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!!!

Riding the Loop

We set out to ride the Mae Hong Son loop and find all sorts of beautiful places along the way. It sure was an adventure with flat tires and other mishaps as well. Let’s start with the beautiful pictures.

We started by exploring the waterfalls at Doi Inthanon National Park. The park is a little bit like Yosemite and it reminded me of home.

 

 We headed to the top of the Doi Inthanon. It is the highest peak in Thailand but it does not have much of a view. We stopped at The Holy Relics Pagoda that has quite a majestic view.

 

One of the Shrines at the temple. Beautiful views, beautiful temples and some amazing gardens.

 

The inside of the temple. Note the stories about Buddha in the ceiling.

 

And more teachings on the stone reliefs around the temple.

 

 

Here is Ali enjoying a view of the beautiful garden. After visiting the temple we spent the night in the village of Mae Chaem.

 

 The second day of riding had beautiful views and lovely stops such as this one.

 

 

We eventually made our way to the next waterfall. Can’t you read the name of it from the sign?

 

Bad-ass Ali riding her scooter thru a closed market. As the sun was setting we found some nearby accommodations and called it a day.

 

 

On the morning of our third day we passed a Wat or monastery. The monks live in them and it is a privilege in Thai society to have a family member be a monk.

 

 

We made our way to the Karen village, but that took a small detour on a boat. Once there the map made it all clear. Try reading that map!

 

The Karen villagers are exiled from Burma and are struggling to keep their customs and traditions alive. 

 

The village certainly reminds me of browsing a National Geographic magazine and being amazed. 

 

Ali got to partake in the local customs. I am glad to report that we were able to get her neck back to normal afterwards.

 

This local lady could play some tunes as well as having the longest neck in the village.

 

Getting back we drove by some spooky abandoned buildings. Nobody is getting thru that emergency exit.

 

Getting gas was a drum affair that is very colorful and requires no electricity. Pay at the pump has a whole different meaning out here.

 

The sun would settle at the end of our fourth day with some spectacular vistas across northern Thailand and maybe even Burma. Day 4 coming up on the next post.

The Ride Continues... Day 2/3

January 18, 2014

Let’s just cut to the chase and I’ll show you more photos from our amazing ride!

They want you to play the trumpet while driving here in Thailand.

Accommodations and our sweet moto’s parked for the night in front of our hotel.  Omar rented a 250 while Jim and I rented scooters.

Omar, Jim and Wendy at  our mid-morning stop for potato chips and red bull.

Mid-afternoon stop with a view and delicious passion fruit pops.

Check out the beauty!!!!  The flowers and mountain behind aren’t bad either.

Amazing views and smooth roads… some times.

Rice noodles and vegis in the morning sun for a late breakfast - day 3.

An idea of some of the villages and mountain tribes we road through.

We couldn’t quite figure out how to ride to the Karen Tribe Village so we ended up long boating up a river.

Here are the houses.

And here is the village.

And here are the women.

Commonly known as Long Necks or the Giraffe Woman, the news articles say these 3-5 kilo brass neck bands they wear actually squish down the upper rib and muscle, and does not affect their neck.

The boat trip to the village turned out to be a fabulous break from riding.

We blew through the town of Mae Hong Son to get to this view point as the sun was setting.

And then made it to our next accommodation, The Rock Resort, where we spent our 3rd night.

Ride Day 1

January 15, 2014

Our last few days in Chiang Mai was packed full of fun, and not so fun dentist trips, before we took off for an amazing 6 day scooter trip through the mountains of Northern Thailand.  I only have day one of the trip so far to whet your appetite till I can get the rest of the scooter trip updated.

 

I took another cooking class at Bamboo Bee, a vegetarian cooking restaurant, where I learned how to make mock meat out of shitake mushrooms. 

Here I am making mushroom burgers - about to bake them. Yum!

Time for my 6 month dental cleaning - less than 20 bucks for ultra sound cleaning.  (I did have the office checked out by my friend Bill, from the boat WaterMusick, first. He’s a dentist.)

My new dentist says yeah for clean teeth!

Day one of the scooter trip - just about to enter Doi Inthanon National Park.

Our first stop inside the National Park was amazing.  Good thing too as I came out to a flat tire.

They don’t call it the Thailand flat for nothing.  I am just happy I was able to flag down a driver to throw me and my scooter into the back of his truck!

Less than 20 mins and 5 bucks later, I had a new tube and was ready to meet up with the gang again.

We made it to the highest mountain in Thailand… but barely.  My scooter wouldn’t do more than 40 km per hour up hill.

We also found a spectacular temple nestled in the peaks.

Omar being a photographer.

And I thought we started advertising holidays early in America!!!