We hit on the Samoeng Loop, a 100km ring around the Doi Suthep mountain which conveniently begins and ends in Chiang Mai, with the tiny town of Samoeng a little off the halfway point. Our sources told us it was quiet, hilly and very scenic - ideal!
Map was thus bought and we hired some Trek 3900 bikes from well-regarded Cacti Bikes, a little pricy (by Thai standards) at £8 each per day but well maintained and including helmets and a pump. Mr Sak, the lovely owner of the shop, clearly takes great care of his stock.
"Please remember you must only ride on road."
We assured him we would - no sneaky singletrack.
"Please don't put the bikes on the roof of a bus."
We assured him that we did intend to ride the bikes the whole way... but even so he seemed a little anxious as we rode away.
This actually almost didn't happen as (and most people who don't like horror might like to skip this paragraph) a laxative taken the night before, without reading the instructions, worked as designed "suddenly and fairly quickly" while in Mr Sak's shop so I made a good 15 minutes use of his well maintained toilet then worried about relapses for the rest of the morning. This detail is only provided to give an honest and full picture of the travel experience, but still I apologise as it's horrible.
Anyway, we rode South with a flat warmup of around 20k which turned from busy triple carriageway into a forest road. It got a little hilly so after a whole hour of riding we stopped for snacks. This is actually a very Thai thing to do. Thai people like snacks. We had cokes but didn't feel it necessary to take more than 2 bottles of water with us due to the incredible abundance of rustic coffee shops lining the road.
No one had told us about the No Beverage Zone. It started just after snacks and continued. Unfortunately the gradient also continued - upwards. For a long time we climbed through humid jungle, sweat refusing to evaporate. When we got to the top we felt like heroes. As a reward we got a fantastic descent - a section known as "the seven switchbacks" which ingenious Thai engineers have created on a near vertical slope. As we rounded the final corner - having overtaken a moped, and with the wind in our hair - we felt amazing. That is until we gazed at the next hill looming above us...
After another 10k of mostly incline we had consumed all of our water and moved onto a curious energy drink, bought for its neon yellow colour and sporty if incomprehensible Thai graphics. Soon after we came to a junction with a police box at approximately the half way point of the loop. One road continued the loop upwards, and the other dropped down to Samoeng. We didn't want to go down as then we'd have to ride back up again!
I went to the police box and asked where the nearest water was. The policeman pointed towards Samoeng and said "One kilometer". I gestured towards the other road with a hopeful look - perhaps a cafe just around the corner? But he frowned and pointed down towards Samoeng. Oh well.
A grab bag of crisps, some tinned ice coffee and a whole lot of water later we left the petrol station we were using as a cafe, and went back up the hill. This was all very scenic and fun, but quite gruelling especially as, because we weren't sure exactly how steep 1500m of elevation change would actually feel, we had a heavy backpack with stuff to stop overnight if necessary. This however meant that whoever had the bag felt completely out of energy, which almost meant that the bag was the cause of the situation we had prepared for by taking the bag...
Our salvation came around 5k on. Luckily for us the road became 30k of sweeping downhill, past gorgeous farmland and coffee plantations! Couldn't believe it. We stopped for lunch mid-descent and as the sun set we went in single file with our one torch flashing red to alert our presence to faster traffic (everyone else). The forest road turned back into busy triple carriageway and 16k later we were back at the guesthouse! It took, including stops, around 9 and a half hours and we felt awesome (and totally dead).
We celebrated with the traditional Thai dish of Pizza, and returned the unscratched bikes to a relieved Mr Sak the next day.
As we loved the route so much we decided to go again 2 days later but on motors. We hired a couple of semi-automatic 110cc Honda Dreams, which both frequently backfired in the manner of a popping crisp bag, and a couple of Daft Punk/Star Wars chic helmets. The ride was amazing - and completely different - so we just took in the scenery and enjoyed the endless corners.
The last section of the loop is littered with Elephant Camps, Snake Farms, a Monkey Center and loads of other attractions so we popped in to see Mae Sa Waterfall on the way past. It was nice to see all that water falling down the cliff, but we were keen to get back on the bikes.
At first we were disappointed when we we hit the triple carriageway at rush hour, but it quickly became one of the most visceral cultural experiences yet. Motorbikes are encouraged, nay expected, to filter through traffic whenever possible to keep things moving. This led to an almost race-like feel at traffic lights and as road and pavement merged, there were wandering dogs and street stalls in the mix as well.
Those were our two very different, and very fun trips around the Samoeng Loop from Chiang Mai. Highly recommended!
- Jon
No comments:
Post a Comment