Mtorcyle Diaries

My original intention was to walk from Pai to Mae Hong Son. its only about 108km, so easily a feasable trek. however the heat during the day was just too much for me to bear and it soon became apparent that i would have to carry more water than was reaslistically possible to complete something like that.

quick change of heart and a look at some maps. i discovered that there was a route over the mountains that wasnt by road. it was dirt tracks and it passed all of the major hill tribe groups apart from the long necks. someone suggested it sounded like a good offroad adventure. i sourced a honda 250xr and discussed rental. worked out about a tenner a day. so i took them up on it!

yet theyd already rented it out... and despite me asking them, and them agreeing to reserve it, on a daily basis, they did this to me for three days straight! if you go to pai/chang mai, DO NOT use AYA motorcycles, they screwed me over on a few things and ended up costing me time and money! not impressed!

anyways, i finally got the bike and set off around 6/6.30am for the village of Wat Chan. This is a supposedly tarmacd road, however, most of it had been washed away by the rain and the bridges were all out. so it proved quite a challenge but nothing compared to what i was to come accross later on in the journey.

the roads were simply exhausting, i am fairly confident at riding motorbikes but this was a real challenge. one 5M/8KM stretch took me over an hour alone!!!!

during the trip i saw many tranditional villages and a lot of women in bright colours, very reminiscent of the andean colour schemes that im so used to. most of the woman seemed to be smoking pipes and were much darker than the thai population in pai. pictures to follow of course!!!

the paddy fields were sometimes endless, with store houses on stilts in the middle. these also housed workers when the midday heat became unbearable. when i left pai it was totally freezing but as always, between about 10am and 4pm, the heat shoots from 10 degrees up to about 36! ARG!!!

anyways, i completed the 200km+ round trip in a little over 6 hours and 40 mins! i was told by everyone i met that it was either going to take all day or was impossible to acheieve in 24hours. i admit there were times when i was driving a little fast... but it was necessary to skip over the enormous bumps and troughs in the ground!

it was def one of the most exciting things i have done in thailand and it showed me that tourists havent yet managed to penetrate all of the hill tribes, there are def some real ones left. they barely spoke thai, there were no stupid shops selling wooden statues and there was no tourist infrastructure whatsoever! something i will remember for a long time to come!