Nan | The Regional Manager

Highway 1083 – Take me to the River

December 19, 2016 · by theregionalmanager

I am writing this post a year after the event after finding it in my WordPress draft folder. Well, this section of road is one of my favourite stretches for enjoyable riding, scenery and clearing one’s head. It is always the part of the trip I feel truly free of Bangkok and heading north into more remote areas. The bridge over the Nan river where the video ends is always a great stop to switch off the bike for a few minutes, take it all in and enjoy the sounds of river and forest.

Turn Left

Bike by river

Beware

Nan

Nan

Phew

Brown

Map of the route:

Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows speed (it is not completely accurate and has some inconsistencies), elevation graph, grade, longitude and latitude, time and date, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a dot showing the current location. This video was shot in December 2015 and roads in Thailand do change over the years, a once pristine section of tarmac can degrade and likewise a bad section can be resurfaced and become as smooth as silk!

Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.

You can find excellent bike reports and information of northland Thailand over at Golden Triangle Riders

Wide World

April 10, 2016 · by theregionalmanager

I go a bit mad using the panorama feature on the iPhone so have accumulated many panoramas on my bike travels. Believe it or not here is a cut down selection along with the Thai province or place in which they’re shot:

Phu Chi Fah

Uttardit

Nakhon Nayok

Chiang Rai

Phu Chi Fah

Kanchanburi

Nan

Phu Chi Fah

Uttardit

Kanchanburi

Phu Chi Fah

Nan

Phu Chi Fah

Khao Yai

Nan

Kanchanburi

Phu Chi Fah

Kanchanburi

Phu Chi Fah

Loei

Kanchanburi

Nan

Nan

Kanchanburi

Nan

Nan

Phu Chi Fah

Loei

Nakhon Nayok

Nan

Kanchanburi

Uttardit

Nan

Uttardit

Kanchanburi

Nakhon Nayok

Kanchanburi

Chiang Rai

Highway 1243 – Road to Nowhere – Part 2

April 7, 2016 · by theregionalmanager

Continuing on from Part 1 highway 1243 meanders it way to nowhere in particular. Near the highest point at 940m there is a ranger station which is the only sign of human habitation and tarmac appears again soon after.

The end of this road eventually ends up towards highway 1083 which is worthy of a future video. After 1083 highway 1026 takes you up to Nan for a satisfying loop.

Map of the route:

Zoom Out

Zoom In

Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows speed (it is not completely accurate and has some inconsistencies), elevation graph, grade, longitude and latitude, time and date, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a dot showing the current location. This video was shot in December 2015 and roads in Thailand do change over the years, a once pristine section of tarmac can degrade and likewise a bad section can be resurfaced and become as smooth as silk!

Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.

You can find excellent bike reports and information of northland Thailand over at Golden Triangle Riders

Highway 1243 – Road to Nowhere – Part 1

April 3, 2016 · by theregionalmanager

Having arrived in Nan the previous day I had a day with no destination and highway 1243 suited this brief perfectly.

There really seems no reason for this stretch of highway 1243 , joining nowhere to nowhere. However it provides a wonderful few hours of solitude up in the hills. The road actually appears relatively new at first but is obviously not used often enough to fend off the advancing shrubbery on the road verges. Soon after the road starts to narrow the tarmac disappears but never enough to turn you back and you can head on in relative ease if not comfort. I suspect it will be sealed with tarmac soon as it appears to be prepared for such a fate although I cannot see the purpose of such an endeavour.

It goes without saying to not head into this section of road with your fuel light on. The end of this road eventually ends up towards highway 1083 which is worthy of a future video. After 1083 highway 1026 takes you up to Nan for a satisfying loop.

Creeping shrubbery

Sleeping Dogs

Panorama

Onto Nowhere

Map of the route:

Highway 1243 Part 1

Highway 1243 Part 1

Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows speed (it is not completely accurate and has some inconsistencies), elevation graph, grade, longitude and latitude, time and date, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a dot showing the current location. This video was shot in December 2015 and roads in Thailand do change over the years, a once pristine section of tarmac can degrade and likewise a bad section can be resurfaced and become as smooth as silk!

Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.

You can find excellent bike reports and information of northland Thailand over at Golden Triangle Riders

Highway 1339 North towards Nan

December 29, 2014 · by theregionalmanager

The final video from highway 1339. We started down at Nam Pat, have made it to the Sirikit reservoir ferry, crossed over and now we press on north to meet highway 1026 which gives us options to head north (turn right) to Nan or dive off west to Phrae (turn left).

This video starts a short way on from the ferry. From the ferry you go up a dirt and badly tarmac’d road and back onto highway 1339. If you are coming back this way try and remember where this road is so you can find it and therefore the ferry again. It is a great 15Km blast and by the end of the video you hit a short section of single track road where you can take in what will be a regular views of beautiful Thai countryside if you keep heading north. As you carry on on highway 1339 it quickly goes wider again and winds through some great scenery till highway 1026.

The parking spot at end of video is a nice place to take in the view and offers some shade.

Highway 1339 parking spot

Highway 1339 views

Map of the route:

Highway 1339 Part 3 Zoom in

Highway 1339 Part 3 Zoom out

Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows speed (it is not completely accurate and has some inconsistencies), elevation graph, longitude and latitude, time and date, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a dot showing the current location. This video was shot in December 2014 and roads in Thailand do change over the years, a once pristine section of tarmac can degrade and likewise a bad section can be resurfaced and become as smooth as silk!

Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.

You can find excellent bike reports and information of northland Thailand over at Golden Triangle Riders

Highway 1339 to the Sirikit reservoir ferry

December 28, 2014 · by theregionalmanager

Continuing on from the first video on highway1339 the road leads to a ferry crossing over the Sirikit reservoir, which is filled by the Nan river which you will see regularly as you ride north to Nan and beyond. The reservoir is huge, maybe one the biggest in Thailand, although the part you cross is not really representative of the size.

I call the crossing vehicle a ferry but it is in fact a pontoon pulled by a small long tail boat. Sounds a bit dodgy but it appears a well run operation and all for 150baht per crossing for bike and rider. Not sure how much was for the bike and how much for me.

At 13 minutes into the video is the first sight of the reservoir and you can make some friends with some local dogs!

If you miss a crossing be prepared for a 30 to 60 minute wait which is no big deal. There is food and a small shop at both sides to fill the time whether you heading north or south. I think at most the pontoon can take two cars and a few bikes and it takes about 25 minutes.

Photos from two crossing made one going north the other south:

Ferry Man

GPS in the water

Panorama South side

Empty pontoon returning

Fishing village on north side

Long tail boat

Watch for gaps

Bike onboard

Panorama North side

2 cars and a few bikes is about the limit

Relaxing

North of the crossing

Wikipedia page on the reservoir here

Map of the route:

Highway 1339 Part 2 Zoom out

Highway 1339 Part 2 Zoom in

Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows speed (it is not completely accurate and has some inconsistencies), elevation graph, longitude and latitude, time and date, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a dot showing the current location. This video was shot in December 2014 and roads in Thailand do change over the years, a once pristine section of tarmac can degrade and likewise a bad section can be resurfaced and become as smooth as silk!

Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.

You can find excellent bike reports and information of northland Thailand over at Golden Triangle Riders

Highway 1339 into Lam Nam Nan National Park

December 26, 2014 · by theregionalmanager

Highway 1339 runs northwest out of Nam Pat or Nam Pad on some maps (‘d’ and ‘t’ are used interchangeable in translations from Thai into English) and into Lam Nam Nan National Park. This video starts just leaving Nam Pat.

There is no real park entrance I found so do not worry about an entrance fee. The only real reason to use this road is to go and take the ferry across Sirikit reservoir and enjoy the journey as it is certainly quicker going north to Nan or south from it via routes east or west. For example east of here is the wonderful highway 1268 which you can view here and stop by the Phu Soi Dao Waterfall for a relaxing break. After that take highway 1241/1083 which are all great into Nan. If you just want to get somewhere and time is pressing go the route west of here on the major north/south highways. Otherwise have an more leisurely and interesting experience and take highway 1339!

Elevation change on this section is from 150m to 500m so nothing too drastic. The road is in good condition with occasional pot holed sections. You go through several small little villages (Tambon in Thai). Be careful riding through these villages for chickens and kids darting across. I killed a chicken on the way back on this route despite slowing down and felt very guilty about it. Aey later said not to worry as a chicken is worth around 80Baht and the village would just cook up a chicken meal that night. Still maybe next time I would stop and give them small offering if I could find anyone to do so who could understand me.

This video is the first of three for highway 1339 with part two taking you to the ferry crossing and part three north of Sirikit resvoir heading to Nan.

Map of the route:

Highway 1339 Part 1 Zoom out

Highway 1339 Part 1 Zoom in

Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows speed (it is not completely accurate and has some inconsistencies), elevation graph, longitude and latitude, time and date, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a dot showing the current location. This video was shot in December 2014 and roads in Thailand do change over the years, a once pristine section of tarmac can degrade and likewise a bad section can be resurfaced and become as smooth as silk!

Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.

You can find excellent bike reports and information of northland Thailand over at Golden Triangle Riders

Buddhist monument by Nam Ngim lake

December 18, 2014 · by theregionalmanager

Along highway 1148 is a lovely small Buddhist monument. It is well worth a detour. You are mostly likely to be passing by going to or from between Chinag Rai and Nan.

You can see a POV video of the ride along highway 1148 to the location here and the location is just a few minutes passed the end of the video.

The location can be found on Google here

Map:

Nam Ngim Zoom in

Nam Ngim Zoom out

Photos:

Nam Ngim Buddhist monument

Road by Nam Ngim Buddhist monument

Nam Ngim Buddhist monument

Selfie

Bike by Nam Ngim Buddhist monument

Nam Ngim Buddhist monument

Bangkok to Chiang Rai and back (December 2013)

December 15, 2014 · by theregionalmanager

December in Thailand is wonderfully cool and I took a couple of weeks and headed off up to Chiang Rai. Once in Chiang Rai I worked and hung out for a a week. For a cheap five star hotel check out the Le Meridian, a bargain at around US$100 a night and first class establishment. For those who think Thailand is baking hot all the time if you venture up north at this time of year be prepared to wrap up warm. I usually set off riding before 6am and was poorly equipment for the cold! But come late morning it has warmed up to ride with minimal layers.

This video and photos chart the trip.

Thanks to Shimona Kee for letting me use her song ‘Rainy Day. Check out Shimona here

Highway 4044 New

Nan Road Sign

Grrr Petrol Station Guards

Phu Soi Dao Waterfall

Death Car Park 3

Phu Soi Dao Waterfall

Thai Airforce

Grrr Petrol Station

Sala Rest

Dodge Highway 21

Pond Bridge

Dinosaur

Tiger

Le Meridian Chiang Rai

Ducati Friend

Highway 21 Coffee Wake Up

Highway 21 Coffee

Dodge and Bike

Highway 4044 End

Nan Bike Truck

Andy and Khun Suep

Highway 21 Lunch

Highway 4044 Sign

Khao Yai Coffee

Welcome to Loei

Bike Heater

Tiger Koff

Le Meridian Chiang Rai River

Buffalo

Bike and Tree

Highway 4044 Rice Field

Brrrrr

Bike River

Death Car Park

Post Box Thailand

Thai Vespa

Death Car Park 2

Jesus Coffee

Highway 4044 Fire

Bends

Highway 1081/1169 Bo Kluea to Nan – Part 2

June 6, 2014 · by theregionalmanager

Continuing on from Part 1of this video you carry on along highway 1081 for around 7KM before taking a left on highway 1169 which runs you into Nan. Miss the turn and you will head back up north on the 1081 and to the 1080. Nan has a large scooter shop which is always fun to look around and on the street you can find a number of funky old custom scooters. I am afraid not many photos on this part of the trip apart from Nan scooters!

Google map links for exact locations on this video: start of video / finish of video. As you can see from the google street view and my video the start of this part of the trip the road has under gone a major resurfacing and widening and for the next couple of years should be a joy to ride! Enjoy it while you can!

Nan Scooters

Highway 1081 starts up north in Chaloem Phra Kiat and videos from there can be found here: Part 1 and Part 2.

Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows speed (it is not completely accurate and has some inconsistencies), elevation, heading, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a red dot showing the current location. This video was shot in April 2014 and roads in Thailand do change over the years, a once pristine section of tarmac can degrade and likewise a bad section can be resurfaced and become as smooth as silk! Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.

You can find excellent bike reports and information of northland Thailand over at Golden Triangle Riders