Intrepid as F*&k

Loggin on after a few days in the hills (above), so this bit carries on from below.
ie. After a pretty late start, we hit up brekkie at a cafe set in a sweet Swiss-inspired villa on the way into town. Turns out it's run by some Japanese people, and they're doing a wicked job......

MISSION STATUS
Day: 3
Time elapsed: 59 hours, 55 minutes
Time remaining: 108 hours, 5 minutes
Distance covered: 405 km
Gasoline bill:circa Bh 800 (NZ$ 30)
Accomodation bill: Bh 650 (NZ $26)
Max speed: circa 130kmhr
Flat tyres: 1

Yo everyone.

Having an incredible time road-tripping around the North East.

Day 1: Chiang Mai - Pai. 135km
We kicked off the voyage about 9:30 on the 7th of Feb and spent about an hour on a freeway heading due north from Chiang Mai on HW107, before hanging west onto 1095 for the bulk of the 135km journey to the settlement of Pai (population 3000). Called a coffee stop at this sweet rural cafe near a 'Coffee Research Plantation' about an hour into the drive before beginning our ascent of the range surrounding the mountain Doi Mae Ya (2005m). Dense jungle vegetation on either side of the road made for picturesque viewing as I was flicking through 2/3/4 gear negotiating the many many hairpin bends and steep sections of the road. Pretty awesome driving with a real variety of road surface / traffic / corners to work through....kinda like a gorge.

Before long we were on the ridgeline, though this lasted briefly before we plummeted the last 40km into Pai. Pai had been talked up in the LP (Lonely Planet) as a chilled out hippie town with plenty of resident foreigners who never escaped its laid back vibe. And it delivered. Some girl that we talked to a ferry at some stage over the last week described Pai as "like Switzerland"; and while descending onto the horticultural plains that Pai sits on; surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges, it was easy to see how she drew the comparison. Pretty mean landscape, plenty of photos on the memory card.

Had a bit of difficulty securing accomo (accomodation) because we were arriving on the crest of a wave of tourists, both domestic and international, who were coming to town for a reggae festival that began the next day. Luckily we scored a place for a sly B300. Behind some reggae bar. Bed consisting a mattress on the floor. Single mattress. Avvverage.

So after a quick chill, we set about getting amongst some of the hippie vibe. And it wasn't hard: there were sweet buskers on the streets until late at night, heaps of cool open air restraunt/bars with live bands, and every second bar was playing Bob Marley's Greatest Hits. Wasn't complaining though. Must have been subconsciously missing the festivities of Waitangi Day, as we spotted this Thai dude on the street that was honestly the spitting image of Tama Iti! Dont worry - nabbed a few paparazi photos of him! Ended up in a bar (you guessed it....playing Bob Marley) hangin with a group of english dudes, a Slovakian and some girl from England. Oh, "Have a big fun in Pai" is what one the vocalist from one of the streetside bands said as he introduced one of their songs and welcomed people who had come for the Reggae Fest into town.

Ended up a pretty sweet night, but called it kinda early because we knew the bikes would be calling us the next morning. It probably wasn't worth it though because it was so cold even putting all the clothes I brought didn't make sleep easier (okay, I have a total of two pairs). Neither did sharing a single mattress with Dom. Come to think of it, nor did the sound of some dude snoring in the adjacent room. Paper thin walls.

Day 2: Pai - Mae Hong Son. 110km
After a pretty late start, we hit up brekkie at a cafe set in a sweet Swiss-inspired villa on the way into town. Turns out it's run by some Japanese people, and they're doing a wicked job.

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Sorry, the internet place is about to close around me. So will carry on in a few days when we're back from a trek that we booked into a hill tribe village. Long story, but it sounds like there's a bit of 'working bee' going on up there - and I think we're being roped in to help the village's Bhuddist temple with its relocation and renovations! Should be a larf!
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Back heading NE on HW1095 and the road swept through lots of banana plantations and over a few rivers before ascending into the mountain range dominated by the 700m peak of Liu Lum). Scenery here was substantially differnet from that of the last range - with many more cliffs and less dense vegetation. Lots more hairpin bends, which we couldn't bear to not have documented: so got out the trusty insulation tape and secured by camera to the handlebars. Have now got some awesome motorcycling vids!

Made a brief stop just after the township of Soppong at a place called "Coffin Cave", which had a blurb in the LP - supposedly caves up in the cliffs with ancient coffins (made from hollowed out whole tree trunks) inside. After half an hour of searching for the turnoff we found ourselves climbing up a scrubby hill, bikes parked on the side of the main road. A few hundrew metres up we found the network of caves and, upon further creeping around, found some trunks semi-suspended behind a rope cordon and a "do not cross". Didnt find anything else after some more creeping, so figurd that these trunks must've been the coffins. Pretty sweet I guess, but not much to really look at.

A couple of hours on the road later, we descended into the town of Mae Hong Song (popuilation 8300). Not before realising that that last 90km had drained our gas tanks of hte morning's fill and our gauges were both hovering pretty damn close to 'Empty'. So we tactfully chucked the bikes in neutral and rolled most of the last 10kays into town.

Mae Hong Song (MHS) was a pretty large town that looked to be geared mainly for locals. No places really catering to tourists; but we managed to find a sweet room at a lake-side guesthouse for all of B150 ($6!). Went for a bit of a cruise 'round town on my bike and stumbled across what looked to be some kind of trade fair / carnival gig being set up; which we returned to check out that night. Was totally sweet: over 1000 locals along two streets, completely lined with stalls and exhibits relating to agriculture and general riff raff. Heaps of imitation stuff for sale, food, and even a stage set up with singning, danging and the likes. Soaked up a mean exhibition game of one of the national sports, which is essentially volleyball... but played solely with the feet and head (sort of soccer-volleyball).