Ride 1095 to Pai, 90km 762 bends. Tail of the Dragon meets The Thunder Dome!

[Klondike1020]

Hello everyone

Tail of the Dragon crossed with The Thunder Dome!
Endless bends, hair turns, mountain passes!
AND MOST OF ALL- There ARE NO RULES!

This ride report will be covering the ride from Chiang Mai Thailand to Pai Thailand.

Chiang Mai is a large bustling city with everything to offer
Pai is a small city with an eclectic touristy atmosphere.
Rumored I be a Notorious Thai Mecca for pot smokers.
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Summation! It took me a while to gain my footing but I had an invigorating 4-5 hour ride lined with mountain views , cafes, organic coffee plantations, hot springs and amazing waterfall parks! This ride is not for the faint of heart but just as dangerous and frightening as it might be it was even more rewarding!
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The long and detailed !


I am thoroughly enjoying my trip to Thailand and I strongly encourage anyone with an adventurous side, quick reflexes and nerves of steel to visit and ride Thai!

I am surviving on a budget of less than 50usd$ per day including food beer a souvenir each day scooter rental and fuel!

So the ride report !

As a group of five we began yesterday's ride in the heart of Chiang Mai, staying in a dense tourist area near by the night market. We rented a hostel for 150 baht a person per night with a shared bath and walked down the street to have our voice of many bike rental shops.

Prices were about as follows
Baht/day
1000 - ninja 650 or ex650 naked
150- manual 150cc scooter
180- auto 150cc scooter fi liquid cooled

It takes some looking around to find the most reliable looking bikes am find am English speaking business who seems trust worthy. They allowed me to store my extra luggage in their shop until I return.

Many other bikes are available but I didn't price checks them all
Xr250r ksr125 honda grom cbr125 ninja250 and a variety of scooters and enduros galore.

We rented five scooters ha an early lunch and got a couple of road maps and headed on our way.

You drive several km to get out side the city on crowded surface streets eventually reaching highway 1095. Once you get on to 1095 you drive for 45 min through gently winding two lane roads lined with many small towns with shops and things gradually working towards te mountains.

Once you hit the mountains the fun begins!
Endless hair pin turns ! And the mountains just get steeper and steeper !

This route will be exciting and test the skills of the experienced racer or teach the novice rider a great deal! At first your confidence will be weak and nervous angst will abound around each blind corner! There is a trendy supply of traffic in both directions from the touristy town of Pai! Mini buses pickups and sadle wearing Thai operated motorcycles often with baby's strapped to their sides will pass you at a maddening pace putting inches between potential head on collisions and risk running people off the mountain! The road conditions changes from fresh beautiful Tarmac to potholed destroyed dirt road almost without warning and resume again around the next bend!

At first most riders will be at wits end and possibly fearing for their lives and traveling at a snails pace. But once you see a few talented riders pass you and you start laying nice lines , adapting each bend to accommodate the varying obstacles you will get a rush and your confidence will rise. I spent the first hour of the ride traveling with my group at 35-55 kph then I gradually increased my speed tested the limits of my breaks and started interacting in the world of pass and be passed that is Thai traffic! As my confidence grew I was navigating these twisties at a white knuckled 70-85 kph on a scooter wearing a half helmet t shirt and flip flops as is Thai custom. And I will assert that I have probably never had such an involved ridding experience durin which I pushed the scooter to ts absolute limit!

I saw many bikes pass me ridding in expert form and enjoying very but of the road and I passed a few bigger bikes and many autos myself!

Noteworthy bike! A pair of nsr 250 sporting full race gear!
Drzs, ninja 250,s a single ninja 300, a triumph speed triple. Ktm dukes, BMW adventure bike. Two gold wings! And who knows what else I misse along the way

Other note worthy happenings! Random groups of cow and their defecation. Police roa blocks checking for drug smugglers (they sit bother westerners just ride polite through their blockades). Stray dogs who think they own the road. Some disabled motorists tractors or whatever you might dream up.

SIDE NOTE! Fuel stations are nonexistent and it is wise to fuel up at half of your range whenever possible. Te stations are comprised of hand pump glass cylinders that gravity feed to your bikes tank. Fuel prices are roughy double what r costs at a legitimate station such as in a town and they are a custom to have unpreidctable irregular hours! There are fuel stops at roughly from PI 30km 80km otherwise you may be buying one liter wine bottles of betel from a road side stand. Your range will be significantly lower with the inclines and twisties.

Plan on time for te waterfalls, coffee shops, hot springs and a geyser that will ice you detour side trips to break up the long ride!

ADVICE - plan on rain . It rains very say here to a different extent some time drizzle sometime monsoon . Without Ryhm or reason. Brig snacks and bottled water! Know your limits! Hospitals and ambulances are hours away and things get sketchy quick !

I hope you all enjoy this write up. Some pictures will follow!

[Klondike1020]

Pics to come

Also rooms in Pai range from 100 baht per person/night w fans up to suites at 700 baht per night with ac.

Rooms are plentiful but I encourage people to arrive early afternoon and spend some time finding a place to your liking in your price range. I am some what particular about where I stay and I found a very clean secluded fan room with attached private bath with flush toilet and patio with fan an hot water for 200 baht a night with double occupancy.

I will give you the details of each place I stayed if you pm while plannin your own trip!

[Alex]

@Klondike1020 Howdy! Not sure why you reported these posts; the thread looks OK to me?

[allanoue]

I am looking forward to your pics.
Sound like fun.

[Klondike1020]

Originally Posted by Alex

@Klondike1020 Howdy! Not sure why you reported these posts; the thread looks OK to me?

Sorry about that Alex . Working off my iPhone . Difficult to use

[Alex]

No worries.

[Somchai]

@Klondike1020 what you did is part of the "Mae Hong Son Loop" but you should have gone up to Soppong bc after Pai there's the more interesting scenic drive http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Mae_Hong_Son_Loop



But at least important is you survived and enjoyed.

Have a safe ride.

[Klondike1020]

Our goal was to set out and complete the entire loop. Unfortunately I am with school teachers and only one of them has motorcycle experience. We have decided to turn back and return to Chiang Mai in another day instead of trying to complete the loop in five days time on scooters.

Some day I would like to return and complete the entire loop on some legitimate motorcycles .

Lol thank you for the advice

[allanoue]

[Klondike1020]

Road Chiang Mai to doi inthanon ! The summit of the highest mountain !

Rented a ninja 650 and it was a blast even with the crazy Thai traffic !

What a beautiful IDE through te park!

[Klondike1020]

[Klondike1020]

I went to three different bike shops and I found a ninja 650 ex for 1200 baht with like new tires. Every other shop has worn tires on their bikes and I like plenty of tread . Plus it wa abs .
I used a full tank and a half of fuel ridding from the center of Chiang Mai up to the peak and back down with a detour towards some hot springs that I never found but the roads were twisty enough to real a snakes back

Excellent day trip
Unfortunate my go pro was dead . So I snapped a few pics before the battery died

[Klondike1020]

[allanoue]

Thanks

[Klondike1020]

[Klondike1020]

Originally Posted by allanoue

Thanks

Haha thank you . I am just getting used to my camera and I haven't gotten many good shots but I will try to make a video of the scooter trek .

I wish I had recorde today's ride trough te park . It was gorgeous and very twisty as well as messy traffic that made it a white knuckle experience

[Klondike1020]

[Klondike1020]

DUCATI MINI ME CLONE

CAFE IN PAI

MONKS MEET GO PRO ON MOUTAIN

[allanoue]

all good pics but this one is very cool

[cuong-nutz]

Awesome! I have to do any real travelling outside of the states! Kudos to you!

[NevadaWolf]

Great thread!! Sounds like an awesome adventure!

I too really need to get out of the states and just bop around the world.

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Klondike1020

Hello everyone

Tail of the Dragon crossed with The Thunder Dome!
Endless bends, hair turns, mountain passes!
AND MOST OF ALL- There ARE NO RULES!


I am surviving on a budget of less than 50usd$ per day including food beer a souvenir each day scooter rental and fuel!

!

Beer must be super cheap.

[Klondike1020]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

Beer must be super cheap.

Haha beers are like a buck or two a piece depending if its a bar or restaurant ....
I drink sparingly haha

It's the fruit smoothies that I am splurging on haha

[JohnnyBravo]