Thailand: Mae Hong Son Loop Day 5 Pai- Chaing Mai Jungle fever and dirt trails
Dirt Diving on Scooters in the Jungle, an adventure for all
Rising today at a leisurely pace, to say I was a little dusty would be spot on. Pretty sure I wasn’t the only one from our band of merry Meanderthal’s as well. A quick coffee and a feed later we were feeling human again. Bidding Mark & Ann farewell, as they were opting to do some stuff around Pai that we already had seen, we hit the road with a lofty goal of reaching Mae Ya waterfall, Doi Khun Mae Ya and then onto my favourite coffee shop in the area Mee Coffee. Now I could probably get to Mee Coffee blindfolded but the mountain of Doi Khun Mae Ya and Mae Ya waterfall is a totally different ball game. Consulting Google maps revealed to us that there were roads there but they looked very much like dirt back roads.
Not to be outdone by the scooters dirt diving the GG decided to have a Nap as well
We were sceptical given our experiences a couple of days ago on the back roads turning to shit from the lake to Ban Rek Thai. But it was a beautiful day and well you only live once so we decided to roll the dice. What could possibly go wrong. Arriving at the junction of the turn off to the waterfall, we pulled over and asked a local soldier manning a checkpoint to see if we could get the scooters there and back. He assured us it was possible. So with the nod of approval from the local authorities our spirits soared, and we hit the dirt track, expecting it to be an easy run to our first objective, the Mae Ya waterfall.
And then there was Bogged Scooters
Barely 100m off the main road there was a very steep descent down a double track. Now the Grey Ghost (GG) eats this stuff up. But the girls on the scooters were a little more cautious and rightly so with their road tyres. Anyway, we negotiated that obstacle without incident and pushed on. After all the local authorities said it was doable so we weren’t quite ready to throw in the towel so quickly at the first sign of difficult terrain. Another couple of painfully slow steep hill climbs and descents later the doubts started to creep in. We finally came to a campground that had an amazing view. Stopped briefly for a photo, reassured ourselves we were on the right path and hit the trails again.
Broken Bridges for something different
Well that is where it turned to Poo rather quickly. Starting down another steep descent the trail narrowed to single track and a fallen tree was partially obscuring our path. Now a reasonable assumption straight off the cuff should have been - hang on a sec, why hasn’t this been cleared and why is the trail getting smaller? But no, we were blinded by the local advice that the scooters should make it. I don’t think we even considered we might be on the wrong path but another 400m later we came across a wash out that quickly bogged Kung Fu’s scooter.
A broken Bridge won’t stop us, lets repurpose some of the timber and build our own little scooter crossing.
Wrestling it out of the mud path and carving a track around it we pushed onwards. Doubt ever increasing, the trail ever narrowing, 300m later we came to a washed out bridge. I could see where presumably trail bikes had circumvented this hurdle so drove the GG straight down into the creek and up the other bank. I wasn’t worried about it, after all the GG was made for this stuff. Pausing at the top of the embankment I looked back and mentally plotted a path for my scooter friends to follow
The improvised bridge made for an easy crossing for the GG but the Scooters had a little trouble. With Kung fu taking a bath. I’ll try and upload the footage of that in the near future for a laugh
Kung Fu wanted to use the fallen timber off the washed out bridge to smooth out the crossing which made logical sense to me. Sweating and cursing 10 minutes later we had made a makeshift causeway to gap the rocky creek. Kung Fu was keen to try it. Standing back and filming this she cautiously made her way across. Got briefly bogged when she slipped off the planks but wrestled it out and pushed on to her peril. Coming out the other side her front wheel slipped and she promptly rolled off the scooter into the creek. We held our breaths and cringed for a moment but when she sprang up laughing at her demise we all burst into laughter so loud I’m sure they would have heard us back at the checkpoint.
its no wonder Jungle fever set in, sometimes you just have to chalk it up as a fail and place it to the well that didn’t go as planned basket. It’s all experiences and fun adventures.
After seeing the demise of Kung Fu’s scooter foray, Ploy wasn’t having a bar of it and rightly so (Clearly the smarter of us all). I somehow managed to wrestle it over without too much incident but by now we were all ready to give up., but none of us wanted to be the first to ring the bell. So foolishly we pushed on. We only got another 100m or so before we hit our 4th obstacle of marshy ground and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. We’d travelled maybe 5km in 2 hours and had about another four to go according to our calculations. So ringing the bell really did make sense. Crest fallen we turned around to negotiate our way out the way we’d come.
Its views like this in remote places, far from the rat race deep in the jungle that make it all worth while.
The return leg was without significant incident. Except the GG decided to take a impromptu nap. I managed to get it on the go pro and have posted it for a laugh. It’s not a bad dirt nap but looks quite good. I nearly slid GG off the mountain trail. Check it out on the Mr Meanderthal social pages. I posted it too for a laugh and let us know what you think by leaving a comment.
Reflection on life is never far away in the mountains
Arriving back at the main road we opted for the safe route home via my good friends at Mee Coffee for an awesome late lunch. The girls there never fail to impress. Great coffee and good homemade cooking. Arriving back in Chaing Mai was a bit of an anti-climax, but it was good “to be home” after the Mae Hong Son loop adventures. A big shout out must go to my meanderthal friends Kung Fu and Ploy for a memorable trip and the help with everything Thai. Ladies thanks and I look forward to the next Meanderthal adventure with you. Mark & Ann my new found Aussie friends, thanks for the laughs and I hope to see you in the twisities or on some backroads somewhere else in the world. Safe travels.
The Three Meanderthal Amigos. Thanks for a great trip Kung Fu & Ploy, good luck with your adventures and the upcoming studies.
If you’re interested in doing a South East Asia adventure somewhere and or just want to show off your local area be sure to drop us a line in the Mr Meanderthal socials and we’ll sort something out. Until the next roadie just keep living the Dream.
