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Thailand I

On the 23.10.2012 we finally flew on the same flight as our bike from Delhi to Bangkok. After landing in Bangkok we checked in at a hotel near to the airport and had 2 hours of rest before we made our way to get our bike out of the Thai customs. It was a lot easier than expected and 5 h later we could ride out our bike out of the costoms area.
On the next morning we made our way to a bit more convinient hotel in the middle of town.

On the 26.10.2012 we brought the bike to the workshop to finally change the bald rear tyre as well as to have done some service-works on the bike which could not have been done at BMW India, as the necessary parts were not available.


That tyre is done! (only one of a few cracks!)

A small problem with a broken clutch slave cylinder was solved very easyly with the help of Markus from TOURATECH in Munich, who ordered the part at BMW, and a friend of mine, who just flew to Bangkok at the right time and brought me the part.

 
Reclining Buddah in the Wat Po Temple

Wat Po Temple

On the 03.11.2012 we were able to get a well-seviced bike and soon the tour will go on.

After a small medical setback we made our way out of Bangkok on the 06.11.2012 to Nakhon Sawan heading up north. It was a pleasure riding on the bike with good roads and people around knowing and also following road-rules ;-).

On the 07.11.2012 we went on to Uttaradit staying for a night. In the next morning we passed the city-park where we saw this beautifully crafted dragon,

before we made our way up to Chiang Mai. Slowly the landscape changed from flat land to the hilly.

On the 09.11.2012 we made a short trip up to Doi Sutep, a hill nearby Chiang Mai. The road up there was nice and windy, just a little foretaste of what is still to come.


But not only the view and the road was great, also the temple on top of that hill.


Naga-Snake at the beginning of the steps         The viharn on top of the hill

 

 
The golden chedi at the temple                            A small building in the sun

In the evening we went to the zoo and did a night safari tour which was very interesting, as it was possible to see and also to feed night-active animals.

On the 10.11.2012 we were ready to explore one of the 10 best motorbike routes of the world (thats what is being said) from Chiang Mai over to Mae Hong Son. Shortly after we had left Chiang Mai we saw a group of other bikers at a petrol station. As we wanted to go and see them, they were already on the road and we just followed them as they could go no where else than to Mae Hong Son too. As they stopped at the Pai Memorial Bridge we also made a short break and got to know the other guys and they invited us to follow them to MHS. It was a very fast ride and there was not much time to enjoy the beauty of the countryside as the eyes were on the road, however the ride on that road was fantastic.
On the following morning, 11.11.2012 we joined the group again, this time back to Chiang Mai as they knew where the Mexican Sunflower fields were.


A single flower (actually it is weed)                     and a field as far as the eye can see.

Then we had a lunch break and continued the ride back to CM.

On the following day we had a rest, as we needed to recover from the ride. In the evening we met up with one of the bikers for dinner, a good time and some wine.

On the following day we had a rest, as we needed to recover from the night before and we decided to do the route to MHS one more time.

On the 14.11.2012 we did it again, and took the 320 km ride on the 1095 over to MHS, this time with only 2 bikes and a slower pace to also enjoy a bit of the beautiful landscape.


Had a nice evening in MHS with Mike and Harry and some other friends at Crossroads.

In the morning of the 15.11.2012 we took the stretch of the 1095 back  and went to Fang. Some of roads up in the north are simply fantastic, very winding, nice curves little traffic and hardly any straight stretch of more than 300 m. A bikers dream.

From Fang we rode to Phayao and nearly got wet, as there was a heavy downpour about to start as we reached the hotel. But we were lucky, it just rained during the night, and the next morning all the clouds have disappeared and another sunny day of joyful riding layed ahead of us. We rode to Nan, were we met up with one of the other bikers again. There was also a meeting of other BMW bikers going on in town, however the party of the event was about a 70 km ride away and as it was late afternoon already, we decided to stay in town.

On the morning of the 18.11.2012 we took some small, but nice roads along the border to Laos to Loei. At one checkpoint of the Thai Border Police an officer redirected us from the planned route, as the road was not passable. We had to do a 14 km stretch off-roading along a small and narrow lane washed out by the rain. No fun with a fully loaded bike...
However, the following stretches paid back for the hassle.

On the 19.11.2012 it was time to say good-bye to the mountainous roads of the north as we were heading down south to Khon Kaen; straight highway and nothing much to see anymore ;-(

After spending the night in Khon Kaen we continued further south to Surin. This time we took some smaller roads and went through a landscape with nice green fields of rice.

On the 21.11.2012 we went from Surin to the border-crossing into Cambodia. Exiting Thailand with all the custums-formalities was very easy. Also obtaining the Visa for Cambodia was just a matter of minutes before we could ride on towards Phnom Penh.