We went to the Sunday Market at Chiangmai, it has a bit of a Chatuchak Market feel. I don’t really shop but I bought a couple of stickers for my bike.
(i pasted this only when i came back to SG)
There was a vintage volkswagen van selling coffee too.
I also decided to send my bike for wash before the ride up to Doi Inthanon. So I forked out 200THB for a foam wash. The place was located along Huay Keaw Road and it is owned by a biker who rides a Fazer 1000 and R6.
(certainly better quality wash than singapore which i paid $15!!!)
So before the final day, I went up to Doi Inthanon – The highest point in Thailand. The journey took me about 2hrs inclusive of detours and having my lunch.
(it was 17 degrees celsius during hot season)
(along the path of the nature trail at the top)
(the sign says “The Highest Spot In Thailand”)
(panorama from the view point)
After having been there and done that, I proceeded down the mountain and the heat from the ground hit me hard. Give me 17 degrees anytime.
(must have Khao Soi when in Chiangmai)
Actually I had lots of food, just that I didn’t really bother to take photos. For a photographer, I am pretty lazy. I do not think about taking photos when I am enjoying myself, that is why I bring a Canon Ixus and even I think it is a chore to whip it out every time.
The guys spent the last night at Monkey Club and later they went to Fabric, I couldn’t take it and went back to the hotel first. I needed to rest because I had a long journey tomorrow.
So I left Chiangmai on Friday morning and headed south to Bangkok. My left box fell off along Kamphaeng Phet and I didn’t realise it until 60km down. The whole incidents was just filled with luck.
During one of the petrol stops, a family of thais were talking to me and asking me where I was heading to. So after the conversation, they went of first while I set off about 5-10minutes later.
10km down, the road was unpaved and at that point I JUST overtook that family. They saw my bike shake violently and the box fell off. I didn’t realise it until I decided to stop because the weather was just too hot! I went into 7-11, bought a bottle of water and looked at my bike. Only then did I realise I had a missing box.
I remembered that I just topped up my bike and I checked my mileage and saw 60km. So I decided to make a U-turn and hopefully see my box on the opposide side of the road.
Less than 10km down, I saw someone waving at me to make a U-turn (towards BKK). When I approached the man, I realised it was the Thai man I was talking to at the previous stop! He told me what happened and he was dropping the box off at the police checkpoint, he told the police he knew I was going to BKK so he asked them to contact the next checkpoint to stop me and let me know that my box had dropped off!
I was so so so so lucky.
(this was taken in Singapore)
The rest of the journey was me looking at the mirror whenever I went over any bumpy road. Eventually I reached BKK and I went to my usual place.
The regular clubbers I knew there managed to finish the bottle of Absinthe that I brought from SG.
(champions)
The journey to Hatyai from BKK was a suffering for me because I checked into the usual budget hotel I stay in. I guess the bed is ok if I FLY into BKK, but if I ever RIDE to BKK, I really need a good bed. I slept at 9pm and woke up at 4am, which was adequate rest for me. But I was just so tired along the way, I had to keep consuming bottles of M-150.
Somehow I managed to survive my journey to Hatyai. I checked into a deluxe room, got a proper bed and went about doing the usual stuff like getting a massage. The next day, I left the hotel at 9am and by 5pm, I was back in SG.
It was during the ride back to SG then I realised how important the bed was.
It took me about 6 1/2hrs to clear the North South Highway, I was averaging 180-210km/hr and stopping only to refuel.
Yet when I reached Tuas, it took me 45minutes to get back home. Good thing after riding in BKK, the jams in Singapore felt quite spacious and I could zip around quite easily.
I can’t describe the feeling I got when I finally hit the roads of Singapore, I couldn’t imagine that 21 days from my departure, I went to Chiangmai and made it back. Solo.
Up next, the golden triangle OR cambodia, will have to decide which one comes first!