for shouting us all the night out, very generous

 

[DavidFL]

Thursday 26/11/2020


Bueng Kan to Sakon Nakon, via Wat Phu Tok


Todays ride was not alot of distance, but included alot of walking, little did I know I needed to be a bloody mountain goat


We started with a short ride to Wat Phu Tok which is a Temple built on a 360m high mountain that is in the middle of alot of flat surrounding land, it stands out , the Temple is built on 7 x levels, with the seventh level being the top of the mountain


Each level is accessed by climbing wooden and old stairs and walkways, with alot of floor boards missing or broken, we start the climb about 930am, Mike suggested we take water as no supplies on the mountain, gotta say I sweated about 5 litres of Leo on the climb, I gave up on level 6, I was getting scared of the poor quality stairs and was imaging how many Thai people it would take to get Heineken back to the base, without pushing me over the side ...........................the other 6 of our group all made it to the top, well done boys .............It made me feel better seeing Thais giving up the climb on level 3, its not an easy climb

The view from the mountain was magnificent ..........................

We had lunch at the food stalls out front of the Temple, from here it was a nice ride through the back roads of Isaan with an afternoon rest and drink at a lake where the local Thai people were enjoying themselves, the water looked so tempting for a swim

Just before Sakon Nakhon we stopped for a drink and to fuel the bikes, nextdoor to the servo was a beautiful looking home, with nice gardens and even a few dinosaurs wandering around, it looked great...................

I forgot to mention the quality of the hotels Mike had chosen for this trip were unbelievable, ranging in price from about 400 Baht to about 600 baht per night, depending on the town, here is the hotel in Sakon Nakhon ......................

That's an impressive hotel in Sakhon Nakhon.
If you want to add them to the GTR Esarn hotel recommendations you can

Accommodation - Esarn North-East Thailand

By LOCATION: Topics; Loei, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, etc...Details; Resort, Hotel, Guesthouse, Home-stay etc.

www.gt-rider.com

 

[Heineken]

Saturday 28/11/2020


Mukdahan to Khong Chiam


We left Mukdahan about 830am after a 7/11 breakfast and rode to our first stop, yep another Temple, I am not big into visiting Temples but ive got to say I enjoy the architecture and the different designs, they really are very unique and you never see the the same design twice. This one was quite remote and looked abandoned when we arrived, there was a couple of Temple dogs but they didnt come near us, the other thing we saw was some peacocks and again they were camera shy, we saw no Monks or cars, maybe it was shopping day ?...........................I was quite impressed with some of the murals on the walls outside the Temple, very talented people.


We had a good look around for an hour or so and took some photos, Patrick enjoyed a couple of dips in the concrete carpark to practice his wheelie skills ............................which he did on a daily basis

From the Temple next stop was a series of Restaurants on the edge of a lake, Mike had been here before and it was like a beach setting, complete with small sand dunes.........................Patrick took advantage of the sand area and was doing some great powerslides on his AT CRF 1000, until, yep he pushed it a little too much .....................a few photos and then we picked his bike up, and what does he do, yep more powerslides

From here we headed to Khong Chiam, our destination for the night and its also the home to the biggest Gong in Thailand ...........................Khong Chiam is also where we say goodbye to the Mekong River which we had been following for quite a few days now, we still border Laos here but the river is no longer the border

Opposite the hotel we were staying at was a Memorial site for the Thai Navy, you wouldnt think the navy would be up here, but yep, they have quite a few patrol boats on the Mekong, I presume located in quite a few towns along the Mekong, not just here in Khong Chiam