Heading North

After picking up the bike the next thing we wanted to do was get out of Bangkok. Large cities seem to pressure us and what we really wanted was to see the country so after breakfast we loaded up the bike and headed out. Now one more thing about the roads in Bangkok, motorbikes cannot go on the motorways!! The real problem is that the GPS has not yet figured that out  so while it is telling us to turn right onto the motorway we are looking for alternatives. That can prove to be quite a challenge we did however find out that the motorway in Bangkok is mostly elevated with the secondary road below it so once we figured that out it was plain sailing out of the city. 

Heading north it looks like rain

Traffic lights and cross walks
 What a change from India

Tourist signs over the highway let you know what
 to see in the different regions

Now clear of the city we headed north on a very good, mostly two lane highway to the small town of Sukhothai but before we had been riding two hours the clouds started to crowed the horizon and I knew we would not get there without getting WET. It was far too hot to stop and put our rain gear on so we decided to just let it rain. Well, after the third rain storm we arrived in Sukhothai actually not to wet as the heat dried us out as quick as the rain got us wet. Finding a small guest house that was in the GPS was a delight and also the fact that the Ban Thai’s rates at 300 Bhat or $10.00 were well within our budget and that they had a wonderful restaurant right there to was great. So we showered had supper and went for a walk in town where we found a nice little coffee shop to finish of the evening.

The Ban Thai Guest House

In the morning it was still raining so we had breakfast put in our rain liners and headed off to Chang Mai. We followed the main road through Tak and onto the small town of Thoen where the GPS thought it would be quicker to take the mountain route rather than stick to the main highway well before we realized that was what we were doing it was kind of too far to turn back and if the weather had been better it would have been the chosen route to go but as it was we were doing it any way. The trip took about an extra hour but it was a great ride.

The Richies Home in Chang Mai

We arrived in Chang Mai at about four pm and started looking for a place to stay. Maybe the fact that it was still raining made the whole process worse but for some reason we didn’t find somewhere for about an hour and it was now getting cold. Well cold I say, maybe down to 20 c but being wet through and tired made it worse.

Another thing we liked in Chang Mai

May be next time we will just buy a bike here
thats $1500.00

It rained so much in Chang Mai even the rats came
up to see what was going on.

The Night Market Walking between the plastic covers

We checked into a small guest house called the Riches Home and jumped into the hot shower to warm up, after that it was out to find something to eat.We spent two nights in the Richies place and I don’t think it stopped raining but undeterred we went out to see the night market and wander around the city. We also managed to fit in one of the best Thai massages we have had all for the cost of 190 Bhat or $6.00 for a full hour. (I think we will have to have more of those) 

On a T Shirt in Pai 

In the morning the clouds had mostly gone so we loaded up the bike and headed out to Pai a small town in the mountains where not much happens but seems to be a popular place to visit. It was about 190 km from Chang Mai but I had been told the road was great to ride and the town  would be full of backpackers. Nice.

Crossing the river in Pai Nice to be in the
 country again

After two and a half hours on one of the most windy  roads I have ridden we pull into town  to hunt down yet another guest house,  we had checked the web and had a couple of places in mind but after checking them out we decided that we would prefer to be closer to town so checked into a hut at the Baan Suan Rim Pai for the cost of 600 Bhat per night again another great deal.