Cnx - Mae Sarieng - Mae Chaem - Inthanon - Cnx

[DavidFL]

Friday 26th & Saturday 27th February 2010

The weather: H-O-T.

The Way. R108 Chiang Mai - Mae Sarieng direct.

Beside the Mae Chaem river west of Hot

Parts of the river look good -where it's got water

But the water is not in abundance everywhere

R108 up in the rolling hills & one of the big dips in between hills; & place for a bit of speed.

 

[DavidFL]

Captain_Slash wrote: Youve got it hot in the north as well then, its baking out here in Isaan, its six litres of water per day weather now

Yeah Slash for some reason the heat ' sun seems really bad this year, & it's early hot season. It knocked me around yesterday, but part of the reason could be that I did not leave Cnx until 3PM & had a couple of hundred kms to ride directly west straight into the sun. :x :x

Anyway a few pix to let you know what it's like out there at the moment.

Some of the dry forest on R108. Note the lucky green tree, close to the stream bed & able to suck some water.

Interesting road works, just out of Mae Sarieng

Back on the good stuff

Saturday 27th Feb 2010

The Mae Yuam river, Mae Sarieng

looking upstream from Riverhouse Resort

looking downstream

and not a pretty picture

Wat Chai Lap, Mae Sarieng

R1088 "Ob Luang" - Mae Chaem

The start from R108

and it looks more like a desert, the land is so dry & barren in the heat.

Wat Mae Long provides some relief to the desolate looking scenery

Back on the road & in the twisties on 1088

Blooming hell I thought

is that what they mean by "in full bloom."

This tree was a breathtaking beauty

and there was more than one of them!

But there was not much else around

More sweeping hot 'n dry road

R1192 the Mae Chaem - Doi Inthanon road

that's DOi Inthanon - the bald hill - in the distance

It's H-O-T out there folks. You can still ride & enjoy, but make sure you stop drink plenty as you go.

:wink: :wink: :wink:

 

[ASBO-Holidays]

Aw man, 2 weeks to go before I go do it. Is there any need for warm clothes at night time 'up the hills'?

Question for you David...would you spend 2 nights in Pai or Mae Hong Son? I don't have time for both unfortunately so one or the other...

Anything else I should keep an eye out for?
Cheers

 

[David Learmonth]

Good photos! Hot here at BanMai near MaeChan this year as well. Cool mornings & late evenings but really hotting up after midday - much hotter than last two years I am sure! Been at ChiangKhong today & the Maekong is very low. My preference is Pai - liked the place more than MHS, yet I can't really say why! Its a bit "one horse" but just has something about it!

 

[chabakaew]

can a 100cc make it up Inthanon from Mae Chaem? I did not dare to descend just in case I can't come back up, not very good at judging how steep it would be uphill.
thanks for any advice on this.

 

[David Learmonth]

Having seen lots of scooters of various vintage & engine size up there I would say yes - but it will be slow going!

 

[Jurgen]

Wouah! At first I thought that your pictures were from Isan . Drought is everywhere. Nights (in Maerim) still (relatively) fresh, but slowly baking during the day.

Great atmosphere pictures, every season has his charm!

 

[chabakaew]

Thanks to everyone who replied my question on riding a humble 100 cc.
Actually we did not make it to Mae Chaem, "only" to Inthanon. It was my stepfather's and my mother's first week of riding around Chiang Mai and they ended up in the ditch once.... only cuts and bruises. Probably not the best terrain to learn to ride a motorbike but I guess still better than downtown Chiang Mai. Otherwise, very enjoyable trip. Blue skies up on the summit, cool fresh air, splendid green scenery. We were freezing at night in Khun Klang village and enjoyed every minute. Horribly hot downhill this afternoon after Wachirathan waterfall, so we just dumped the motorcycles at the side of the road once and plunged into the stream for a while. I thought it would be a horrible idea to do the Inthanon trip this time of the year, on the contrary, this is actually a good time to get up to the mountains.