I left the hotel at 8.30 in the morning. It wasn’t a brilliant hotel but was enough for a good few hours sleep. Sukhothai is a lovely place, the ancient capital of Thailand as first became to be known as Thailand. It’s impossible to ride by without stopping for some photos.
Riding North out of Sukhothai past Si Satchanalai on Route 101. I stopped for a photo stop at a scenic spot I know . The road itself is lovely. A series on long straights over rolling hills and some pleasant twisty sections as it meanders it’s way through the National Park. Nothing too scary or aggressive, it was a great road on which to loosen up my senses and get settled into the day’s ride ahead.
At the end of the road on arriving to Den Chai, I headed East towards Nan. This road starting off as a series of straight dual carriageways, leads all the way to Nan. Soon enough on approaching Phrae and entering into the hills the road becomes a single carriageway with miles of open and flowing bends. It’s lovely road and I found myself just taking my time enjoying the road and slowing down every now and then to take in the lovely views. The bike itself is great and where in the past I had found myself steaming through such roads and not taking in the scenery, I find that on this bike I want to slow down and take in the sights. With the torque of the engine and it’s gearbox, it’s not too much trouble to slow down and speed up again without having to change gears continuously.
On arriving at the outskirts of Nan, I hung a left and head Northbound into Nan itself. This is a long dual carriage way. Across to the right I could see the highlands that form the border with Laos and I wondered if I had overlooked more great roads and whether I should stop and re-route. But they seemed far away and I had already a long day’s ride ahead and so I continued. At the North side of Nan, a left followed by a right brought me onto route 1080 which follows the Yao and Nan rivers. Now the road followed through rolling hills and long flowing bends and became quite interesting.
At Thang Wa Pha I then took a left onto route 1148, with similarly interesting and flowing bends and hills. I took a rest stop at Song Khwae before continuing and whilst re-mounting was passed by a Multristrada and a CBR500. I took off and almost immediately the road changed. Instead of long flowing bends I found myself navigating tight twisty road sections which near switchbacks. The incline changes were very dramatic. I had heard about this road being likened to a roller coaster and indeed I could see why. In the middle of some turns I was finding myself navigating a tight turn and at the same time going from downhill to steep uphill. It was amazing as if the road itself was designed by a motorbiker. It was the first time I had put the bike through such tight and twisty roads and I was not at all disappointed. The bike changed direction, speeded up, braked exactly when and where I wanted and never felt out of place. It wasn’t the same feeling as on my Multistrada but it was nonetheless very enjoyable. Not too long after I caught up with the two riders and passed them. The road passes through the Doi Pha Chang wildlife reserve and near the top is a viewing point at which I decided to stop for photos.
Continuing, I eventually arrived at Phu Sang and headed North on route 1188. I took a stop at a fuel station, having lunch and a coffee at where I saw the two other riders arrive, fuel up and move on. As I moved on, I was planning to continue on this road and then noticing a sign for Phu Chi Fa, I double backed and took this road, route 1093. The road climbed up fast and twisty and was a good choice as it was leading to where I would have ended up had I not taken this detour. I was passed by a group of bikers on sport bikes and then decided to tag along with them. At the top I arrived at Phu Chi Fa. The views were lovely so deserved a definite few photo stops. At the peak I was due to head down the mountain and already at 1270m above sea level.
It was quite noticeable how life is so different here at the top of the mountain. The range itself runs directly along the Thai-Lao border. If I throw a stone over the top of the hill, it would land in Laos. The people changed too. Residents do not at all look like the average Thai. They look more Chinese and shows definitely that it’s a different culture and ethnic group of people living on the mountain.
My route showed that I would need to head back down the mountain. I had planned a U turn as the GPS showed that the road stopped but I felt perhaps the map was not correct and surely felt the road continued North along the peak. I was experiencing traffic coming my way so was further assured I was right. Eventually arriving at a junction to head down the mountain so I was pleased with my choice to continue. Heading down the mountain also gave some great views but in the interest of time and safety chose not to stop for photos whilst descending such steep inclines.
Eventually I reached the bottom and headed North on route 1156. This road meandered North along a riverside and through a number of small villages, so the riding here was mild and at gentle speeds. Eventually the road met with the great Mekong River and then swung left to follow along the river. It’s an impressive river, and I was now more appreciative of the river after having seen it at is near infancy in Yunnan, China during my China ride in October earlier in the year. At this point it’s a wide river and the speed of the flow showed it’s strength.
I reached a point called the Khong River viewpoint and at this point the road makes a sharp turn to the South West. But the GPS showed a track through some fields and hamlets so I decided to take this option as it saved some kilometres. I stopped for some more photos, especially of the Freedom Bridge which I had ridden on. Then arriving at the junction with route 1020, I turned right heading into Chiang Khong. I already knew where the hotel was so proceeded directly there arriving at 5.45pm just before the sun started setting.
In all it was a great days ride, I enjoyed it very much. I was feeling exhausted and could now feel the effects on my body of physically manhandling my heavy bike across those tight and twisty roads. Am sure I would have some aches and pains the next day. Now to check into the hotel, the Day Waterfront Guesthouse and go find some food. As the sun set the view from their balcony was worth the days efforts.
Todays Route
End day 2.
Motorcycle Chronicles by Jamil Siddique 