Sorry no pics, just a road report. Road that turns off from the main road to Khun Yuam to the Karen village of Mae Sa is scenic and well paved for the first 10km but then degrades quickly, the last 10 km being now a formerly paved road, rugged and rutted. The first few kilometers out of Mae Sa are relaxing, nice dirt track alongside a picturesque stream lined with Karen rice fields. But once past the cultivated area the road is no longer maintained and little used. This is where the local scooter traffic, if not all rational traffic, stops. Typical bumpy forest road but with one very short yet moderately treacherous section going up a hill where the drainage pattern may have changed and the hill is covered in red clay mud. I doubt I could have made it upright going down that stretch and counted myself lucky to have made it going uphill. I should have turned back as I was riding alone and have now used up my one annual lucky charm. The road eventually gets closer to another Karen village, Huai Pa (?) and although rough and bumpy, the road can be used by locals. At the village there is a fork in the road where a sign disappointingly points one towards the steep rutted downhill path instead of the smooth road leading to some homes. So it is another 9km of very rough and rutted road to Mae Ruam where you intersect with the main all weather road leading up to Wat Chan. The route is a nice alternative for a more moderately challenging ride to Wat Chan from the south. Route is well marked on the GT-Rider map. Requires knobby tires and best not ridden solo, as did this fool.
By the way, as a long time rider in these parts, I think that all the roads, paved or otherwise, have seen significant damage from this year's rain and seem, in many parts, terribly degraded from a year ago.
By the way, as a long time rider in these parts, I think that all the roads, paved or otherwise, have seen significant damage from this year's rain and seem, in many parts, terribly degraded from a year ago.
