The Ride Ends

January 20, 2014

All good things must end… including our super ride through the mountains of North Thailand.  Enjoy the last of the pics . . . of which there are many!

Jim getting coffee the morning of day 4 at the Rock Resort.

The resort was so beautiful we walked around the grounds in the morning instead of just riding away.

It was a great way to enjoy a cup of coffee.

We almost stayed another day at The Rock, but decided instead to scooter on to new adventures.

And new adventures it was!!!  Dirt biking on scooters!

On some pretty gnarly roads.

But hours later we made it!

And arrived at our next destination - Cave Lodge - which was in the middle of tons of local caves.

So of course we bamboo rafted into one to do some exploring.

And saw giant stalagmites and stalactites.  

We avoided bat guano, but not bird poop :( as all the bats flew out and thousands of swift birds flew in.

This spider is squished.  Now imagine it alive and plump.  Now image two of these suckers.  Now imagine them charging you like a bull.  So big the toilet hose was a mere shower for this guy.  There was so much screaming the locals came to see if we were ok.

My standards for a good toilet have rapidly deteriorated as I spend more time in a third world country.

I called this one clean.

More of the scenery as we scooted along.

Our digs for the final night in Pai.

Riverside Hotel - aptly named.

Our rooms had a private balcony overlooking the river where we spent most of the night and morning.

Wendy and I got to Pai first to do some exploring while the men did some more off roading!

Grrrrr!

Rough Riderz (in cute matching best friend shirts their significant others bought for them)

Omar enjoyed this way too much!

Never let Omar drive a rickshaw.

Best buddies on the Memorial Bridge outside Pai.  The bridge is left over from WWII.

Look mom - no hands!

vroom, vroom

Most lunch stops were at these little noodle/soup shacks.  It involves a lot of pointing at things and shaking your head yes or no.

And it works out well for delicious vegan noodles.

Almost home after 132 kilometers and 762 turns from Pai!!!

We made it!!!! 760 kilometers total and over 1,800 twists and turns!!!