So me and my new buddy Evan rented Honda XR-250's and a Thai guide Nop, to take us on 4 days of fun and dirt! no matter where you are in Asia, a motorcycle of any kind is a good idea. A motorcycle that can handle anything you throw at it is even better. I don't have any photos of the actual trails because Nop was carrying my camera and backpack because there was a good chance I would crash and ruin it. Nop could ride the trails with one hand while smoking and probably sleeping at the same time. For me however it was greulling at times. The first day almost killed me with 250 km of about half and half off road/on road. We ended the day driving a canyon in the dark. The light on my motorcycle sucked so Nop rode in front of me and for what seemed like hours I just followed his little beacon. Day 2 I was really pooped and gave out about half day. Actually we were splashing through a lot of rivers, or rather the same river lots of times, which as some of you may know can be slippery and difficult and i was just on the edge of crashing most of the time so we decided to quite for the day. We were supposed to go to the border of Burma/Myanmar but just didn't make it. Nop said we could go by highway on day 3 and I suggested that I return to Mae Sariang (where we were staying) also by highway and that the two boys return by the dirt trail that I had failed to do on day two. He liked the idea so thats what we did. Day 3 we started up a lovely canyon road, but the "highway" part faded quickly and it turned into quite a challenging dirt road. I had my energy back though and had a blast! I failed to miss a few big puddles and got soaked from head to toe in mud! Finally we made it to the Burmese border, which was actually just a big river. Had some rice and veggies, shared with the starving dogs and Evan and Nop went one way and I went back the way we had come. It was actually really fun to ride by myself for a change.....not trying to catch up or feel like I was going to slow. Pulled over a lot and took more pictures. I managed to avoid the big puddles this time and flew down a lot faster this time! I stood most of the time since I was still pretty wet but managed to dry off. That was a good fun ride. I made it back to town in time to go check out the giant golden buddha and have some more rice and vegetables. Day 4 we just rode all highway back to Chiang Mai because Evan had crashed a few times and messed up his bike, so without a good front brake and bent handlebars we really couldn't do any off road stuff. What a blast it is to ride a motorcycle in Asia! Lane splitting???? YES!!!! Anything goes, especially here in Thailand....the only catch is that you have to learn to drive on the left....which I did pretty well.
Getting ready to leave Smile House in Chiang Mai....Nop let me borrow his chest protector and his ex-girlfriends army boots. 
After a gruelling first day I peeled off my stinky socks. (and wore them for 3 more days :)
Splashing through some water, apparently too tired to even lift my legs up.
At a government camp near the border.....we stopped for water and got boiled campfire water...served hot.
Nop. He is on bad A Mo Fo!
Apparently the bridge is out. Brakes? Check!
Border town. My bike is hidden behind the tree, but its caked in mud!
Yep....there is Burma on the other side.
Nop with Burma in the background.
The houses around the border area are all on stilts and Nop said a lot of them are refugees.
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Back in Mae Sariang...
Self photo in front of the giant buddha. 
Had a blast riding on the little dirt roads cutting through rice fields and Nop even took us in some old dusty, unused rice fields where we bumped and jumped around a little.
Reentry
12 years ago
