January 27, 2008
Chiangmai - Chiang Dao: Leaving Chiangmai along the Ping River
We finally manage to pry ourselves away from Chiangmai, trading the comforts of the town for the adventure of the road. Our route north follows the windings of the Ping River through Chiangmai's suburbs, then come fruit orchards and small vegetable and flower farms. The morning remains overcast and cool.
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Eventually we have to leave our idyllic country road and work our way to Route 107 at Mae Taeng, easy to miss as there are no signs in Roman letters and the map doesn't show enough detail. Route 107 is a well-paved 4-lane highway and isn't particularly scenic where we get on it with all the stores and small businesses lining its sides. But that changes, soon there are no more gas stations or 7/11's, mountains rise up on the horizon, the hills are green and rice paddies accompany us. The road surface remains perfect all the way to Chiang Dao.
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All in all it's a lovely ride. We never do find the hotels our map indicates a few kilometers before Chiang Dao but as we approach the town a Dutchman rides up on his motorcycle and suggests we look at his bungalows, a few hundred meters down the road. The rooms are small but we have warm water and you would search in vain to find anything more spotless in Holland itself. To reinforce the Dutch atmosphere there is a mural-sized photo of tulips on the wall. We pay 5 Euros.
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