2 JUNE 2012 DAY 8: MAE SARIANG - MAE HONG SON (210kms)

I woke up early as usual to study my route and read on accommodation. We are going to continue our ride on Day 8 to Mae Hong Son. It rained (again), but not for long. Surprisingly, after what I have been through yesterday, the road to Mae Hong Son was so much in a better condition. Yes, its curvy. Yes, its winding. Yes, its steep and scary. But the newly paved road and the lack of rain makes all the difference. I braved the curved and the countless corners – all sort of them, you name it; zig-zag corner, S corner, snake corner, ice cream scoop corner…Mae Hong Son has it all. While riding, Hadi’s words kept ringing in my ears. “Enjoy the ride. You are not going to get this moment anymore”. His words motivated me to fight my fear. So, while riding, I cheered loudly to myself, "Cmon Nita, layankan jer konar ni, its not going to eat you!!" The view along the way was very green and beautiful.

Winding, but nicely paved

Finally we arrived Mae Hong Son in one piece. I thank Allah for letting me arrived this town without difficulties and health issues. Once reaching the bikers paradise, we checked at Morning Coffee Guest House, and later proceeded to the Municipal office to get my certificate for being successful in conquering the thousand corners. Well, do I feel proud of myself? Actually, not so, bcos I go very slow. However, I do feel happy that I managed to do this on the 50^th day since I started to learn how to ride a motorbike.

We met some Thailand bikers from Surat Thani. They were very friendly and amazed to learn that Hadi rode his kapchai all the way from KL to London. 

I got the Mae Hong Song 1864 curves sticker for DREAM

Later, we went to Karen Village, also known as the Long Neck Village. It was about 15kms from the town center. I chose the wrong road in the beginning, but managed to find the correct way after that. We had to pass 10 wet crossings! I thought its just one. Thank god we didn’t fall from our bike while going and return. The village was small and the women were pretty shy. Some of them  could speak little English.

A takraw court

Some handmade crafts made by the women

That night, I did some shopping at the small night market near the lake. I saw somw stickers in some shop mentioning about Malaysian bikers had been there such as the Lanun Bikerz. So, I left my own mementoes there as well :) Total ride today is about 210km.