Moto Paradise – Northern Thailand –ducati Road Bike Trip, Overnight In The Jungle - Chiang Mai To Ma

Nov 25, 2013
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This trip is a couple months old but figured I would go ahead and post it anyways. The reason for the late posting is I have been busting my ass on my new Restaurant/Bar "Moto Bistro" in Hang Dong. It's been about 8 or 9 months and I just about have it finished. So hopefully I will finally get back to riding regularly.




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Report:

Back in July my wife went back to her hometown to help with her cousin's monk party. I decided it would be a cool trip to ride up to Mae Sai and see if I could somehow lend a hand. So around 4pm on a Friday afternoon, I strapped the Go bag on the back of the Multistrada and headed out. No real game plan just figured I had a chance to ride the Big Red girl solo.

I rode the outer ring road from Hang Dong to the 107 north of CM city. Traffic was not bad once on the 107 heading north towards Chai Prakan. Stop for fuel and a cappuccino at the new Amazon off the 107 near the Pai turnoff. Nice place.


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Stopped for dinner at a nice little bar/resort a few Km’s north of the PTT entering Chai Prakan. Good food and a great musician playing an acoustic guitar.


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After a nice dinner and a couple cold ones I saddled up and headed east to camp somewhere in the jungle.

To be continued...
 
Nov 25, 2013
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I left Saimoonbury Resort about 8pm. Stopped off at the 7-11 up the street for some supplies. Beer, coffee and snacks for a night in the jungle.


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Forgot to load my GPX file from the GPS so this is the best I can do for now.

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Rode for about an hour and a half and after making a few navigational errors I decided to pull off at a little hut and make it home for the night. I wanted to make it to the river but slick steep rutted road with street tires was just asking for drama

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As I pulled the bag off the bike this kid showed up very cautiously like I was some king of alien. I jokingly made a quick move toward him and he jumped straight up and off the ledge down to the road and starting hauled ass. Funny as hell... He came back up and we both had a good laugh. He kept gesturing for me to follow him down the road to the village. So after a few minutes I gave in and followed him to a small temple where a monk which could not have been much more than 4ft tall came out looking very serious. Felt like I was in trouble for a second
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. To my surprise he spoke almost perfect English. He told me it was not safe to sleep outside and I should sleep in the temple. I told him it was to hot and that I had came to camp. He talked to the boys and went back into his house.

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I hiked back up to the hill and started pulling my gear out when the kids came back up and started building me a fire.

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One by one more kids came up bringing fire wood.

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With my gear pulled out and my bed made I open a beer watched them build me a fire.

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Very kind kids. Felt like the monk had told them to keep and eye on me
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To be continued...
 
Nov 25, 2013
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Bed made and fire blazing I was enjoying my last beer trying to communicate with the Lisu boys.


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When the big kid and the kid with the jacket on showed up I notice the mood change. I could tell they were up to something. One of their mother showed up on the street and started yelling at him. Not sure what she said Buy my guess be Get ass home!
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All the kids laughed it off and mom walked back home.

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The big kid took of on his commando scooter with no light on.

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Just before crawling into my bag. Figured they would take off when the fire die down. About 30 minutes after laying down I heard the scooter pulling up and the kids sounding excited. About 30 minutes after that I could hear the kid making strange sounds and stumbling around. This confirmed what I had thought I heard. The little dumb shits were sniffing glue. I wanted to get up and talk to them but it was too late they were all stoned out of their skulls and besides they could not understand me anyhow. Well this went on for a couple more hours then they sat down at the fire carrying on. I tried to tell them settle down a few times with no response. I had enough so I crawled of my bag and walked up the fire. They all looked like at me and carried on. So just I started pissing on the fire. Turns out this translated pretty good...
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Half went home and half laid down.

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Felt like only an hour later I was woke up by a huge spider walking across my face. I mean huge too... Like one leg on each ear huge...

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Here is three of the kid that stayed. I was sure to wake them up promptly...
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If you look closely you'll see two PVC glue cans in the fire pit.

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Commando scooter

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To be continued.
 
Nov 25, 2013
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Funny you can see one of the kids looking around the rear tire of my bike after I woke them up.


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Beautiful morning but the clouds were a concern... I knew if it started raining while on the tracks to come I would definitely be screwed. So I took off with a sense of urgency.


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Track was as I remember but the weight of the 1200cc's and street tires made it much more interesting. Definitely did not handle like my KTM ADV but I was enjoying the challenge. The biggest issue for me was it was not comfortable to stand on the bike.

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Of course we all know the camera never depicts the steepness. It was quite slick as well. No issues just keep the wheels turning...

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I knew this section was coming. I had driven it in a 4X4 truck to bring some buddies fuel. They stayed the night after running out of fuel on a wicked single track adventure a year or so ago.

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Soil sample taken... Washed the front wheel out in the rut. Let the adventure begin
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To be continued...
 
Nov 25, 2013
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Brave Man! Bugger that! I always stay somewhere hopefully comfortable and near a Beer Supply! Sleeping out in no mans land is not on My List Ha Ha!

HaHa. Like my pops use to tell me. "Their is a fine line between brave and stupid. And you just crossed it :)
 
Nov 25, 2013
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Absolutely love the raw power and handling of the Ducati Multi Strada on the street but the bike does not match up well with my off-road riding habits. I inevitably end up on a dirt track having no idea where it ends up and hoping it goes through so I don't run out of gas. I'm thinking an Africa Twin may be the bike for me, in Thailand anyways.

This is the village the boys a very cold night at a couple years ago.

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Headed down to the village pictured in the first photo. I'm hoping the river is not too high with the recent rain.

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I kick myself for not taking a picture at the water crossing. I was just happy to make it without swamping out my boot to badly.

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How fortunate are we to have such a beautiful open place to adventure through.

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Made it through with no rain...

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To be continued...
 

DavidFL

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Chiang Khong
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I left Saimoonbury Resort about 8pm. Stopped off at the 7-11 up the street for some supplies. Beer, coffee and snacks for a night in the jungle.


View attachment 125603

Forgot to load my GPX file from the GPS so this is the best I can do for now.

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Rode for about an hour and a half and after making a few navigational errors I decided to pull off at a little hut and make it home for the night. I wanted to make it to the river but slick steep rutted road with street tires was just asking for drama

View attachment 125606

View attachment 125607

As I pulled the bag off the bike this kid showed up very cautiously like I was some king of alien. I jokingly made a quick move toward him and he jumped straight up and off the ledge down to the road and starting hauled ass. Funny as hell... He came back up and we both had a good laugh. He kept gesturing for me to follow him down the road to the village. So after a few minutes I gave in and followed him to a small temple where a monk which could not have been much more than 4ft tall came out looking very serious. Felt like I was in trouble for a second
smile_2x.png
. To my surprise he spoke almost perfect English. He told me it was not safe to sleep outside and I should sleep in the temple. I told him it was to hot and that I had came to camp. He talked to the boys and went back into his house.

View attachment 125608

I hiked back up to the hill and started pulling my gear out when the kids came back up and started building me a fire.

View attachment 125609 One by one more kids came up bringing fire wood.

View attachment 125610

With my gear pulled out and my bed made I open a beer watched them build me a fire.

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Very kind kids. Felt like the monk had told them to keep and eye on me
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To be continued...

Great report. Many thanks.

You're a brave man riding those dirt trails at night.
 
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