Touring the Golden Triangle

Story: Rob van Driesum

"You don't need a big bike like that," said Tony when I walked up to the CB400 Four I intended to rent to go two-up touring in the mountains. "Take the Honda Phantom. It's much cheaper in rent and fuel and you'll find it's all you need."

He pointed towards a Thai-built, 200cc single-cylinder cruiser. He must have been joking!

"Take it for a spin around the moat and see what you think," he insisted.

I was pleasantly surprised. The engine was wonderfully punchy, with a solid 'blat' when I opened the throttle and a serious rumble on the overrun. It kept well ahead of the traffic, unlike the 125cc Honda Wave step-through I had rented the previous days to potter around town like everyone else. So I settled for the Phantom at a cost of $15 a day, or $20 with insurance that would probably be useless if needed.

Tony was the Pommy expat proprietor of Tony's Big Bikes, one of the many bike rental agencies in Chiang Mai, Thailand's second-largest city and capital of the North. The aforementioned moat surrounded the city centre - a square layout with one-way traffic clockwise along the outer quay and counter-clockwise along the inner, a surprisingly effective system given the chaotic traffic.

CHIANG MAI
Jan and I had arrived the week before for a three-week stay with friends, a European couple who run a business exporting Hill Tribe jewellery. A large number of European, American and Australian expats live in Chiang Mai, most of them men with (younger) Thai women, so our friends don't quite fit the pattern.

We spent the first week sampling the cheap and delicious local cuisine, visiting the city sights (though once you've seen a few Buddhist temples, or "wats", you've seen them all), getting foot massages, chasing bargains in the famous Night Bazaar and the Sunday Walking Street market, and doing a couple of day tours out of the city on our Honda Wave.

The first tour took us up to the temple on Doi Suthep, the 1676m mountain overlooking the city. The Wave struggled its way up, but when we tried to reach the summit beyond the temple, Jan had to get off and walk up a particularly steep section.
Perhaps because of this she declined the second day tour, the very scenic Samoeng

Loop around the back of the mountain. Instead, our friend Jan-Marc kept me company on his Thai-built, mini-Fireblade CBR125R - an absolute weapon on the twisty road. I have no doubt about his claim that the other expats on their poncy Ducatis and Triumphs can't keep up.

Speaking of Triumphs, I attended the opening of the first Triumph dealership in the north, managed by the handsome Thai film star and Triumph enthusiast, Dom Hetrakul. TV cameras lit up as Dom spoke, followed by the beautiful female mayor of Chiang Mai and the James Bond-lookalike British consul.

When the formalities were over, we settled in to a wild street party with unlimited free beer and food, while police wearing pollution masks diverted the traffic.
Some of you may know that Triumph has shifted part of its production to Thailand, but rumour during the opening had it that Triumphs will be fully manufactured in Thailand within the next few years. Apparently it's all very hush-hush because the workers in Hinckley haven't been told yet.

This is probably wishful thinking on the part of the Thais, but if it happens remember where you read it first!

MAE HONG SON LOOP
The Samoeng Loop provided a taste of the brilliant scenery and magic motorcycling to be had in northern Thailand. So, Jan and I packed a bag, strapped it to the luggage rack that I asked Tony to fit to the Phantom, and set off on a four-day trip towards the Burmese border north-west of Chiang Mai.

The road wound its way through the mountains in an endless series of switchbacks which the Phantom handled easily. I was glad I hadn't chosen a heavier bike - a bit more power would have been nice but we couldn't have gone much faster anyway. Along the way we met a couple of Singaporeans who had rented CB400Fs with loose steering heads, and they weren't enjoying themselves at all. Yet they couldn't understand why I was so happy with the little Phantom: "We ride them in Singapore but don't think it's a real motorcycle," they said.

We spent the first night in Pai, a laid-back town full of backpackers and ageing hippies, and liked it so much we stayed another night. The front brake pads were looking a bit worn so I had them replaced at a local bike shop. The retaining pins had seized, and the mechanic spent two hours drilling them out and fitting new pads with tailor-made pins before presenting me with a bill for $6.00

Our next destination was Mae Hong Son, a town near the Burmese border in an area famous for its long-neck Paduang women, who wear coils around their necks. There were far fewer tourists here than in Pai, and we would have stayed longer if we'd had the time.

From here we gradually made our way back to Chiang Mai via Doi Inthanon, at 2565m the highest mountain in Thailand, with a modern temple complex near the summit. Again, the scenery was stunning and the road a motorcycling Nirvana.

Along the way we spent the night in a guesthouse at a 24-hour roadside coffee shop, which turned out to be a German-run orphanage along a scenic river bend, where we were woken at 5am by angelic singing.

GOLDEN TRIANGLE
Back in Chiang Mai we decided to undertake another trip, this time towards Chiang Rai in the far north - the (in)famous Golden Triangle region where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet. There's actually a busy tourist town called Golden Triangle at the very spot on the Mekong River.

One of the highlights was Mae Sa Long, a town perched precariously along a mountain ridge in a former opium-growing area now devoted to tea plantations, which was populated by former Kuomintang (anti-communist) refugees from southern China. Indeed, we could have been in China for all the Chinese script, people and architecture. We visited Ban Thoet Thai nearby, home village of the recently deceased opium warlord and Shan freedom fighter, Khun Sa, to see the museum devoted to his exploits (though no mention of opium).

From here, we followed a minor road that hugged the Burmese border along scenic mountain ridges and countless switchbacks, with a couple of Thai military checkpoints thrown in to remind us this was a sensitive area.

It led to the border town of Mae Sai, where expats from Chiang Mai who don't have permanent residency hop into Burma every three months to return with a fresh visa.

We decided to pay a quick visit to the market in Tachilek on the Burmese side. We knew we could get a one-day Burmese visa on the spot, though of course the bike would have to stay on the Thai side.

No problem - we knocked on the window of the Thai tourist police shed, where the officer in charge suggested we park the bike right there and his men would look after it. He then escorted us through the formalities at the border post smack in the middle of the bridge across the river, where he was best mates with the Burmese officials. That's Thai service for you!

The bustling market was like a mini-Kowloon (Hong Kong) at a fraction of the prices - good-quality DVDs of the newest movies for $2, Lacoste shirts for $3, Rado watches for $10, and hawkers offering Viagra, Saddam Hussein playing cards, 25-cent packets of Marlboro and, curiously, gas cigarette lighters.

Exhausted by sensory overload, we returned to the Thai side and rode to Golden Triangle, if only to say we'd been there. The following morning we visited Chiang Rai, the second-largest city in northern Thailand, which was far more relaxed and less polluted than Chiang Mai.

All too soon we were back in Chiang Mai and had to pack up to return home. But we'll definitely be back!

SUMMING UP
Northern Thailand blew us away. Chiang Mai is very different to the chaos and gridlock of Bangkok, and the general atmosphere is far more pleasant than the tourist ghettos in the south of the country (Ko Samui or Phuket anyone? No thanks!). The air pollution is still pretty bad, but when you get out into the mountains you leave all that behind.

The roads and route signs are good, and the traffic, though chaotic at times, seems to flow quite smoothly if you watch other road users and don't fret about rules. They drive on the left, which helps too. Unlike the rest of Southeast Asia, nobody beeps their horn unless they really have to, as it's considered a sign of aggression. Very civilised.

Indeed, the people struck us as extremely friendly, and we never got ripped off or felt threatened. Just good luck? Perhaps.

Petrol costs about the same as in Australia, but otherwise things are very affordable. Eating is cheap (try $15 for several courses for two, in good restaurants), as is accommodation ($30 max for a decent room with ensuite).

Bike rentals start at about $5.00 a day for a 100cc or 125cc step-through and go up to $30 a day for a CB750F - but you don't need such a big, heavy bike.

I've ridden motorcycles in quite a few countries around the world, and I'd have to say northern Thailand certainly ranks near the top for sheer enjoyment.
So, by all means go and see for yourself. Flights from Australia through Bangkok to the international airport in Chiang Mai are more than affordable these days (around $1000 return with taxes).

Just don't bring duty-free booze from home - due to the no-liquids security policy, we had to surrender ours at Bangkok airport before they let us onto our connecting flight!

FAST FACTS
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