By the time I’d finished a breakfast of chicken, rice and soup, the rain had set in, so I decided to wait it out.
It’s much cooler up here, so it’s fine riding in the middle of the day and the rain wouldn’t last all day.
It didn’t, and I was underway soon after, knowing that there was a very steep climb ahead. There was a bit of rain and the poncho came out a couple of times before the climb started. Immediately it did, people’s expressions changed from smiling and friendly to thedisconcerting but familiar – ‘You idiot’. And I could see why after 10kms more.
I thought it was steep already but the road just ramped up and up and disappeared. There was one and a half kilometres of 13-16% and I stopped a few times to catch my breath,.. er…, Take photos 😁
At the top, I saw the perfect viewpoint and went a little way down a driveway to get a photo but as I took my phone out, a dog started galloping my way. So I got out of there quickly. It was a pity because you don’t get too many chances to look down valleys here – the undergrowth is usually overgrowth and blocks the view. Trust me, it was very nice.
With the big hill done there was some nice downhill, a less steep hill and some fantastic downhill. I maxed out at 68km/hr which is great on a touring bike. I loved every minute of it, having earned it earlier.The sun was definitely out and it started to warm up, so I had my daily dose of Kao Pad Moo Kai Dao at a nice roadside restaurant, then went a little further down the road and sat inside 7-11 with an iced coffee. That’s the best way to cool down !
It was a flat run through Mae Chan and into Chiang Rai where I found a really nice family run hotel. Lovely people. They moved me to a ground floor room so I could have the bike in the corner and agreed to look after my bike while I do a 2 day trek.
There’s even a pool so I was in there not long after arriving.
I found the night food market at dinner time – veggie Pad Thai with a veggie omelet – yummo. And as luck would have it as I was leaving, I picked up some Mango and Sticky Rice and a Mango smoothie.
So after a hard and long day of cycling, I was in food heaven.
