Indo Trip 2016

We'll have moved onto Chiang Rae from Chiang Mia,got the Green Bus up yesterday which is Thailands National bus service and so far seem okay reasonably cheap and the the big plus they have A/C took about 3 hours to cover the 180 odd Km's

Got into the hotel about 2pm which gave me plenty of time to organise. Bike for the next week,after the last couple of scooter's and hills thought I would try something a bit bigger so have ended up with 250 dirt bike,$180 for 7 days hire,then it was back to the accommodation for an early tea and bed was feeling a bit puffed after enjoying Father's Day a bit to much!!

So got up this morning with the plan to do a loop from Chiang Rai out to Phayao and check the lake and scenery out but once again the weather gods decided it was time for a bit on monsoon action,so head breakfast and few coffee's and gave it a bit of time and the rain eased up a bit so bit the bullet and took off

The 1st 40km it continued to drizzle and and that was okay had a rain coat on and everything was good,then for next 20 km it poured,this fine still had a rain coat keeping my dry but the open face helmet was my down fall going faster than about 20km it felt like I was getting sand blasted in the face!!

But after that down fall the weather cleared up ,which let me take a few pictures, end up doing about 220km today in about 6 hours with a few stops along the way, hopefully the weather is good tomorrow and think I will head up into the mountains near the Thai/Myanmar border

Well my time in Pia is coming to and end,back to Chiang Mia tomorrow for a couple of nights before travelling onto Chiang Rai for a week or two,then Laos

Have been here for 8 nights and had a really good time the scenery,the guesthouse also has been a good place to relax,but I think the best thing has been exploring the region on the scooter even if was underpowered,the views of the mountains covered in swirling mist,the terraced rice paddies,storms on mountains in the distance have been really good to see but hard to capture the beauty on film and for the most the roads are really quite good as long as you don't get off the beaten track, which means the dirt tracks which are bit washed out due to the monsoon

The weather generally has been quite consistent ,every afternoon about 2 pm the scattered storms start and it is the luck of the draw if you get wet or not depending where you are and where the storm is !! The temperature ranges widely depending on the weather and if you are a valley or on top of a huge mountain, most of the mountains you cross are around 1600 metres and the valley floors about 500 metres,so are a really steeps climbs,so a temp gauge yesterday in Pia the read 36" but on the top of the ranges in the mist I reckon it would lucky to be 20"

Well that's me done,having a ball and see you in a couple of days from Chiang Mia

Got upto a pretty clear sky so decided to risk the weather and take a ride to Mae Hong Son which is about 100km down the road and it was well worth the trip going over numerous mountain ranges and then dropping back into the valley floors with terraced rice paddies before climbing the next range,the road was really good tar,and would be an absolute hoot on 400-600 road bike,anything bigger would be a waste and not as much fun I reckon

Think the highest point was around 1500 metres,so was nice and cool,the scooter a Honda PCX 150,got along okay but most of the time only doing 40-60 kmh and on the flats and wringing its neck I could get 80kmh but travelling at a slower pace was okay ,didn't really have much choice as the hills were pretty steep so 60 kmh was good fun also got to take in the scenery and the views that went for ever,took about 3 hours each way,so that was my day

Well left Chiang Mai yesterday and think it was the best and shortest bus trip yet about 300km and 4 hours later I am in Pai,Northern Thailand,got dropped of at the bus station with the rest of the tourists,grabbed my backpack and umbrella and made my way to scooter rental shop and picked up my transport for the next five days whilst in Pai

The trip up would be a motorcyclist dream something like 753 bends in 30 km in absolute amazing country side the weather was fine and sunny,then I picked my scooter up and basically it hasn't stopped bloody raining,but is the monsoon so is expected I suppose

Got out yesterday for a few hours and again today for 7-8 hours but it so wet I haven't taken many pictures,scared of killing the phone or the DSLR, but hopefully the weather improves tomorrow ?As the scenery up here is really astounding

Well my first full day in Chiang Mai after crossing into Thailand at Mae Sot and a very relaxed border crossing it was,walked all the way through into Thailand and nobody stamped my Visa so turned around and went back and finally got somebody to stamp it,thought it would create way to many hassles on the way out.

Got another slow bus from Mae Sot to here, only about 280km but still took 7 long hours, so today hired a scooter (Vespa) and took a trip up into the national park which is just outside town,very steep range with some peaks around 1600 metres,beautiful lush rainforests and a nice escape from heat

Probably head up again tomorrow and check out some waterfalls,still have another couple of days here before heading to Pai,but need and try to get my visa extended,so that also might be tomorrow chore