8TH FEB 2013: LOM SAK – PHU HIN RONGKLA NATIONAL PARK – PHITSANULOK – UTTARADIT – PHRAE – PHAYAO – CHIANG RAI – MAE SAI (700KMS)
I have a long ride to cover today, so I decided to start early. However there was quite thick fog blocking the view which made me have to wait for a while. I rode the same way from where I came last night, and took a right turning to route 2372, found the ‘0’ mile stone which Rosli Sulaiman told me about, and turned left to route 2331 to the National Park.
The road was narrow and winding, but in a good condition. It was very steep that the steepness in Doi Angkhang seemed to be of no challenge to this one. I rode slowly and carefully, bearing in mind to alert for vegetable trucks coming from ahead (but I didnt encounter any). The view should be nice, but since it was foggy and the sun was up and rising, it looked hazy. I rode until the resting place where the Hmongs sold their stuff and after resting for a while, I started to descend the same way down and all the way on route 12 heading west.
I didnt take very long to reach the intersection near Phitsanulok, only about 1:20hrs riding (compared to 2:15hrs yesterday’s ride). I continued riding towards Uttaradit via route 11, then to Phrae and Phayao via route 103 - 1 (getting slightly confused bcos of the lack of signboard, but manage to get back on the correct track soon after). The road was winding but nice. I enjoyed myself very much riding on this road. I hv to ride slowly (about 50kmh) upon reaching Phayao as DREAM was almost out of fuel and there was no petrol station to be seen.
It was very obvious that now is dry season as most of the trees were barren. Nevertheless, the view was still beautiful as the trees turned to yellow, orange and brown in colour. I rode straight to Chiang Rai without realizing that the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) was actually 10kms before th city. My mistake. I should hv checked the location much earlier. So, I hv to turn back to the temple. It was already 3.30pm and there were many tourists at the temple.
This unique modern temple was designed and built by artist Chaloemchai Khositphiphat starting in 1998. It was sooo beautiful and impressive and blew my heart the moment I lay my eyes on it. The attention to detail in the temple was remarkable that I spend quite some time here studying the beautiful artwork.
To reach the temple I have to cross a bridge over a ‘pit of hell’. Down below, there were sculptures of people who were presumably trying to escape from hell. Inside the temple was a beautiful coloured mural of the Buddha. If you take a close look at the devil you will see small portraits of Osama Bin Laden and George Bush in the Devil’s eyes. Also on the murals, I spotted the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and also the creature from Alien.
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| The 'pit of hell' |
After spending about 45mins here, I get back to DREAM but I was stopped by some tourists from Malaysia, wanting to take pics with me and DREAM. Then I rode straight to Mae Sai. The traffic was quite heavy at this time of the day. I spotted the sun flower field which I hv missed during my previous ride, but unfortunately, the flowers were already dried and dead, which means that I will have to come here again when its in full bloom. I arrived the Thailand – Myanmar border about 30mins before closing time. There were many people from both sides wanting to cross the border. I persuaded the officers to let me enter the ‘no mans land’ for pics, but they didn’t allow me as they said it was peak hour and critical time for drug smuggling. I will have to make do with pics at this same landmark which I hv taken on May 2012.
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| Republic of the Union of Myanmar |
I found EQ Home GH without any problem and had a simple fan room for B150 only. Even though cheap, the cleanliness was first class. DREAM was also securedly parked inside the GH. The GH was owned by a western guy who married a Thai woman. He was also an overlander and we had a nice conversation. He admired DREAM very much, especially when I told him how far DREAM can go with a full tank (12 litres) petrol.
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