July 23rd, 2016
Saturday July 23rd-Biker gang
Super proud of our ambition today. We planned to be up and at Ian’s between 9:30am and 10 to rent bikes and start off on our road trip to Doi Inthanon. Not only had we had some toast, popped into Baan Bakery for pastries for the road, stopped at the temple to look for Riam (she wasn’t there) but we had our bikes rented and were back at the cafe by 10:04am. We rented two 125cc scooters from POP rentals for 200B each (plus 6,000B deposit). They even had a little gas in them. This was novel, usually rentals come on fumes only!
The three of us headed off on our adventure. Unfortunately given where we stay in Chiang Mai, (the Old City), we have to make our way through a fair amount of city until we get to the open road. We adapt quickly to driving on the other side of the road and even do ok with all the traffic of the city. It takes 40+ minutes to get out of the city and after stopping to make sure we have full tanks for the mountain drive, we take the turn off to Doi Inthanon. It costs 300b each plus 20b for each motorbike to go into the National park. Seems pricey, but that’s just what they charge foreigners (50b for Thai people). The ride is spectacular, windy road, up and down (way more “up” 😉) but the weather is perfect, cloud cover, but no rain. The condition of the roads are also very good, a few potholes here and there, but really much better than most we ride on.
We stopped at Wachirathan waterfalls and it certainly seemed like there was more water in the waterfalls than when we were here last. We enjoyed our pastries and then set off for the King and Queen pagodas further up the mountain. (An additional 40b each to enter this area)
Then we decide to go to the Summit, there’s a small park with a path constructed through the forest where some signage exists to indicate you’ve reached the highest point in Thailand. There’s also an opportunity to get a coffee. I seem to recall the coffee shop being good, but somehow, I end up with a small shot of instant coffee in a paper cup. Aye yai yai.
Now, it’s time to make our way down as it’s getting close to 2pm. We are going to take a different route back to Chiang Mai, coming down the “back” of the mountain. We stop to gas up again and make a quick stop at another set of waterfalls. Much more remote and quiet at this park, a mere 20b to get into this small park and aside from the gardening crew, we are the only ones there! Oh, Except for the giant mosquitoes. But not to worry, I travel with bug spray…..
It’s 3:20 and time to get off the mountain…..not wanting to get caught in unnecessarily bad traffic, or the dark, we start our descent. In addition, we notice some very ominous clouds in the distance. Not to worry, i travel with emergency rain ponchos 😊
Everything going well, loving the view, challenged occasionally by the road however as it is very winding and in no way flat, either up or down ( way more “down” 😉) and this of course makes it more difficult to navigate. So challenging that at one point Troy laid his bike down on a corner. Just a tad wide, and there was some mud and viola. The bike sustained minimal damage and Troy has some scrapes and scratches, but not needing more nursing care than I can provide with some hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls and neosporin! Lessons learned all around. As “luck” would have it, I had the GoPro on and I was behind Troy, so the whole escapade was likely caught on video….
Our arrival back in town had us tired, hungry and a little stiff from a long day! But feeling like we conquered Doi Inthanon. After cleaning up, we headed (walked) over to Ginny’s for some food, drinks and debriefing about the day.
