I really enjoy hearing about your far-flung Riv adventures. We only have coyotes around here (occasional mountain lion). Do you have to worry about tigers on your S24O's?
jim m suburban california On Jan 30, 7:52 pm, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dude, where's the ride report? It's in the descriptions of the > photos. :) > > Here is the executive summary: We took a bus up from Chiang Mai to the > border (4+ hrs), stayed in a little guesthouse right on the border- > defining River Sai, got up at 6:30 to cross the border, have breakfast > in Burma and explore the border town a bit (not allowed to leave town > on the on-the-spot visa), re-crossed the border and headed south > towards Chiang Rai (60 km as the pick-up drives, 100 km as the > passhunter rides), to catch a bus back to Chiang Mai. Once out of > town, we headed through a plain of rice paddies on increasingly > smaller roads, with Doi Tung towering 1000m over the plain to the > West. Around midday we started into the hills that separate the Mae > Sai valley from the Chiang Rai valley, and had a fun time finding the > dirt tracks that actually went to where we were going. Asking the > locals is not always that helpful, as invariably they will tell you > how to get back to the main highway that leads to your destination, > NOT the direct route, as they (understandably) assume you are lost, > and assume you would have no chance of finding your way through the > hills on your own. > > Once we got out of the hills, we realized that time was running short, > and we decided to kick it into high gear and cut to the main highway > so we could catch our bus. Our mad, hour-long 30 kph dash--fueled by > Gatoraid from a 7-Eleven and emergency ration gummies--paid off as we > got to the station in time for a quick bite of restorative soup > noodles before hopping back on the bus for the 3 hr ride home. > > Cheers, > > Gernot > > On Jan 31, 10:30 am, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Try this link instead for my > > photos:http://www.flickr.com/photos/25150892@N08/5402500499/ > > > (or remove thewww.google.comfromthe URL that google inserts for > > some strange reason) > > > On Jan 31, 10:28 am, Earl Grey <earlg...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Paul and I headed up to the Burmese border on Saturday to renew our > > > Thai visas. These border runs are a boring fact of life for many > > > foreigners in Chiang Mai, who take the morning bus up to the border > > > (5-6 hrs), cross the border, have lunch, and take the afternoon bus > > > back to Chiang Mai. > > > > I always bring my bike and stay overnight and find an interesting way > > > to ride to Chiang Rai, a third of the way back to Chiang Mai. This > > > time I brought Paul along as well, for an all-Sam, mixed terrain, find- > > > the-smallest-roads-and-dirt-tracks-we-can, riding adventure. > > > > My photos start here:www.flickr.com/photos/25150892@N08/5402500499/ > > > > Paul's photos start > > > here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulatwork/sets/72157625812729019/with/5... > > > > Btw, I planned the route withwww.ridewithgps.com(whichusesGoogle > > > maps) and uploaded it to my GPS. Otherwise it would be impossible to > > > do such a route in unfamiliar territory and make it to your > > > destination in time to catch a bus. Google maps and my GPS map are > > > often wrong about the tiny side roads in Thailand, but with a planned > > > route and a GPS to re-orient yourself when the road you were planning > > > to take doesn't exist, it's just the right mixture of adventure and > > > predictability for me. > > > > Cheers, > > > > Gernot -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
