7 Day tour from 25.09.20 to 01.10.20

The 7 day tour with Youngie and Pete.

25.09.20 to 01.10.20 – Day 1 and 2.

An article serie by: Tom Stenshavn

Day 1: Chiang Mai to Phitsanoulok.

Day one was a transport day as we want to see the Phu Hin Rong Kla, Phu Tubberk and Khao Kho National Parks.

Headed out from Chiang Mai just before 9 am and everyone said we would get a lot of rain on this trip. NO!… no rain and sunny beutiful weather the whole day today.

Not much to say about the day, as it was just a lunch stop and coffee stops, but we reached Phitsanoulok around 2.30 pm and i got mounted risers on my handlebar at a nearby shop. Im exited to see how that works tomorrow. I felt the handlebar was a bit low and that my position on the bike wasn`t 100% comfortable. I think this will do the trick.

We ended the evening with a nice dinner and some drinks at the popular riverside restaurant and bar. Can you guess the name?

Day 2: Phitsanoulok to Khao Kho

This is the main sighseeing day, as we are planning to go through the National Park, Phu Hin Rong Kla over to Phu Tubberk, then to Khao Kho. That is 3 National Parks in one day, and a lot to see and take in on one day of riding.

The mountain passes are steep and very curvy and the ride here is not for the beginners. We started off at 9 AM and head for the first park: Phu Hin Rong Kla.

There was a National Park fee of 500 THB for foreigners and 200 for Thai Nationals. My Thai ID card was not enogh as i ewas not a national thai, so we all had to pay. In addition to this it was 20 THB per motorbike, but that was at least not extra for foreigners.

They should really do something about the double pricing for us foreign expats and stop treating us as tourists. Many foreigners work here on thai salaries, and with an ID card, it shows that you own a house or condo here, so at least the foreigners that lives here should pay the same as Thai nationals in my opinion. For the double pricing of tourists, many western countries also have this, but usually it is 10-20% higher price, not 250% price increase as this.

Well, we paid the fee and headed up the mountain in beutiful riding roads, and i will post some ride video taken from Youngie with my GoPro in his helmet as soon as i get to edit it. 

After several kilometers, we hit what we thought would be the first viewpoint and it was a stunning view (see photos under), but it was also the only viewpoint in the park, so i will now call it a 500 THB-view. 

And of course wouls ALL the Thai tourists at the viewpoint have a group photo with the cool biker dudes!

I really have to stop concentrating and start smiling on my photos – LOL.

After this view, it was about 35 km riding. The roads was amazing, but no view. Only forest and mountain roads, so i call this a rip-off park and it is not recommended to go here. We hit the exit, and we were at Phu Tubberk. A National park on the hilltop, and this was really a place to be. The view here is stunning and has to be one of the most stunning places in Thailand.

So many nice Thai-tourists from all over the country, and we talked to several of them. Many came to spand a night or two camoing in tents, and that is a great idea for the future. It is not hot here, so no need for airconditioning, and with that view and making a party with the locals is on my list.

If you dont want to spend a night in a tent, it is plenty of accommodation to get here with the best view that money can buy.

We rode downhill a LOT after this stunning place and it was time for lunch. Today it was roadkill on the menu:

Time to set course for Khao Kho and see what that has to offer. We are already pressed for time, as we need to stay the night here. We are going to Loei tomorrow, and then to Udon Thani, so many hours of riding still awaits.

Day 3: Khao Kho to Loei

in the early morning we rode straight to the moasaik temple near our hotel and just a fw km up in the mountain. What a stunning place and what a view from there. It was a lot of local tourists there, and i know why people come a long way just to see this.

Today was a shorter ride than the days before, so we had time to spend at the temple and in the hills behind.

We tried to attach my GoPro camera to Youngies helmet again, but it kept falling off. He was trying to do a loop around the temple, but could`nt get the fottage. He ended up with transporting one of the staff in a restaurant up the hill  so she didn`t have to walk to work. She was hitch-hiking down by the temple.

Click on the photos to make them full size

After the temple, we sat course for R12 and straight over Nam Nao National Park.

Then we fast forward to arrive safely in Loei, visiting our friend, Chris in his Saloon Bar in Loei. Always nice to see Chris and his wife and make some noice in the bar. It is “Covid-times” and not so many customers visiting around, so we are happy to contribute where we can.

This night, there was 4 thai boys coming to drink in the bar. It`s always great to have some locals, so we teach them to drink the Norwegian Woodpecker (Hakkespett), but we didnt really have the ingredience, so we made it with Absinth and Sang Som. Of course it had to be lit on fire so they can enjoy inhaling the fume when the fire is put out, but i thought it wouldn`t be strong enough, so we invited them to take a shot of Sang Som through a straw in the nose. 

That made the drink not so interesting for the future!

Day 4: Loei to Udon Thani

Today, we had to skip all sightseeing as we where actually planning to see the new skywalk and go the R211 along the mekong river to Udon Thani. That ride is scenic and curvy and about 280 KM. But we decided to go the short and boring motorway all the way throght R210 and only the 143 KM straight as Youngies front tire was really broken up. It was not safe to ride long with that as it could easily explode, and they didn`t have the right tires in Loei so we went straight to Udon and got it fixed there. The rest became a rest day and after the night before, we all needed some extra rest.

Day 5: Udon Thani to Phrae

This morning it was a start of a 500 KM ride all the way to Phrae. We actually didn`t have much choice to go any shorter route as Peter needed to be back in Chiang Mai the day after, and Youngie and I was to meet some other bikers in Thaton for the monthly GTR dinner that is held in different places every last wednesday of the month. We would then have a 330 KM ride ahead of us on the 6th day, while Peter could go straight to Chiang Mai, the shorter way. 

This day gave us a lot of riding pleasure as we rode all the different roads that is humanly possible in one day. It started out with straight motorway for the first 180 KM, and then on curvy nice mountain roads that allowed some speed. After that, we crossed over to curvy small roads along the Laos border to a mix of mountains, rural roads and highway all the way to Phrae. 

This was a really good riding day, but with 500 km to finish, we didnt really get much time to take photos and videos.

After looking around in the city for hotels, we checked in at Phrae Nakara Hotel in the middle of the city. The hotel was ready for 2 huge parties there, so hundreds of party-dressed thais was coming and it was a bit noicy there. But overall the hotel was very nice at 450 thb for the room without breakfast. 850 with breakfast was not an option, so we turned that down.

Day 6: Phrae to Thaton

The second last day of riding on this trip was only 330 KM and on fast roads. We were just going to Thaton to attend the monthly GTR (Golden Triangle Rider forum) dinner arranged by the legend Mr. David Unkowich. 

The GTR rider dinners is every last wednesday in the week, and is arranged on different places around Northern Thailand. The idea and the concept of these dinners is to bring the biker community together to meet and at the same time help a restaurant, hotel, bar etc that are struggling with lack of customers, to have at least one night of great income. It is a great oportunity to see places we normally not see and also the best way to meet other bikers with the same interests of riding in North Thailand.

Here is some photos from the tour up there, and from the dinner party that night. 

Day 7: Thaton to Chiang Mai

We were up for the last day on this trip, and it was said to leave at 9 AM together with all the bikers back to Chiang Mai. However, none was actually ready by 9, so i suppose the party was good last night. Youngie and myself, was ready, so we just took off at 9 regardless of the others. We were more than happy with 7 days on the road, andwas now ready to get home to Chiang Mai.

It was a short and nice ride on the R107, and we just stopped once to have a coffee on the way.

What a great week this has been. I can`t wait for my net ride whenever and wherever it will be!

 Please give me some feedback and comments, and dont hesitate to send me some words. I`d love to hear from you all!