The typical Thai 500 baht hotel / guesthouse room

The almost haunted Chiang Dao Inn @ Thb 500, old but the only deal in town

How can any traveller with or without a bicycle go wrong with this ?

Just Thb 500, all of  US$16.50, or in the better days, $12.50, and you should have the essentials of air conditioning, a newish bed, a TV, (LCD and cable in the better establishments) bathroom with a hot shower, a toilet with a seat, most times a small mini fridge, and hopefully peace and quiet. What is not assured are the midnight door slammers and 6 am engine revving buffoons. Better places will throw in a small breakfast and refreshments with a smile and security for your bicycle. 95% of places should have the all important wifi too.

Of course there will be variations of up to Thb 200 from the Thb 500 median, depending on location,  season, length of stay and how desperate the establishment is, or you, the guest are.  I’ve stayed at so many, I’ve lost count, but the nicer ones have my many repeat visits and a familiar face to welcome you.

Note : Most of these photos are from the North Thailand 2009 trip.

The Mae Malai 'Mansion' was more like a truck stop, but it was new and had an opening rate of just Thb 350, and a fan (and AC) to dry your cycling clothes !

What more could you want? Thb 450 @ Phayao same same something hotel with a nice view of Phayao Lake

One of my favourite northern Thai towns is Fang, and it has the Baan Fang Hotel @ Thb 450 plus breakfast

His and Hers urinals at the Akhamsri guest house in Lampang Thb 550, with matching sandals and walls

This is a small bungalow at 1200 meters asl in the mountains of Mae Salong, no AC needed and I got a 'regular' rate of Thb 300 (without asking) down from Thb 500. Amazing. Google Little Home Mae Salong GH

Little Home's IT room

Baan Warabordee in Chiang Rai town Thb 450 down from Thb 500 as this room did not have a fridge. How thoughtful. Small breakfast and coffee/tea in the lobby all day and night.

The Royal Panerai is a nice hotel in a bad location in Chiang Mai, but with any bicycle, it sure beats walking around. Thb 500 less one baht, down from a steep Thb 1600 ! One night was marred by former cave dwelling guests from China who discovered 'door slamming'

When you see a sign like this, hit the brakes, cycle in and make some enquiries

The Sawasdipong in new Sukhothai city Thb 550. It came with a surprisingly good western breakfast and there was a good massage joint across the street

A nice villa in the mountains of Pai, North Thailand. Low season Thb 600 after a 50% discount

This resort is one of the many dozens that has sprung up around the Pai valley, in the Mae Hong Son province of North Thailand. The once sleepy town became famous after a many a Thai rom-com (romantic comedy) movie was shot there. So in the high season room rates double or triple and still the hordes from the cities make the drive into the mountains, clogging the streets, shops, restaurants and guesthouses during the year’s end. Desperate tourists without reservations will have to make do with renting Thb 500 tents to camp by the Pai river, and sharing bathrooms and toilets with 100 other people.

If you need to experience Pai, try the mid year ‘green’ ie sometimes rainy low season when things are more sane and the room rates are not in the thousands of baht. Pai has lost it’s charms from say 10 years ago. Many locals have sold out and moved on. Who could blame them, when offers for your land/homes are 10 times their value ? That said there are many road and off road trails in the vast valley and the cool weather is enticing. Pai in the northern Shan Burmese lingo translates as ‘Go’ or ‘Migrate” I guess the tourists will still go, while the former locals with fat bank accounts will do the other. After 10 trips to Pai, it’s time to move on to other provinces.

The resort in a former rice field

Mae Malai to Chiang Mai

Monday May 3, 2004, 45 km (28 miles) – Total so far: 431 km (268 miles)

An easy and flat 40 kms or so brought us back to Chiang Mai. We rode 107 all of the way, like a time trial, but on a bike lane, seeing that we had enough off road riding the previous days.

At one of the bike shops, a customer tells us that the 75 kms from Wiang Haeng/Kong Lom to Pai can be done in a day. Sure, right, on an unloaded 22 pound MTB with a motorcycle at the rear hauling lots of food and water. We sort of figured that’s how the locals do it, starting at 6.00 or maybe a little later at 6.05 am. We wanted a slow morning, exploring dead end roads, so we started at 12 noon. Somehow they couldn’t comprehend that.

Since Paul wanted to test out his new carbon fork’s resiliency to stutter bumps and minor vibrations, or lack thereof, we rode 14 kms up to a nearby mountain top temple, Doi Suthep, and down again, before another mango-less shower hit us. Doi Suthep National Park has a myriad of off road trials down it’s many flanks, leading back to town, er eventually. Somehow after the Muang Noi episode, it was hard to convince Paul to ‘let’s go explore that interesting trail’ again. Not this year at least.

We get on a songtheaw to the airport. If it’s empty, it’s like taking a taxi, you pay more for the driver to go out of his usual route, the airport being a prime example to double fares from say 50 cents to a dollar per person. If there are two high school girls, as in the picture, we pay less, may be half. With boxes, the fares go up, so back to square one. The girls don’t seem to happy, especially if they’re late going somewhere, and two tourists like us jump in for the airport. Riding the songtheaw is a great way to meet locals or get on their nerves.

We had a potential Miss Teen Thailand say goodbye to us at the airport (she was dolled up to greet some tourists)  Power Ranger Paul did get his refund 30 days later, he just wasn’t billed for the $650, AND we did get to Laos in 2005, ticketless of course.

Research is important!

Maybe I should have read this first,

Reality Check Point

There are hundreds of dirt tracks and miles of great asphalt in the region. Organised biking trips are available through a couple of companies but they are by no means necessary. Bike hire is easy and cheap in Chiang Mai – about tenner for 24 hours. As nothing over 150cc is built in Thailand most hire bikes are imported second hand from Japan. The most readily available are Honda Baja 250′s. For those who want to stay on the main roads or just do a bit of light off-road work the water cooled Honda AX1 250 is the best bet. Exercise caution when hiring – check the bikes over thoroughly as not all hirers are reliable. Dang’s Bike Hire is good for AX1′s and should you break down they will come and get you or bring a replacement bike.

Plan your trip well. Do not attempt to go off-road here unless you have a realistic view of your ability both as a rider and a mechanic. Fill up at every available opportunity and carry plenty of water. Riding off-road alone is not advised. The terrain is testing and a breakdown could find you in a very sticky situation.

A couple of decent guides are available here namely A Motorcycle Guide to the Golden Triangle and The Mae Hong Song Loop, both by Chiang Mai based David Unkovich. A good source of information is David’s website.The best map is Thailand North by Brendtson and Brendtson.

The best time to ride here is during the cool season – November till early February. The hot season is unbearable and the rainy season makes dirt tracks impassable. Last but not least please make the effort to learn a little about the culture before you come – especially that of the Hill Tribes.

Published on 9/11/03

www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/2674

Pai to Mae Malai

Sunday May 2, 2004, 95 km (59 miles) – Total so far: 386 km (240 miles)

We seem to have hit the northern Thai mango showers season. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango_showers

Sudden, heavy rains with strong winds that start in the late afternoon and die out as fast as they started. No complains really as these rains bring a breath of fresh air each day and also less dusty roads to cycle on. Our first one was in Chiang Dao in the dead of night, and now a couple of times in Pai. As we sat sipping hot tea after a great two hour massage, another storm hit. Rushing to close the windows in the living room at the massage place, I realised that the new windows had no panes. It’s in places like these that remodelling a home carries on when the kitty has some money. Just like the lady who closed her sundry store and phoned a neighbour, then directed us to a bedroom above for our massages.

After two thoroughly relaxing days, we reluctantly left Pai down the 1095 to Mae Malai, the town with great tim sum. That was as much a driving force at the mumber of down hills that awaited us today. We followed a quieter parallel road for abut 15 kms before it rejoined the 1095 at Pai’s hot springs. There are a number here in the valley, but probably best experienced in the year end Thai ‘winter’ and not May’s sizzling 35 degrees C. That’s like steaming a previously boiled lobster, in an oven. Overkill. By now we were used to the heat and humidity, or was it the massages that made the 95 km ride not too daunting? Paul was all smiles, mostly because we knew where we were going. It’ll be a long time coming before following me on another, ‘the trail across the mountains looks interesting’ kind of ride. Ah, humbug to former roadies with no sense of adventure.

We check into the Mae Tang Hotel in Mae Malai. Mae Tang is actually farmland some 30 kms north of Mae Malai where tourists are brought on elephant rides and rafting trips, so if you ask for the Mae Tang Hotel without emphasizing ‘hotel’ you might just be sleeping with some elephants. The lady owner here is used to touring cyclists and there’s even a bike rack of sorts in the lobby. Plonk in the front wheel and lock. The restaurant has some really pretty staff, seemingly more interested in comparing make up and hairstyles, than showing us a menu. It was empty at dinner time, so you have to ask yourself why? Their menu’s pricey and there’s tons of street food outside, that’s why.

Chiang Mai to Chiang Dao

Wednesday April 28, 2004, 86 km (53 miles) – Total so far: 96 km (60 miles)

Our ride begins as we head north on smaller roads by the Ping River. We ride by the American Consulate a couple of times, looking as suspcious as we can in bright lycra, to see if their wall mounted cameras are for real. Yes, one actually moved. About half a dozen bridges span the Mae Ping and we cross them back and forth just to say the we’ve been on both banks of the river.

Two underpasses bring us even further north, our general direction, till we hit the Super Highway, make a left and connect with Route 107 that runs all 195 kms north to the towns of Fang and Thaton.

We pass by some local landmarks like a Women’s Prison, a Drug Rehab Center and some Special Forces training base. Needless to say, we didn’t stop at such illustrious institutions till Mae Malai 40 kms later. There’s a tim sum restaurant here that everyone stops by for lunch, and they sell out by mid day.

After a great lunch at Mae Malai, the hills appear and we grind up slowly, stomachs full, legs heavy and the sun becoming very hot. Traffic thins out, and the designated bicycle/motorcycle lanes that lined Highway 107 out of Chiang Mai have all but disappeared. In it’s place is dirt and grass, but the occasional car or truck gives us a wide berth. Countryside drivers never really seem to be in a hurry. Another 35 kms on, we get to Chiang Dao town proper, a narrow street with one traffic light and two rows of old wooden shop houses with a 7/11 as the only sign of modernity. A new bypass skirts the town, dissecting old farm roads and exposes previously hard to find country style resorts once hidden in dense foliage. We take a break, more like a second lunch at the busiest day time place in this sleepy town. A restaurant with a big car park next to a gas station. A lot of vehicles stop here and there’s an English menu of sorts, a pricey coffee place with a few pretty girls that hang out at such pricey coffee places. Look out for ‘Krua Chiang Dao’ opposite the Chiang Dao Inn Hotel. It’s another 7 kms on a slight incline heading west that leads us through a very shady road to an oasis of a place, the Chiang Dao Nest. It’s the low season and we’ve got the resort to ourselves. The resort website promises deep sleep on quality spring matresses and comforters. No TVs, just sounds of the forest. Sold !

Doi/mountain Chiang Dao is Thailand’s 3rd highest peak and supposedly a last vestige of the Himalayas in South East Asia. It’s very scenic around these parts and there at least 10 places to stay in and around Chiang Dao town www.chiangdao.com

A lot of cycling tour outfits do their tours around the trails near Chiang Dao. If like me, you’re averse to crowds and strangers, especially crowds of strangers, some with with supposedly better bikes (blonde Swedish girls on any kind of bicycle excepted) you can always buy the Chiang Dao hiking and biking trails map from Wicha at the Nest, and head out on your own.

Mae Malai to Chiang Dao

Wednesday September 30, 2009, 38 km (24 miles) – Total so far: 96 km (60 miles)

Looking at my Berndtson map of north Thailand, (www.berndtson.biz) there are two choices for today. A short 38 kms to Chiang Dao or add another 95 kms to Fang a bit further north. Seeing that I had a fever of close to 40 deg C just 8 days ago and that I am on my doctor’s orders to ‘take it easy’ I chose Chiang Dao. A late start and early finish would placate the good doctor and the missus at the same time. Being a good doctor, he’s also a bit worried that my blood pressure is hovering around 160/100. Cycling to a clinic, with a burning forehead, while expedient, can be a little demoralising at times. Being a doctor who is also a cycling nut, he’s keen to take more readings when I am done with this trip, and hear of my shenanigans. Our consultation fees should cancel each other out.

Exploring the markets and side streets of both towns and getting a hair cut are also on the to do list today. As a lone cycle tourist, there’s just no one else to talk to, in English that is. Ho Hum.

The 107 leaving Mae Malai climbs gently, twists and turns through a narrow, verdant gorge before it flattens out and the massive massif of Doi Chiang Dao shows up on your left. It was a slow and relaxing 15 kms or so ride through the shady gorge with minimal traffic. Just out of town is the Mae Taeng district, eco tourist central, a flat valley that would not look out of place in Survivor season 225, where all the elephant camps are at. (elephant prison, depending on your perspective, as even their dung is exploited) It’s a 9 km detour inland, to see elephants adapting to mankind, ie. kicking a soccer ball, painting with their trunks, rolling logs, snapping banana tree trunks with a single jaw movement. The Mae Taeng valley has a spider web of fire roads and foot paths which are great for mountain biking until a towering pachyderm appears before you around a blind corner, with three humans on its back doing their eco tourist thing. Then again, they could be saying the same thing about those darn mountain bikers scaring their elephant.

I get to Chiang Dao real early for today’s surprise find, a nondescript wooden building sealed up against the heat of the day. It is an oasis of shade and lower temperatures. There is a fresh scent of either shampoo or hair conditioner or both. I am quite sure it was not air fresheners. A brood of school girls were busy playing an online game of some sort which involved some fancy dance steps and the cheers of a digital Brad Pitt look alike, each time a digital dance step is executed with some digital flair. Whilst observing all this, I also order a minced pork ommelete, rice and a lemon juice. Then I hit the keyboards to tell the wife that my bike is performing flawlessly and I am still alive and pedalling. I even surf CGOAB. 90 minutes pass by quickly before I realise that getting a hotel room for tonight is a good idea.

Before trolling for dinner at the night market, I managed a 15 km ride around the countryside, mundane stuff around the perimeters of some rice fields and dead ending in a back yard or two, setting off the intruder alert alarm systems that rice farmers are fond of. Dogs and ducks, maybe geese.

Old Chiang Dao Inn is not great value at Thb 500, but the air conditioning was nice and it didn’t feel too haunted

At last count, there seemed to be about a dozen or so places to stay in and around Chiang Dao. Most are Thai style resort type places far off the main road.

www.monkiangdao.com/en/index.html

www.yangtonefarmstay.com (this one has a nice location map)

A few of the better ones are joint ventures. A foreign, usually western man marries a Thai woman and they open a rustic resort in the countryside. Many are dead quiet in the low season and some really do go bust after a few quiet low seasons. There is one exception below.

As you approach the town on the 107, there will be a bypass that skirts the old town proper, then you realise that both roads after the fork will have signs that read ’107′ They do join up eventually after the town but can be confusing for the first timer. On a bicycle it’s always better to head for the older part of town, as the bypass, well by passes everything else like the all important airconditioned internet/lunch oasis and the center of the universe for Chiang Dao, the always open 7/11 store.

If you are on a trip with a significant other, places like the almost haunted Chiang Dao Inn are a strict no no. Unlit corridors and creaky doors. Head out, preferably with a nice car to places like the Chiang Dao Nest. The name itself, inspires breeding.

http://nest.chiangdao.com

Drink wine and frolic in their imported comforters. Ban all words like ‘Shimano’ or ‘Ortlieb’ from conversation. Spare no expense. Trust me.

 

Doi Chiang Dao