Jan. 2009, My first cycling tour abroad, I chose “safe ground” by cycling in Thailand, a country where I’d travelled for 4 months on previous backpacking trips.
Here’s the blog for this trip…. With some handy tips under “facts at a glance” should you not want to read the whole story.
My chosen route was a challenging 1000km in Northwest Thailand including the “Mae Hong Son Loop” along the border with Myanmar/Burma. The route was Sukhothai-Tak-Mae Sot- Tha Song Yang- Mae Salit- Mae Sariang-Khun Yuam- Mae Hong Son-Sappong (Panmapa)-Pai-Mae Sae-Chiang Doa- Thaton-Chiang Rai.
Websites used to prepare this trip (both in Dutch):
15 Jan : Sukhotha – Tak 80km
Well my afternoon jetlag snooze got stopped by the outdoor aerobics lesson next door at about 6pm, so I got some food then went back to bed when it was done, 13 hours later I was on the road again ( who needs a rest day anyway).
This was quite an easy run with a gentle climb, I stopped off along the way for a look at old Sukhothai. Tak is nothing special and there are no real guesthouses so I had to get a hotel ( 20euro), It was a nice enough place tho, but a little run down, I guess this is the sort of place the package tourists stay. Early night ready for the first mountain stage.
Facts at a glance: Total distance: 98km, total climbed : 200m, av speed: 22.5, max speed 37km/h. Min point of the day: the smog! Plus point of the day : got a sore arm waving back at all the people that waved or shouted at me. Food and drink: lots of cafes along the way.
16 Jan : Tak – Mae Sot 85km
Managed to get an early start I wanted to be at the top of the first pass (900m) before the midday sun was doing its worst, so I was on the road at 8am (very early for me!). It was a gentle climb for the first 18km then the real work started, another 650m up in 10km. Despite the early start it was bloody hot I had to stop every 10-15minutes just to let my body cool down a little. I used most of my gears but didn’t need the granny gear, so Ive got one gear still in reserve for the day of hell next week. I’m pleased I had my gps on because there are alot of false summits and you can go nuts with dissapointment every time you think you almost there and you still need to do 300m up. After lunch just after the summit I blasted downhill again, it was a drop of about 600m, with a couple of small climbes just to make sure my legs didn’t get stiff. At the bottom I had a break and a red bull ready for the next climb.
This climb was shorter but now it was 25 degrees so it was just as hard as the first, with regular breaks to stop myself from cooking. The descent was easier though not as fast, but most of the uphill bits were do-able with the momentum of the downhill speed.
Once in Mae Sot I got completly lost and it took me about an hour to find a hotel, doh. Mae sot it too busy, noisy and smoggy for me so yet again my rest day goes out the window tomorrow.
Facts at a glance : Total distance: 102km, total climbed : 2200m, av speed: 18.5, max speed 76km/h. Min point of the day: Cycling around Mae Sot looking for a stupid hotel. Plus point of the day : The gps saved me alot of heartache on the way up, Food and drink: (dist. from Tak) 19km Thai finn food, a full western menu and just outside of one of the national parks. 34km Coffee hill(about 2km after first summit), cafe and a market, you can get the nice lady at the back of the market to make some fried rice. 40km police check point with a couple of small cafes. 69km ice coffee at the shrine just before the top of the second summit, couldn’t see and food here tho.
17 Jan : Mae sot – Tha Song Yang 86km
The day started a a breakfast from the hotel just I as was leaving (didn’t think breakfast was included). And the egg was in the shape of a heart…how sweet of him….
My legs were quite tired from the day before but got warmed up after a couple of hours. I had heard that there was no more food/water after Mae Samat so I stocked up there ready for the last 55km. I also realised that I’d forgoten to get cash in Mae Sot lucky 1 of the 3 atm’ s in Mae Samat was still working. I also had second breakfast here which was of course fried rice + a portion take away for lunch later.
After Mae samat the scenary improved rapidly and made it much more worth while. I really feel sorry for the tourist in the busses who look like caged monkeys, they really do miss so many details.The rest of the ride was quite easy, rolling hills, constant short climbs/ desents. Got a room at the Thasongyanghill resort for 500b, very nice room only problem was the 2km back to town get get food etc.
Facts at a glance: Total distance 99km, Max speed 77km/h, Average 19km/h.Plus point : better scenary and quieter roads. Min point : tired legs.
Food and drink : after Mae samat theres pretty much nothing till Tha song yang. Once in town when you get to the clock tower go left 200km and you get get really nice icecream (5b per scoop) left from the icecream shop is the market and some cafes. If you go right at the clock tower there are also some cafes with a nice view of the valley, this is also the road out of town to the guesthouses. (Thasongyang hill resort 500-1000b and B.P. resort 200-400b for bungelow 1km further than first resort).
18 Jan : Tha song yang – Mae Salit 30km (rest day)
I didn’t want to cycling back into town for breakfast so I had bought one of those nasty instance rice pots things, yuk. Set off at 8am in the mist, this was bloody cold (as are most of the nights, the thai people think that a thin blanket is enough in a room at 15 degrees), so my leg warmers and fleece came in handy.
The bonus of the mist tho was that as it gradually cleared up the mountain emerged one by one, that was really nice. Just before town there was the exit to Mae Moei national park and a “nice” tourist cafe. I had second breakfast here and it was great finally a meal with lots of fresh vegitables ( stay tuned I get punished for the vitamins).
On the way through town I saw a sign for ” the new mae salit guesthouse”, But I skipped this because I’d heard that the one just outside of town has better views. And yes the view of the mountains in Burma/Myamar over the river where fantastic, though the room wasn’t that special.
I spent the rest of the day enjoying the view appart from a quick trip into town to get another nice meal and some snacks/water for later.
Facts at a glance : total distance 36km. Max 70k,/h. avg : 19 km/h (it was a rest day afterall).Plus point of the day : the mist clearing showing off beautiful scenary. Min point : see the next enstallment.
Food/water : nothing much.
The day of hell !!
This was supposed to be the day of hell because it would be the hardest day cycling of the whole trip, a day which most people who do this trip skip, this wasn’t my intention but things worked out different. Respect by the way to people who have completed this stage…..
So there I was enjoying my view, my second pad thai with fresh vegitables still filling my belly enjoying my last beer with a beautiful sunset…….
……..then the night of the thousand shits started. All hell broke loose and it wasn’t pretty. Pucking, shitting and every 30 minutes watching my one and only toilet roll getting smaller (and town is 1.5km away). And just to make it really fun I had a huge fever and it was freezing in the room (I ended up wearing all the cloths I have with me).
By morning things weren’ t looking much better ( and two of my three underpants had sacrificed themselves to the struggle). The last thing I needed with the nearest hospital 120km away was for this to get worse. So I made the brave decision to get the bus to Mae Sariang while I still had the strengh to make the journey. So with a handful of tablets I was able to put a cork in it so to speak. I had to wait 2 hours for the bus in the sun and then 2 hours in the bus, I was sick but the pills did their work in the other department.
So now I have a very expensive hotel (20 euro:) ) with a very nice bathroom and lots of toilet roll. ” And now we wait” . At least now if things get worse the hospital is 5 minutes away. So now I have to sit back and gather strengh before the next stage. Yesterday I had nothing to eat and couldn’t keep any water down. Today I’ve managed 2 litres of water and a small pancake, so there’s hope yet.
The purist in me wants to get the bus back and pick up where I left off but the clock is ticking. I need a couple of days here to sort myself out then I’ll carry on from here. For those that plan to do this route the road from Ban tha song yang to Mae Sariang is very tough and with alot of very steep places and not many places to eat/drink, and about 5km is still gravel. Enjoy!!
21 Jan : Still in Mae Sariang
Not much improvement here, slowly learning to live with my ring of fire.
22 Jan : Still in Mae Sariang
Just as well Thailand is a country where you can get a good hotel for 20 euros a night…..
Yet another restless night running to the bathroom, though this time most of them were just false alarms and I just needed to fart (still not farting with confidence).
For the first time in a few days I was hungry when I woke up which is a good sign. I started the day with 4 slices of toast, now time for some real eating.
Had a little cycle around town but was buggered afterwards so I guess im going to need a couple of day to get back up to strengh (and the clock is ticking). Its a shame that the next stage in 100km with 1800m of climbing, not the easiest day to start with, so I’ll have to wait untill I’m ready. If the worst comes to the worst I can skip the last couple of days after Pai, the roads are alot more busy then anyway, but hopefully I can get going again by saturday or sunday then I should still be able to finish the whole route.
And now its just a case of enjoying my book the nice weather and hope I can eat enough in the next couple of days.
22 Jan : update
The early euphoria was brought to an abrupt end this afternoon when the gates of hell once again flooded open……shit. …….not ….again….shit….&%$%##($$
So I decided it was time to take a trip to the hospital, not a decision to be taken lightly in Thailand. In most big cities you have the choice of a private hospital and a public hosptial, and at the private ones you get first class vip treatment.
However I’m not in a big city I’m in Mae Sariang where the only choice it the public hospital. But after 2 hours hanging around being proded and probed then moved from one counter to the next and being request to take a stool sample with a very small pot and a toothpick, I finally got to see what was supposed to be a doctor I guess( must of been at least 20 years old).
Ten minutes later and 4 euro poorer I was outside with a bag full of medicine. So once again we sit and wait. Im just pleased they didn’t want to stick any needles in me.
But hey just another couple of days and I’ll once again be fit as a fiddle and racing up those mountains again, I still have plenty of time…..well sort of.
24th Jan : Mae Sariang – Khun yuam 99km
Fortified with an english breakfast with extra toast and a pot of tea I was ready to give it a go. It was good to be in the sadle again, but at the first climb my worries where confirmed, all my strengh, power and reserves had in the last 5 days all been donated to the Mae Sariang sewage system. It was going to be a long day.
I had set off early in the mist to get a head start, and just as well by 10am when the mist was lifted it was already 25 degrees (35 by the time I started the last climb) but the views became fantastic. After about an hour of very slow progress I stopped for banana and a redbull (m-150 the origional redbull) and shortly after they kicked in, most of the rest of the day was buisiness as usuall though I needed to use lower gears than normal but appart from that I coped alright considering.
It was a beautiful day with fantastic scenery and gentle climbes. Its was slow going and I was doing fine until the last climb only 12km from the end. My water had just run out (had drank about 3.5l, not enough really) and it was 35 degrees, but I thought hey its only another half hour and there’ll probibly be somewhere for water along the way. The last climb was only about 8% so should of been easy really, however it started with a short and very steep climb of about 500m to what I thought was the summit….wrong. My legs where totally finished and turned to jelly and I still had almost 2km of very gentle climb to go, it took ages at 8km/h, and became very hot with such a pathetic speed. After the summit it was just an easyrun downhill into town.
But once again I lived to tell the tale, Just outside of town there was a 7/11 so I was able to get a suger boost with cold cola and a dairy milk :).
Khun yuam is nothing special and niether are the hotels, so it was a crappy nights sleep then on the road again nice and early(no mist this time Khun yuam is at 600m and usually above the mist).
Facts at glance : distance 99km ,avg 16.9km/h, max 76km/h, min 5.5 km/h. temp 35. Plus point of the day : beautiful views, Min point of the day : my empty legs and the last climb.
Food and drink, every 10-20km there’sa small shop or cafe but not much more than that.
25th Jan : Khun Yuam – Mae Hong Son 68km
Early start thanks to the neighbours. Beautifull scenery, gentle climbs and a couple of very fast and tricky descents (tricky if you have your camera in one hand anyway).
Was in MHS by noon, had a nice big hamburger….back in tourist country hehe, it does have it perks. Im staying at “friend house” guest house just like I did eight years ago, it hasn’t changed, still descent rooms for only 250b. The little roadside cafe just outside the guesthouse has changed though, its now a big tourist bar/restaurant.
Tomorrow on to Soppong, only 63km but 2100m up….oohhh ohhh.
Facts at glance : maxspeed 70km/h, avg 20km/h, climbed 1000m
Food and water: not a great deal, did get an icecream at a view point/ rest area tho….
26th Jan : Mae Hong Son – Soppong (Pangmapa) 68km
What a day!
I ordered 2 breakfasts to give myself a good start to the day, just as well because one of them was aweful and I left most of it. I had a later start than usual at about 9.
It all started off nice and easy, fairly flat with a couple of short and gentle climbs but I wasn’t feeling very strong and it was obvious that I should of had a rest day after the efforts of the last week. After 17km I stopped at one of the many cafes at the fish cave for a bottle of coke and a redbull.
A short descent to get the legs warmed up and then the real work started. A steep climb of 250m quickly followed by another 250m, and I dont know which idiot designed and built this road but he/she is an idiot…..the gradient regularly changed between 10-20% and it was killing, for the first time ever I had to use my granny gear(22-32). And after this I spend most of the day in my granny gear.
My speed rapidly dropped to a poor 5km/h and didn’t improve much during the climbes. There was little shade and the temperature rapidly increase above 30 and stayed between 30-35 for the rest of the ride, ouch. It promised to be a long day.
Once at the top of this first main summit I stopped for lunch ( 5 crisp sandwiches yummie). Then it was a nice fast descent (though way too short, and the mini van wouldn’t get out of my way). At the 37km marker there is a small village where I was able to top up my water supply because it was going down way too quick. While I was drinking an Australia guy came to me who’d past me on a scooter during the climb and said “ your amazing”, ah finally someone that understands me :). He then went on to quiz me about what makes someone tick that survived a climb like that and what goes through my mind, and had a thought about giving up and getting the bus(NEVER). He is of the option that long distance cyclists are strange, interesting and impressive people. He was a nice guy but the clock was ticking and the big mountain ahead of me wasn’t getting any smaller.
The second and longer climb of the day (550m) was also a killer, also with alot of very steep parts and it just seemed to go on for ever. It was bloody hot and my body was leaking all over the place, it was impossible to stay cool enough and drink enough, every now and then there was a little bit of shade on the otherside of the road where I tried to cool off a bit, this was the hardest warmest and most beutiful climb I’ve ever done. After five hours of dying, sweating, puffing and panting I finally arrived at the summit, just in time I might add because my water was down to about 200ml, untill now I’d already drank 4litres.
At the top theres a market with all kinds of hilltride articles for sale for the tourists who stop off at the viewpoint, and they start playing flute music when you arrive. After drinking another litre of cola etc and some food it was a nice fast and challenging descent into the valley then only 8km almost flat( with one sneaky nasty little climb) into town.
Im now staying at Little Eden in Soppong, its very nice here and the food is great. In the last 3 days I’ve cycled 230km and climbed around 5000m, under normal circumstance I’d consider this quite an achievement for myself, but considering the heat and the fact that before this I was sick for 5 days its actually a wonder! But hey, its good to do a bit of non-destructive testing on your body now and again so you can learn to appreciate it more, and be more gentle with it at other times. So now I’m not leaving here until my book is finished (starting it later). I also met a swiss couple here who are also cycling and they are very impressed that I survived this stage because they took and the bus and didn’t regret it(I later found out that the swiss guy had just wrote in his blog that the road from MHS to Sappong is impossible to cycle, then 5 minutes later I turned up, poor guy).
Facts at a glance : Dist 68km, max 72km/h, min 4.4km/h, avg 13.5km(overall avg 10km/h). climbed 2100m.
Food and water: 17km,37km,50km(summit).
Plus of the day : A great sense of achievement at completing this stage in this weather. Min point of the day : These gradients where not made for biking, I kept looking for one more gear which I didn’t have ;).
Now a couple of days off then only 2 more big climbs after that I have to see how much time I have left to decide the last part of my route.
29th Jan : Soppong – Mae sae 90km
Once again I had 2 breakfasts to give me a good start (this time both where nice). The road to Pai was actually made by someone who HAD been to civil engineering school :), Although it was a climb of about 900m it was mainly only moderate climbing with only 2-3 really steep parts but these where quite short. The summit was after 18km and I was there in under 2 hours, nice one.
The descent to Pai was nice and fast with long bends, the only thing that slowed me down was a truck that wouldn’t let me past, I’m assuming his pickup was an extension of his rather small ego and the last thing he wanted was a cyclist zooming past at 50km/h in the bend .
When I was last in Pai in 2000, it was a nice quiet town and the only problem was the hippies, which I could cope with because it wasnn’t too full of them. Well its changed! now its busy and full of hippies and idiots!! Pai has become the sinkhole of SE asia where all the nail clippings and pubic hairs of humanity get stuk, this was supposed to be a short day but I quickly decided I was moving on.
The plan was to get a quiet place just outside of Pai because the next leg was a hard one and I’d already climbed more than 1000m. However I didn’t fancy most of the places just outside of down then after that the resorts where way to expensive (2200b). So there was only one simple option, instead of having a bad night worrying about the next mountain I had to climb tomorrow, which was a climb of almost 1000m in one go follow by another couple of small ones, I decided why put off till tomorrow what you can die doing today.
So three hours of sweating,crying and swearing later I was 900m higher. This mountain was mostly quite steep with only a couple of moderate parts, I spend almost 3 hours in my granny gear! And just to make it worse there are alot of false summits and just when you think your at the top and have descended 50m you go up another 100m and again!. Once again my water ran out near the top however this time there where no nice ladies at the top with nice little shops, but about 5km later in the descent I found a cafe. The descent was nothing special, very tight bends, and bad roads with alot of potholes. Mae sae is a shitty little place where only the minivans and buses stop for a toilet break and something to eat, and has one shitty hotel where you get a crappy room for 300b. I really wanted to push on but after almost 100km and 2400m of climbing I was done, finished and empty. Luckily I wasn’t the only person stuck in Mae Sae, there where also two more cyclists going the other direction, so at least I had someone to talk to during dinner, Then it was an early night so I could have an early escape in the morning.
Facts at a glance : Distance -90km, max speed 76km/h, Min speed 4.4km/h. Climbed 2400m.
Food and drink : At the summit between Soppong and Pai is a rest area with the usual shops and market stalls, Pai has everything you might want and lots of things you dont want. Up to about 10km after Pai there are some small shops/cafes and after that theres nothing until your almost in Mae Sae.
30th Jan : Mae Sae – Chiang Dao 90km
An early start with a small not very special breakfast. Then about half an hour climbing then the rest of the day was mostly downhill apart from a few easy short climbes.
The road became rapidly more busy and the scenery rapidly less interesting. At the junction with the 107 it was tempting to turn right and head for Chiang Mai, but I turned left, and was rewarded with another 30-40km of dusty busy road with lots of smog and trucks. Once in Chiang Dao found a nice guesthouse at the far side of town just as I was about to turn around and head back to the centre and get a hotel. Only payed 350b for a very nice room. I had dinner and breakfast across the road at the noodle place. Tomorrow on to Fang only about 75km.
Facts at a glance : dist – 90km, avg speed 21km/h, max 65km/h, Climbed 900m.
Food and drink : There are plenty of places along the way.
31st Jan : Chiang Dao – Thaton 110km
Noodle soup for breakfast then on the road. The first two hours had some gently climbes but they where very easy compared to the last week (I was climbing between 12-15km/h). After a pleasant descent the rest of the day was a very gentle downhill and for the first time in weeks I had a headwind.
The road was still too busy for my liking and I wasn’t very impressed by Fang itself. I also got my first puncture of the trip in Fang (only the second in 4500km though so not bad). I stopped at a local bike shop and let them help me fix it (mainly to get into the shade). Ten minutes and 10b later I was on the road again and decided to try further down the road for somewhere quieter to stay.
After the scenery of the last couple of weeks this afternoon wasn’t very special, just gently down hill in a long valley, with some small mountains in the distance. The road was too busy and most of the time it was like driving through a town.
Thaton is one of the places where people get the boat or raft to Chang Rai, so there is plenty of accomodation here, I’ve got a small hut for 300b at the river garden something or other. The intension was to have a rest day tomorrow, considering that I’ve cycled 290km in 3 days plus more than 4000m of climbing its about time, But I suspect that I’ll make a last dash for Chang Rai tomorrow, its only 95km with about 800m climbing. I’ll see how my legs are in the morning.
01 Feb : Thaton – Chang Rai 98km
My swiss friends turned up again in the same guesthouse so we had a good night. They planned to get the boat to Chang Rai, lazy people…..
Once again a hearty double breakfast then on the road, I expected a hard day because of the last 3 hard days. It started fine and I felt ok, But within 30 minutes my legs where empty already, doh… and just before the climb…double doh…
So what should of been a fairly easy climb with only the last 1km hard turned in to 3km hard with 1km hell. Then a short descent and another 1km of hell. Once near the top I had then sad feeling that this was my last climb in Thailand ………
At the top I met a tour group doing an organised cycling holiday, it looked well organised and they gave me a drink and some fruit while I was chatting to them :).
Then it was a long beautiful descent into a valley and spend most of the rest of the day going gently downhill(shame about the headwind to cancel it out). My legs where dead so it took me 4 hours to do the last 65km. I also forgot to put sun tan cream on this morning so I’m nice and red now with white panda eyes, thats going to hurt.
Now I’m in Chiang Rai , I’ve booked my flight to Bangkok tonight then its off home again to the snow and ice . I found a nice bike shop in town where they helped box my bike up for 300b, nice one, thats one less worry for later.
Its been a great trip and I enjoyed almost every minute of it, especially the killer climbs.
