A sublime attempt to inaugurate regular up country GT Rider dinners.. As originated here monthly-gt-rider-dinners-t8634.html But did it work.......... :?: The Way for me: Chiang Mai - Hot - Mae Chaem & return. Dates: Saturday 23rd - Sunday 24th October 2010. And part of my plan was to pick up on some temple festivities for Ok Phansa; Mae Chaem was my original temple goal, but I received a tip-off to try Wat Phra That Sri Chomthong. {} Lucky I was {} {} {} {} Next stop "Into A Garden Temple" west of Chomthong. It's been a while since I've been in here & I thought it might be worth an update. Guarded by tigers... {} This way please {} {} Situated on a hill {} Up the steps you go {} for a fabulous view towards Chomthong & the Ping River {} {} {} {} Temple murals of village life {} {} {} "Wat Into A Garden" is on in Grid 8F on the GT Rider Mae Hong Son Loop map. Check it out sometime if you're cruising by & got time. It had been a very wet few days earlier & the Mae Chaem river had been flooding {} crossing the Mae Chaem river bridge at Hot. You can see the water's been up & flooding. Hot city {} only ever a whistle stop {} for a bowl of noodles? Of note too in Hot, is that the old petrol station west of town is now a brand spanking new PTT with a 7-11. {} 7-11s are important for Captain Slash's survival, plus cooling off in the aircon when the weather's hot & you need a cold drink or two to cool down. :thumbup: R108 in the twisties west of Hot {} and the river has been up over the road {} Onto R1088 the Ob Luang - Mae Chaem road & its been flooded in here too {} making a mess of the road in places {} {} {} and the river's still up. Watching the river flow {} and this little guy has the coolest smile of the year! Is that a George Clooney? On on, & up onto the "vege plateau" {} {} A break at "Cabbage Central." {} {} Down the hill again to start the descent to Mae Chaem {} & it's wet & greasy How the cabbage drivers do it {} swing out wide & nail it to "smoke 'em." Wet 'n green & greasy {} Mae Chaem city {} rain hail or shine. I was there.... but was there anyone else? :?
That garden is still growing !! Good to see the update, thanks. The G11 is capturing the shots ! Nice. Ally
Thanks David for posting the pics of what looked like a great ride with the scenery at is photographic best this time of year. Apologies for not joining you, but just for a short while I need to stay on top of the builders and get rid of the mess as quickly as possible. Well was there anyone else there? I am sure we are all dying to know. Pretty sure Marco would have been there, but any more??
My place of accommodation in Mae Chaem was an experiment - a new homestay /guesthouse. The Chaem Cha, opposite the Mae Chaem city post office. {} {} {} {} {} My cute room for the night.. {} The external bathroom {} open air & won't it be great soaping up in here, steaming, in the early morning cold season fog. :thumbup: The adjoining bathroom {} I'm always amazed at Thai ingenuity & Chaem Cha is no exception. How the owner can turn a humble little wooden house into a lovely little cosy guesthouse impresses the hell out of me. The place has charm & style, so f you're looking to experience some delightful northern Thai charm, check out the Chaem Cha in Mae Chaem. {} The young owner is the daughter of Mae Chaem school teachers & they value the culture & charm of Mae Chaem. The Chaem Cha is part of their contribution to maintaining Mae Chaem's charm (& not becoming another Pai?) Chaem Cha is not on the www yet, but the owner Pirada Pokpol has a facebook site. Search for Pirada Pokpol & you will find them. :thumbup: now for some food & a drink...
The original proposed masterplan and who was waiting at the Sawasdee Mae Chaem - Marco! {} a well ridden GT Rider, over from Ubon Ratchathani. :thumbup: Needless to say all of us had a good night. The Sawadee Mae Chaem was full, most of the night. Miss Noi Na is a brilliant host. Amusingly a 5-member group of hot young gals from Bangkok dropped in looking for the new Pai. They were enlightened & inebriated after a few ales. And more than likely they will be back to Mae Chaem! At another table a boss lady was treating her corn workers to a night out. Luk-sao was also in town for the weekend & Ok Phansa. {} as were numerous other locals {} the Drink For Health T-shirt was a winner! Marco & I still hit the Nam Neung later on to cap off the night. Thanks a million kms for coming Marco. I had a good time riding there & with you in Mae Chaem.
I've done as you suggest and looked up Pirada on FB. I liked this comment on her wall :wtf: Google translate tells me it says this: . I'm guessing she didn't heed the suggestion or you wouldn't be recommending the place. :thumbup:
My return ride got off to a false start. During the previous night's entertainment we were asked by a Gender Bender if we'd been to see the twin baby elephants. Was this a trap we thought? But nope it is real. Only the 3rd pair of twin elephants ever born in the world is real & "in the Mae Chaem area." A new master plan was devised over a few quiet Beer Changs mixed with rice whisky (another story to be told)…The elephants were right beside the asphalt road & less than 2 hrs away.....too good to be true, & for Marco it would mean backtracking to Khun Yuam & returning to Cnx that way. It could be worth it. But where exactly were the elephants? Just hanging out like a 7-11 roadside, with drive in parking & aircon comfort for the punters? We were up nice & early the next morning, ready for our little elephant hunting expedition. Brekky was to be at the Navasoung, but it was a bit slow coming. A 35 member Thai granny Wat tour group was indulging in ABFs at the Navasoung too that morning, plus there was no power (in all of Mae Chaem CITY since 4AM) plus they ran out gas & the kitchen was in darkness. It was not the absolute optimal start to the day you could say. In our quest for elephant info Navasoung were able to provide a elephant trek brochure http://www.elephantvetaidoutpost.org/index.html All this sounded good. We could be on the right trail, but neither Marco nor I were interested in a steep slippery hike or a greasy dirt ride on our bikes just to see a couple of dumpy twins. We got away from the Navasoung somewhat behind for schedule & headed for the local police station. Good thought. It was Sunday morning & almost no one was around. A solitary police officer peered up at the two jumbo farang, a worried look on his face. Trouble? Fortunately our Thai language skills were sufficient to ascertain that indeed us two jumbos were looking for another two smaller jumbos. And they were where • Pang Ung? • Huay Pak Kut? • Mae Satop? all north-west of Mae Chaem on the road to Khun Yuam. Well it seems like Mae Satop, but down a dirt road for a few kms & then a bit of a hike?? The two farang jumbos decided to pass. So much for the 7-11 beside the road = you can’t always rely on a Gender Bender drinking Chang & rice whisky. Meanwhile.. Back in Chiang Mai a little more research turns up this http://www.bring-the-elephant-home.org/en/ http://www.elephantvetaidoutpost.org/index.html plus these are also interesting http://gvithailandenvironmental.blogspot.com/ http://www.gviusa.com/projects/Asia/Tha ... iland/home but I still wonder exactly where & who has the young jumbo twins. The Elephant Nature Park? The return ride then. Back the same way. {} Mae Chaem - Ob Luang - Hot - Chiang Mai. Ob Luang Canyon was on my hit list for the return ride. {} And it had been flooding going into the gorge {} {} {} Marco riding buddy for the trip "home" to Cnx. {} Marco thanks for coming to Mae Chaem for dinner. We were quite the group on the night (& a right pair of jumbos). :thumbup: I enjoyed myself immensely. :lol-sign:
That was great stuff friends. I loved both, the warm temple colors and the washed out streets ! I hope that the first trial for an outside dinner will be followed by others. Will try my best to participate
Great stuff there. Nice memories of riding the 108 along the river West of Hot. Missed Phra That Sri by only 15 miles though as I got to Mae Chaem via Inthanon and backtracked to Mae Sariang after staying in Hot. Why on earth would I do that? 1. A newb 2. Darkness So many hidden gems, easy to ride on by and never know what is there. If its right in front of the Star House, that PPT was just having the posts put up when I was there in Nov. '08. Its been 2 years already? Impossible. After 40, it seems I'm picking up speed.................ugh
I paid the asking price 400 baht & very first customer. I suspect it may well be "negotiably" less. Up to you. I was happy with the experience.
On Facebook, Pirada's business card suggests the price is 300 - 400 baht. She seems quite chuffed to have been mentioned on the GT rider site too :clap:
Thank You David and yet it was lots of fun and for new place for me and well many new faces,,, "Gender Bender" was fun and lady with the T-Shirt(Drink for health) got me scared,, she was "wispering my ear in one point,, ""I love you" shite,, that was scary,,,,but lady who runs the joint is Such a geurgeus Doll face and nice,,,pitty that i did not managed to get any photo of her,, i was worried abt the wispering lady,,,, I compeleted now my 11day tour and ones all pictures are sorted out i will post report of entire trip See u guys in December again
