just got back from my bike trip.
Jamie and I rented a xr250 and got a map and headed out not knowing what to expect.
I knew i wanted to try and stay to dirt roads so we first when north to a trail marked on our map as motorcycle only, and that's not for some hippy reason.
it took most the first day to get up to where the drit road started and it was starting to get dark, luckily a crazy thai mute named Cum led us to his home where we got some food and stayed in a small room they had. that night a huge storm came in and it rained all night. the next day we hit the roads and they were rutty muddie and often crossed by knee deep streams. I don't have our map with me now so I can't for sure say the exact rout we took but after a long long long day of rough trails and beautiful views and 3 chest deep river fording (luckily each time a random thai person wandered out of the jungle or was trying to carry there scooter across so i had help pushing the bike across. after the first fording the bike didn't want to start again and once it was it was only 1/2 running, i think because a wet coil, of course on the sandy beach of the rive the bike fell over and broke the mirror..
we rode and rode and after about 8 hours came to the end of the road in a small unfriendly village in the middle of nowhere, they told us to turn around and go back and that we missed our turn, so we when back and started exploring every little trail that went off the main trail we were on, poor Jamie got a leach on one of the exploratory river crossing (with out the bike) she was not happy about that..
finally after back tracking all the way back to the last major river crossing that we would have to bring the bike across we turned back and tryed again, final we found at one place where the trail ended the trail was up a shallow rocky stream that was about imposable to see. after that we met a really nice family who we ate lunch with and they offed to let us stay with them for the night we probably should have but sharing a little hut with 15 people seemed a bit much so we continued on.
a while after it shattered rain pretty hard and we had to cross some waist deep rivers but those i could just ride most the way through.
the next town was a creepy opium town but it was pouring rain getting cold and dark so we stayed there, but didn't trust them after they wanted 100B for a beer, so we whet to bed with out eating or hanging out, we were in a big room, almost like a grain house, with one guy in the corner smoking opium for 7 hours strate with out moving.
we slept with one eye open and clutching our bag.
the next morning we set off early and the roads were shit, slippery as all fuck, we made it about 1k before the first crash. it was mainly just trying to navigate between deep rain ruts in the road while the back of the bike slid everywhere. we got to the next town and discovered the map was missing. the only way we had gotten this far was by being able to neam the next little town or village on the map and have people point. so we had to turn around and go back to the creepy opium town, in the pouring rain and crash again in almost the same place, this time grating my face across the side of the hill. and breaking off the clutch perch mirror mount. ok fuck this i took off both mirrors... got to the creepy town and found our map which some little kid had found to play with.. tip them and head again down the shit road, soaked to the bone grumpy and i think that's when we cashed again on that road. but Finley got out of there, and hit up a little shop where i got some galoshes for $2 so i could get out of my soaked shoes.
a few days from there we made it to Pai and it was tourist hell, so we continued on after a day break to dry our cloths (of course once we get in the rain stops for the first time in 48 hours)
but once we got out of Pai and hit the rird road to Wat Chan it started raining, and our plastic sheet was missing so we got soaked. luckily later that day we found a fire next to the road and dried out ourselves, and found a scrap of plastic, and hid under a pice of scrap tin till the down pour passed. on and on, slick mud trails now on the rige line of the mountains shrowed in mist, fucking beautiful, chased by blood sucking beetles (litraly, they were keeping up with the bike!) a few more crashes and we figured out 2 things , one we were on the wrong road headed towards May hong song and two the rear tire was bald and had no grip on the wet clay trails. but a farmer showed us were we were on the map and we should be able to get into a city in a few hours, so on an on, till it was late, pouring, we were chilled and covered in mud from crashing and sliding out onb the trail too many times, filany Jamie had to get off the bike on steep hills on the way up and down for the bike to even be able to make it, but we were laffing at it most the way, me trying to crawl the bike down a trail that's becoming a river the front tire facing down the hill and the rear end fishtailing madly. one hill the whole way down the bike was totaly sidways except the front tire.
we fialy found some strip of prevent they were working on so we layed the bike on it's side and dragged it onto the concrete which soon ws coved in heavy bamboo rod grids i was soo pissed just hit the gas and drove over the fucking pile but the road was over in just another few hundred feet.
we passed through small town and then figured out we were far less than 1/2 way to the city so a really nice kid named 2 let up sleep at his house, and the next day we hung out around the fire trying to get dry. but we got to Mayhongsoung and got a new tire slept in a super creepy holel room that smelled like dead hookers, and continued on. after trip to Meow Microwave village (just for the name) we headed to may lin noi and amazing that day it wasn't raining!!! back into the forest and we stayed with a super nice hill tribe family (the lady's in traditional clothing with stretched ears and copper bands around the legs ect, spiffy enough to shame the neo hippys we know) we were so bummed when they wouldn't except any money we tryed to give them. a few days later and i pulled over at a place called Hot Coffee thinking it would be a nice treat for the girl but we found out they had a tree house, a big one way up a tree with plumbing anbd lighting and everything so we stayed there for the night. the next daywe were tired and a bit grumpy and after about 11 hours we made it back to chaing mai, 13 days after we left 1000 + kilometer of some of the most beautiful rough roads I've ever seen. fucking cool. I'm sure I'm, forgetting a bunch or just too lasy to mention but, i keep telling myself i'm going to dich the blog anyways.. soo
yep.
end
15 years ago
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