Travelling Asia as a Regional Manager
A quick little bike holiday with David and Kenneth resulted in my first exploration of the west side of Sinakharin reservoir. The aim was to search for the mythical ferry that crosses up the north part of the reservoir. It does exist and 50 Baht will see you and your bike across to the other side.
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.
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, 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
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:
Wikipedia page on the reservoir here
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, 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 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:
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 2331 runs into Phu Rin Rong Kla national park which is a little northwest of Lom Sak or southeast of Dan Sai. The video of the climb up to the park entrance can be found here. Initially the road in the park was unsealed but soon comes good and the road is OK past the end of the video.
As can be seen from the elevation graph and the photo you are high up and fog is most likely in the mornings but should clear up as the day advances. Temperature drops off so good to have an extra layer to hand during the cool season.
Foggy road:
Phu Rin Rong Kla National Park
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, 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 2331 runs into Phu Rin Rong Kla national park which is a little northwest of Lom Sak or southeast of Dan Sai. On the climb up there are some great views to be had as well as a load of good options to stay or camp. At around 21 minutes into the video is the park entrance. There was no charge but there might be at other times of the year. Once in the park the road is unsealed but is in the process of being resurfaced.
As can be seen from the elevation graph this is a steep climb and if sunny at the start you can be in the clouds in the short time and the temperature drops right off.
Once in the park you can view the continuation of this video here.
Park entrance:
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, 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 1148 is in Nan province, you can find it north out of Nan after taking the 101. The 1148 branches north west. The video runs for 33KM from Song Khwae climbing up and over a couple of hills/mountains (not sure exactly which term is right, mountain seems a big grandiose for what they are).
At the end of the video you can see off to the right a lake by a small mountain on the horizon. It is well worth taking a right off the 1148 (just past the end of the video) and seeking out the beautiful Buddhist monument under the shadow of the mountain. It is just a couple of minutes away and provides some fantastic photo opportunities and a place to take a break.
Map of the route
Currently the road condition is great and if you enjoy a bit of knee down action this is a great section of road to do that (safely of course).
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
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
At Bo Kluea you can head west on highway 1256 (yet to be explored) but I continue down highway 1081 towards Nan. If you check out the Google maps sections of this road they look quite different to the video and you can see from the video large sections of this part of 1081 are new and smooth and just laid down. You can get your head down onto the groove and enjoy the ride. There are one or two sections where the road is not finished but by the time you are watching/reading this I think they will be finished.
Google map links for exact locations on this video: start of video / finish of video
Highway 1081 starts up north in Chaloem Phra Kiat and videos from there can be found here: Part 1 and Part 2 (which ends where this one starts)
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
After my Magnum ice cream break my journey continues along highway 1081 to Bo Kluea. The road slowly improves although it is not till past Bo Kluea that you can relax and trust what is beyond the next corner. Video of that section and onto Nan to follow later.
Google map links for exact locations on this video: start of video / finish of video
If you missed the part 1 of highway 1081 you can find it here
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
