Piang Luang - Ok Phansa - Chula Kathin Festival

I rode from Chiang Dao to Wiang Haeng yesterday. The weather conditions were dry and road was good fun.

A downpour at Jao Korn Jerngเ จ้ากอนเจิง tombs thoughly drenched me, as I looked across the border to the Myanmar side and the Ordination Hall which is just visible through the trees in this photo.


I decided to dry off while eating at the excellent Krua Piang Luang Restaurant ร้านครัวเปียงหลวง and was made to feel very welcome by the kind owner and friend of GTR David.

...and this is an early days photo of the kind and welcoming owner.


Next part of the ride was to head north east on the 1322, with about 1 hour (according to Google Maps) to get to Chai Prakarn.

Just outside of Wiang Haeng there is a Lahu village. A group of happy and waving villagers were picnicking on a viewpoint, by the road. So, I swung around for a rest and chat with them, which was fun. They were concerned about my remaining journey and crazy drugged people out and about at night.


The shadows were getting long, and I still had a big ride ahead. I considered staying the night in Wiang Haeng.

Instead, on I went into a ride that was to become a 2 hour extremely demanding descent in darkness.

Significant kilometres of the bitumen surface have completely failed leaving a crushed rock moonscape with craters big enough to swallow my ADV350 wheels and bottom out forks and rear shox and grind the centrestand.

I zigzagged like a fly circling a lightbulb slaloming to avoid most craters and washouts.

When I got the line wrong or there was no line to take, I needed to haul up and slow to a near stop, drop the ADV350 into a crater and climb out the other side.

The road went on like this for many many kilometres. Darkness was fast approaching.

Seeing another group of Lahu farmer workers resting on the side of the road, with music and beer, I let myself be flagged down by more smiles and waves.

We danced, laughed and joked but unfortunately despite my best endeavour to secure a floor or bed for the night there was no accommodation available in their village.

The heavens opened and down came constant rain. I hunkered down on the ADV350 for the approximately 32km steep hairpin down hill descent along the destroyed road, in the dark.

About 15km into the final section my rear brake fluid boiled. Lever meets handgrip.

Pumping the lever didn't return any pressure. I was fortunate to control the descent using just my front brake, to a bridge where I rested up, inspecting my callipers, disc and hoses etc with a torch.

After about 10 minutes cooling down I managed to restore rear brake pressure by pumping the lever and continued on. Counting my lucky stars and counting craters and planning an escape route should I need to bail off the scooter.

I was wet from sweat and rain.

The brake fluid is 12 months old. I'm thinking the humidity in Northern Thailand should have been a prompt for me to flush the fluid with new earlier than the every 2 years recommeded by Honda.

A lesson learned and I'll return again for another run around this tremendous loop.

I'm looking forward to the Piang Luang 2025 Chula Kathin / Ok phansa Festival on 17-18 October 2025.

Amazing that you do the "drug-road" at night. Yes shortly after Wiang Haeng the road becomes a MC track all the way to shortly before Rinluan. It is like this already many years. Road through Mueang Na is as bad as one can imagine. We did this road several times with our MT's and were not pleased at all 55555