We leave Chiang Rai via a visit to the bank. I hang around outside guarding our worldly goods while B sorts out the withdrawal. An American on a Honda XR 250 Trail Bike, in full bike gear, stops by to chat. He informs me that Chiang Khong is only 1.5 hours away on the highway, but a better place to go is Wiang Kaen, in the mountains a bit further south.
We’ll be there quickly, before lunch. I decline to tell him that we don’t want to get there quickly, for us it is the getting there. Five and a half hours later we have had a very pleasant 200 kms ride, stopping at a local silk weaving home industry place and meandering alongside the river. Picnic lunch of peanut butter sandwiches, chain oil stop and water-break, no stress. We pass a petrol station and decide to carry on and fill up at our destination for the night, Wiang Kaen. Our tank holds 12litres and we can do about 350kms at a push on a full tank. We hadn’t used the reserve tank yet, which gives us the emergency 50kms. There’s a T-junction directing us Left to Wiang Kaen, 20 kms away. We have enough fuel for that. 20 kms into the very pothole rough road we reach a fork in the road. Mmmm, not sure about this, but instinctively follow the road that has the very indistinct faded yellow line down the middle. It’s the Left fork; “This looks like the main road”. After a short meander through a village full of people and dogs, we land up at the river’s edge, dead end. We turn around and ride back to the fork. “This looks a bit odd. Let’s ask someone where the Wiang Kaen and the petrol station is”. Two old men shake their heads, “No petrol here, go back and Yes, this is Wiang Kaen”. As the first priority is petrol, we do the pothole road 20 kms back to the petrol station we had seen about one hour earlier. The fuel gauge started flashing ‘empty’, and we then switched on to the reserve tank. We reached the petrol station and Tiger2 swallowed almost 12litres. The town where the petrol station is, at the T-Junction, has a row of shops on each part of the junction, and that’s it. We don’t know what a hotel is in Thai, written or spoken, so its quite difficult to recognise where there are lodgings. We look around vaguely wondering what to do, because now we have a full tank, we could carry on to Wiang Kaen, as indicated Left at the T-Junction and try and find this place, wherever it is. However, dusk was settling in and we didn’t want to get lost in the dark. “What shall we do?” Luckily, across the road from the petrol station, above a large pretty painting of a daisy, we spot a little sign in English reading ‘Daisy Inn’. We shot across the road, decision made, as a young man on a very swish racing bicycle in full gear, rides out. He glances backwards, gives a sigh and turns around. He’s the owner and a very competitive bicycle man. In the cool of the evening he goes cycling. There are lots of trophies on the reception desk. We book in to Daisy Inn, 300 baht, beautiful room en-suite, free toast, coffee and strong wi-fi. We are still not sure where we are.
The next morning, fully rested and bike loaded, we ride back to the T-junction, confidently re-read the sign to Wiang Kaen and turn Left again, do the pot-hole thing and at the fork in the road,this time we go Right. This is lovely, tarmac, river and Laos on the left side, mountains on the right. Wait a minute, that’s not correct. The early morning rising sun was also on our right. We’re travelling north, should be south. And then the road runs out at the rivers’ edge, 40 kms into our days’ ride. OK, let’s try again. So it’s back to the fork, back down the pot-hole road and back to the T-Junction. We take full advantage of our previous night’s stay and had another coffee at Daisy Inn. The man at Daisy Inn tells us we are in Wiang Kaen. How confusing. We go to the T-Junction again, ignore the left sign to Wiang Kaen, and turn Right.
This road is amazing. It takes us on the curviest road ever, with the road signs changing from 8% steepness to 12%. At 1200metres altitude we round a corner and we ‘see the painting’. This is the view that inspired the artist in Chiang Rai. There’s the village on one side and swathes of rolling mountains and low level valley clouds stretching forever. We are speechless. It was breathtaking. And it went on and on. Up, up, up, down, down, down, round, round, round. Again and again. There were many indications that the Royal Agricultural Projects Foundation had been busy here. Patches of farming, no more than 100 square metres. Cabbages facing West, Strawberries facing East, Rice in the middle. Sweetcorn up super-steep slopes and coffee beans drying on big tarpaulins in the road. Washing drying on satellite dishes. A few wooden dwellings. We stop at a Hot waterfall where the minerals have formed a huge lump at its base. The locals are having a warm swim.
We get to Chiang Kham, only 74 kms from where we started after the third attempt at the T-Junction, 100 kms being the longest cul-de-sac ever. Enough for the day. We find a hotel in this busy dry dusty town, 150 baht, Thai toilet and cold shower only. Never mind. We’re not sure if we ever did find Wiang Kaen, but we sure know where Daisy Inn is.
We’ll be there quickly, before lunch. I decline to tell him that we don’t want to get there quickly, for us it is the getting there. Five and a half hours later we have had a very pleasant 200 kms ride, stopping at a local silk weaving home industry place and meandering alongside the river. Picnic lunch of peanut butter sandwiches, chain oil stop and water-break, no stress. We pass a petrol station and decide to carry on and fill up at our destination for the night, Wiang Kaen. Our tank holds 12litres and we can do about 350kms at a push on a full tank. We hadn’t used the reserve tank yet, which gives us the emergency 50kms. There’s a T-junction directing us Left to Wiang Kaen, 20 kms away. We have enough fuel for that. 20 kms into the very pothole rough road we reach a fork in the road. Mmmm, not sure about this, but instinctively follow the road that has the very indistinct faded yellow line down the middle. It’s the Left fork; “This looks like the main road”. After a short meander through a village full of people and dogs, we land up at the river’s edge, dead end. We turn around and ride back to the fork. “This looks a bit odd. Let’s ask someone where the Wiang Kaen and the petrol station is”. Two old men shake their heads, “No petrol here, go back and Yes, this is Wiang Kaen”. As the first priority is petrol, we do the pothole road 20 kms back to the petrol station we had seen about one hour earlier. The fuel gauge started flashing ‘empty’, and we then switched on to the reserve tank. We reached the petrol station and Tiger2 swallowed almost 12litres. The town where the petrol station is, at the T-Junction, has a row of shops on each part of the junction, and that’s it. We don’t know what a hotel is in Thai, written or spoken, so its quite difficult to recognise where there are lodgings. We look around vaguely wondering what to do, because now we have a full tank, we could carry on to Wiang Kaen, as indicated Left at the T-Junction and try and find this place, wherever it is. However, dusk was settling in and we didn’t want to get lost in the dark. “What shall we do?” Luckily, across the road from the petrol station, above a large pretty painting of a daisy, we spot a little sign in English reading ‘Daisy Inn’. We shot across the road, decision made, as a young man on a very swish racing bicycle in full gear, rides out. He glances backwards, gives a sigh and turns around. He’s the owner and a very competitive bicycle man. In the cool of the evening he goes cycling. There are lots of trophies on the reception desk. We book in to Daisy Inn, 300 baht, beautiful room en-suite, free toast, coffee and strong wi-fi. We are still not sure where we are.
The next morning, fully rested and bike loaded, we ride back to the T-junction, confidently re-read the sign to Wiang Kaen and turn Left again, do the pot-hole thing and at the fork in the road,this time we go Right. This is lovely, tarmac, river and Laos on the left side, mountains on the right. Wait a minute, that’s not correct. The early morning rising sun was also on our right. We’re travelling north, should be south. And then the road runs out at the rivers’ edge, 40 kms into our days’ ride. OK, let’s try again. So it’s back to the fork, back down the pot-hole road and back to the T-Junction. We take full advantage of our previous night’s stay and had another coffee at Daisy Inn. The man at Daisy Inn tells us we are in Wiang Kaen. How confusing. We go to the T-Junction again, ignore the left sign to Wiang Kaen, and turn Right.
This road is amazing. It takes us on the curviest road ever, with the road signs changing from 8% steepness to 12%. At 1200metres altitude we round a corner and we ‘see the painting’. This is the view that inspired the artist in Chiang Rai. There’s the village on one side and swathes of rolling mountains and low level valley clouds stretching forever. We are speechless. It was breathtaking. And it went on and on. Up, up, up, down, down, down, round, round, round. Again and again. There were many indications that the Royal Agricultural Projects Foundation had been busy here. Patches of farming, no more than 100 square metres. Cabbages facing West, Strawberries facing East, Rice in the middle. Sweetcorn up super-steep slopes and coffee beans drying on big tarpaulins in the road. Washing drying on satellite dishes. A few wooden dwellings. We stop at a Hot waterfall where the minerals have formed a huge lump at its base. The locals are having a warm swim.
We get to Chiang Kham, only 74 kms from where we started after the third attempt at the T-Junction, 100 kms being the longest cul-de-sac ever. Enough for the day. We find a hotel in this busy dry dusty town, 150 baht, Thai toilet and cold shower only. Never mind. We’re not sure if we ever did find Wiang Kaen, but we sure know where Daisy Inn is.
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