China Border Ride, Day 4 : Mae Sot – Mae Hong Son

Ride Itinerary:

Day 1 : KL - Surat Thani

Day 2 : Surat Thani – River Kwai, Kanchanaburi
Day 3 : Kanchanaburi – Mae Sot
Day 4 : Mae Sot – Mae Hong Son
Day 5 : Mae Hong Son - Pai
Day 6 : Pai
Day 7 : Pai – Chiang Rai
Day 8 : Chiang Rai – Huay Xai, Laos
Day 9 : Huay Xai – China Border, Boten
Day 10 : Huay Xai – Chai Nat
Day 11 : Chai Nat – Hua Hin
Day 12 : Hua Hin – Hatyai
Day 13 : Hatyai – KL

Day 4 : Mae Sot – Mae Hong Son

We left Mae Sod at 6.00 o'clock in the morning for Mae Hong Son's 1864 Corners, the day was still dark as we left the town.. As we were entering Route 105, that leads to Mae Sariang, the road was slippery and the condition was foggy..

The Mae Sod - Mae Sariang route is also known for Border Route as you'll be riding along the river which separates Myanmar and Thailand... Myanmar will always be in your sight when you ride along this route...




The distance between Mae Sod and Mae Sariang is only 230 km on Route 105.. it is just a short ride but it was an easy ride as it was hardly to meet any incoming vehicles... the road was empty for most of the time...

Upon reaching Mae Sariang, we stopped for breakfast at restaurant which sells great Khao Mun Gai and Iced Cafe Latte... Mae Sariang is a small town that located in between Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai.. hence the road condition on Route 108 to Mae Hong Son from Mae Sariang is better and wider than the previous road (Mae Sod to Mae Sariang route)..

Starting from Mae Sariang to Mae Hong Son, the road corners were medium and long corners... we encountered lots of chicanes.. beautiful chicanes especially when riding the heavy tourer; Road Glide and Road King..

Finally, we reached Mae Hong Son.. we really enjoyed riding on Route 108 to Mae Hong Son and because the ride was so amazing, we even thought of making another run to Mae Sariang and back to Mae Hong Son again...

Grabbed lunch and not to forget, the Mae Hong Son's 1864 Corners Certificate at the Mae Hong Son Council Municipal which is located few meters of Baiyoke Chalet... I was so proud to receive my Fourth certificate.. What a great self-achievement!!!

We checked in at The Imperial Mae Hong Son Resort and we received a warm welcome by the hotel staff.. They insisted us to park our Harley Davidson bikes in front of the entrance stairways.. where we saw other bikes, such as BMW and Ducati, were parked at the motorcycle parking bay.. That’s the privilege of riding Harley Davidson in Thailand..

Our Harley Davidson bikes parked in front of the hotel entrance

Then i brought Otai to a Wat Phrathat Doi Kongmu temple at the peak of Mae Hong Son Doi Kongmu mountain. From this temple, you could see the view of Mae Hong Son town. Not many people know that this is the best view point of Mae Hong Son town from this temple. You could see the airport, lake and another temple next to the lake.

For Dinner, we had grilled Tilapia fish with sticky rice and thai salad, khao pad thalay (fried rice with seafood) and Kluai Buad Chi (Thai sweet banana in coconut milk dessert) at the night market next to the Lake Jong Kham and Wat Jong Kham Temple.

Before we went back to Imperial Hotel, we went to a bar to check out live music and had couple of drinks although the night was still early..

Total distance from Mae Sod to Mae Hong Son is almost 400 km and took us nearly 7 hours which includes coffee breaks, lunch and photo shoot stops.. That is one of the reasons why I always prefer to leave Mae Sot early in the morning..




HooRahh!!

Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai on 125cc Scooters

Heyya..

In the next morning, the weather was sunny but a bit cold. Our flight back to Kuala Lumpur from Chiang Mai was in the evening so we had a lot of time to roaming in Chiang Rai town and rode back to Chiang Mai in the afternoon.

We had our breakfast near Chiang Rai Golden Clock Tower with Khao Na Pet (duck rice with herb gravy) and Wadin ordered Kuai Tiao Luuk Chin Plaa (fishball noodle soup).

Khao Na Pet (Thai duck rice with herb gravy)

Kuai Tiao Luuk Chin Plaa (Fishball Noodle Soup)

Then we continued riding south and reached Wiang Pa Pao town next to Route 120. I have a friend in Wiang Pa Pao who owns a café next to his house with the great view of paddy field stretching to the Mountains of Doi Mae Tho. I have been visiting his café since 2010.

We rode back to Chiang Mai through Route 1 - Route 118 - Route 11. We decided to use the same routes when we came to Chiang Rai because we wanted to visit at my friend’s café facing paddy field in Wiang Pa Pao district and stopped at shallow river stream along the way back to Chiang Mai.

On the way back to Chiang Mai on Route 118, we passed Chiang Mai Central Festival before entering the Chiang Mai-By-Pass towards Tha Phae Gate. Since Chiang Mai Central Festival is far from the centre of Chiang Mai, therefore we decided to visit the mall.

Might be hard finding our scooters in the parking lot

 

We had lunch in Chiang Mai city near Tha Pae before we returned the scooters to Pop Rider Motorcycle Rental. The Honda Click 125cc scooters have served us amazingly through our 5-days trip covering more than 1,600 km.

After returning the scooters, we went to Chiang Mai International Airport and our Air Asia flight was in the evening.

The cost we spent for accommodation, food, scooter rental, and scooter fuel is nearly RM500 per person. The Air Asia tickets we bought 2 months ahead for RM 400 return per person. Therefore, the total cost per psrson is approximately RM900.00.

HooRahh!!