I took a ride west of Chiang Mai toward the Thai-Burma
border, to a small town called Mae Sariang.
The town is located south of Mae Hong Son and north of Mae Sot. Riding time from my house in Mae Jo (just
north of Chiang Mai) to Mae Sariang was about four hours, including three stops
for coffee, gasoline, nature calls, and untold numbers of photo ops. I spent only one night in the town but intend
to return someday and take some time exploring the surrounding area, which is
probably best described as laid back.
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The loop shown on the map was a distance of about 900
kilometers. The road between Hot and Mae
Sariang was in good shape (today) and is a nice ride with moderate traffic. It rises in elevation to about 3500 ft
providing a little bit of a break from the heat.
The ride between Mae Sariang and Mae Sot is a combination
of bad roads, followed by remarkably beautiful road conditions. Then as you turn east toward Tak the road
becomes a treacherous combination of steeps, slow truck, and fast cars. But that stretch in the middle makes it worth
the grief at each end.
On the map note the route on the left, marked in yellow,
between the two school busses. I took
this road riding north to south. It is
about ninety minutes on a bone jarring, tooth rattling road surface. Think of rock-hard popcorn the size of baseballs, and countless pot holes. I
averaged fifteen to twenty kph and felt guilty about it, wondering how much
damage I was doing to my machine. But as
I continued south the road changed suddenly, and I do mean suddenly. I found myself on a very well designed
mountain road with new asphalt. Of
course I asked myself how this could be.
But remembering that TIT (This Is Thailand) I didn’t think about it any
further. From this point here was essentially no
traffic for about two hours. It was just
me, the bike, and the road. Fast –
Smooth – Curvy - Glorious. Sorry, but I
was having so much fun that it didn’t occur to me to stop for a picture of the
road. As I got further south the traffic
picked up considerably so I had to revert to defensive driving tactics. Finally, the stretch of road from Mae Sot to
Tak, while on a good surface, has a lot of traffic. If you want that wonderful stretch of road in
the middle you will just have to pay your dues.
I suspect that the photos are becoming a bit boring as
the same theme is repeated. Except for cropping I don’t mess with or “Photoshop”
my pictures, but I have taken liberties with some of the following photos.
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This is a bridge built over a collapsing bridge. It is recommended that you use it, but if you
don’t want to wait for traffic to clear you can use the old bridge. Is it safe?
Hey, it’s all up to Buddha.
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The six pics above are some of the scenery along the way from Hot to Mae Sariang.
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I stayed at a place called the Riverhouse, not to be
confused with the Riverhouse Hotel, although both establishments are only about
100 feet apart. My room cost for one
night was approximately $25, including breakfast. The five pics above were taken from the guesthouse deck.
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Mae Sariang is a very laid back place. Although I spent only one night it would be
worth staying a few days to explore the area, which includes some nice parks
and rivers (so I am told). This picture
of rush-hour traffic was taken from small restaurant.
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Some of the scenery while driving from Mae Sariang toward
Mae Sot. (Five pics above)
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In addition to pot holes and worn out asphalt, gravel,
water, patches of moss in shady spots, and predictably unpredictable drivers,
you must also navigate around buffalo and elephant droppings. After a few cars drive through the poop piles
it gets spread out making the road slicker than…well, you get the
idea. It’s another good reason not to
wear sandals on a motorcycle.
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This is where I had lunch. Not exactly McDonalds or Taco Bell (thank
goodness) but the food was delicious.
I had cucumber soup and chicken fried rice. Mmm-mmmm!
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OK – I suppose McD’s isn’t all bad.
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See y’all later.
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