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| Saying goodbyes to the owners of Ban Nam Hoo Bungalows at 7.30 am |
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| It was a very cold morning at 8 C when we were riding out |
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| Misty |
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| The most important order of the day is to look for food. Hence, even though we had passed this stall by 300m, it was still worth making a U-turn back to check if they're open! |
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| What a great relief they were open! Note it is still misty outside at 7.50 am |
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| This junction to Mo Paeng Waterfall turned out to be a bus stop or transport hub for the locals. The chef's husband went over to chat with his friends and later offered them avocadoes from his tree |
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| When Claudine jokingly gestured for 1, he gifted each of us with 1 avocado each! He was by far too generous. As Claudine's bill came up to THB80 for 2 bowls of noodles, she decided to pay with a THB100 note and asked them to keep the change. This leads to extraordinary encounters for the day and subsequent days to come as she kept collecting loose change on the road! |
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| Our 1st encounter with this group of bike tourers from Bangkok |
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| Still misty at 8.40 am |
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| Scenic |
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| Lum Nam Pai Wildlife Sanctuary at 9 am |
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| Thankful for clean toilets at the sancturay |
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| Here's another one of the Bangkok tourers in fully loaded bikes overtaking Claudine! Most of them were on e-bikes. |
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Traumatized over trekking through jungle and corn fields plus skipping meals, Claudine decided to take over the route planning. The days forward come with planned food stops and caution over impending hill climbs.
However, this TT Cafe stop, 13 km into the ride comes with disappointment. Plan as you like but "The Chef is sick today!". This was what transpired between Claudine and the storekeeper with the help of google translate.
As the promised Pad Thai was no longer on the menu, Mindy bought a round biscuit for THB5. This biscuit is sold in many places along the MHS route and soon became her go to "emergency fuel". As the days progress we will soon argue with Mindy that the green bean filling (tau sar) as claimed is actually meat floss! |
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| Scenic route |
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| Winding road |
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| Farm in multitude colours |
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| Landslide around Mae Na Tong |
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| Major chunk of the road has broken off... |
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| ...and then, there was roadworks |
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| The entire road was pebbled |
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| The roadworks continued for a few kilometers |
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| Sometimes, we are caught unaware of the hairpin bends... |
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| ...sometimes we see and we conquer! |
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| Other times, we ask ourselves why bother? |
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| ...especially when we see red on the road! At this point, we are slightly more than 2 km to Doi Kiew Lom Viewpoint |
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Not far from this electric pylon, our 1st encouraging signboard was spotted! It says 2 km to the toilet stop. By now, we learnt toilet stops meant mountain passes which correlates to the peak! @ https://maps.app.goo.gl/sAUciNDDrYBd8VKc6
However, we soon learnt as encouraging as the signboards can be, they are not very accurate! |
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| Note the 2 red circles. The first signboard says 2 km to toilet stop while the second signboard says 1 km to scenic spot aka Doi Kiew Lom Viewpoint. Both signs are 150m apart! Perhaps the surveyor's wheel must have malfunctioned the day they put up the signboards! |
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| Further down, 1 km away, another signboard depicting a rest stop appears and 200m ahead is the next sign promising toilet stop, also 1 km away! Perhaps the road builders are playing a sick joke on cyclists like us? |
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| Doi Kiew Lom Viewpoint close to 12 pm |
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| The View |
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| As it was still early, we had a simple lunch of fried rice, pad kaprow and sweet potatoes at the viewpoint. Let's just say the sweet potatoes taste the best! |
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| The direction where we had just came from... |
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| ...and the direction we were heading to later! |
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| Better eateries across the road |
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| Doi Kiew Lom Viewpoint was an interesting stop. It was bustling with cyclists, motorcyclists and tourists alike. We striked up a conversation with a Swiss cyclist on a rented Cervelo road bike. He was riding unsupported and just had a small backpack with him. Like us, he had come from Pai but while we stop at Ban Jabo, he heads to Mae Hong Son, direct! He was literally covering the distances, which we need 2 days to complete! As he had arrived at the Viewpoint much later than us, we often wondered if he got to Mae Hong Son before sunset as it was another 170 km away! |
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More arrivee at 12.45 pm as we were leaving
There were several Caucasians on gravel bikes with light backpacking too but 1 solo Caucasian particularly caught Claudine's eye as he overtook Claudine 1 km away from the Viewpoint. We were all tackling the 15.6% gradehill in our own ways. At the switchback, he was caught unaware! Trying to pedal standing up, he gave up midway and resorted to push the bike. |
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| 0 km to Doi Kiew Lom Viewpoint |
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The descent from Doi Kiew Lom to Ban Nam Rim was close to 9 km with a grade hill of -7%.
This was our first stop at 1 pm. We had only travelled 3.5 km downhill!!! |
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| Still on our descent towards Ban Nam Rim, we made another stop @ 1.15 pm. The kind fruit seller gifted us with 1 orange each! His stall is located 7.5 km from Doi Kiew Lom Viewpoint |
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| Based on the 2 posters in his stall, he appears to be from a local tribe and also a police officer! |
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| Seems like balustrades doubling as long tables and benches are common in this region. |
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| Baanhin Skywalk is a paid attraction in Sop Pong |
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| Decent but not fantastic |
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Baanhin Noodles in Sop Pong marks the beginning of a flat section, spanning about 8 km. The route goes through the town and farm land which are mostly tilled for rice.
After that, we were arrested by hill climbs, all over again. Photographed here are black pigs rummaging through scraps |
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At the junction to Ban Jabo at 4 pm.
The 1st 1km from the junction is filled with pot holes and super steep. Pushing the bike on foot was equally tough with a gradehill of 9.8% ! We witnessed a 125 cc motorcycle coughed and chugged to a stop. The pillian rider had to come down to reduce the weight so the rider could overcome the steep slope! |
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| After the nasty welcome, there's a short manageable section of less than 300m as pictured here. After that, the climb began again ranging from 6.5% for 1.25 km to 15.8% on the last 660m |
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| We arrive at Ja Bo Campground around 5 pm. Photographed here are their Bungalow units built with bamboo |
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| Ours are twin units separated by a corridor. The 2 units share the same balcony. |
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| View from our balcony. The lawn with the boat on the left is where we will have our noodles tomorrow morning |
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| View from our balcony. Arguably, these 2 units command the best view in the entire village as it is strategically located at the highest point |
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| Here comes our dinner |
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| It was a very simple meal of egg omelette, fried cabbage and chicken with winter melon soup served with rice but strangely it was delicious! |
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| Karst hills near Jabo Campground. By the time this photo was taken, Claudine had gone up and down the hill at least 4 times! |
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| Kelvin came visiting. Unfortunately, both Jasmine and himself had to stay in another place as the bamboo huts below did not look too pleasing and costs just as much! |
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| Their dinner menu and ours are the same! |
