Life Behind The Thunderdome

Once again a couple of days rest turned into a week.
we couldn't just leave Jao and her family that quick, nether we could ignore the fact that there where a few walls to be climbed and ticked off to finish a sector in our book; some new neighbours and the most amazing local celebration i ever assisted in Thailand made us stay one day longer, than another one, then another one...
It's much hotter now and the climbing routine is changed, we can either go early in the morning and climb till one or two o'clock, the last couple of hours preferably in a cave, or start around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, then only a few walls are available because the rock gets too hot and even if in the shadow it feels like climbing on a toaster.

Some shitty pictures of a great event.

The infinite line of people entering the temple with all sort of donations.

One morning, Jao tells us about a party at the temple that evening and we should go take part all together. I have been to a few party in a temple and normally what happens is a snack at a stall, bungee castle for the kids, unnecessary loud P.A. for music and speeches then the Buddhist do the Buddhist thing, with prayers and offers to the monks and everybody goes home in peace or whatever.
The whole home stay rode their scooter on a convoy some villages away from Mae On, when we got closer the small road was jammed with hundreds of cars all going to the event. I could already hear the music, actually many different ones all blasting and overlapping each other. There was a market all around the temple filled with all sorts of snacks and from a small road coming from the fields and getting straight through the main gate all the different communities of the area wearing their traditional bright dress where dancing to their anthem and bringing offers to the temple.
Some crazy colours and sounds and so many ethnic groups. My favourite where the hill tribe which wear the most shocking outfit, huge jewellery and metal hanging everywhere.
Everybody brought their donation to the monks then jumped on a stage to perform their traditional dance, i assisted to many, it went on forever, till the point i was really spaced out from the music of the three stages, a monk presenting every group, everything so loud and going on at the same time.
On the back of the temple another party was going on, with dancers, lady boys and liters and liters of beer! Being the only westerners, many of the locals insisted we sat at their table, many couldn't stand anymore. Since Bangkok i haven't been drinking and i certainly wasn't gonna do it that night, so jumped back on the motorbike and went home.

Leaving Jira, Jao and her husband, we never got his name
but he was a funny man!

Passing by San Kamphaerng by
a nice road lined with threes

Then getting to Chiang Mai, traffic hell. I'm considering
start smoking, that will give me
a valid excuse for an eventual lung cancer...

The camp at Bell's guest house that just opened and is
more of a home/building site, he let us camp for a good price.

Time for the next move finally came, one late afternoon we started riding to Chiang Mai to meet Carlos and Blanca, two friends living in the city, spend some days with them and make a plan for the next section of the trip.

After all that hill massacre we reached my beloved Nan. Spent the first two days at a guest house relaxing and sort out practical stuff.

Beside that i wanted to meet my friend Jin, a sixty years old woman who runs the best vegetarian restaurant in town in the garden of her house.

Jin's kitchen.

She got very happy and insisted we moved to her house and I couldn't refuse. In there we got sorted out with a room and a lot of care, first of all we got fed 3 times a day with her delicious meals then after 3 o'clock once the business shout down we went around sight seeing with her car. I'm really impressed how much energy she has at her age!

Opening the restaurant.

Lazy hanging out at our usual table.

Kao Noi Mountain where to look at
sunset over Nan

Our last delicious breakfast, Jin even made us
a lunch pack!

Finally i got my greasy fingers on one of
those giant bananas

That's it off we go, but I'll be back!

Got the chance to see some other people too, Christian and his family whom invited us for dinner at their place.

As last year everything ended at the Saturdays night market, having lunch on maths on the floor by a small stage with live music. Nan, what a nice city i could really live here for a while!

Four days flew by very fast and before having the time to assimilate all that happened i was already on the saddle, direction Phrae, Lampang and back home, Mae On.

Police station dance, camp, get coffee, and a picture,
very nice people in we even got a whole bunch of bananas.

There where not many option for the way back rather than following the main highway which we manage to escape only once, it wasn't too bad after all, only before and after a city the traffic raised intensity, on the other end we got some nice stretches through the bush and some hills now and then.

On that flat boredom, one late morning we entered the city of Phrae. At first we planned to stop for a coffee and a feast at the vegetarian restaurant but than things changed dramatically...

After our early lunch, Serjio decide to buy a sim card to get Internet on his phone so i wait for him at a random cafe on the main drag. There i got served the most huge ice coffee i have ever seen in my entire cycling career in Thailand, it was something like a liter of coffee!!! i couldn't believe it!!! When my friend got back, after a while, amazed he had to get one too. (I guess he needed it after the experience of buying and activating a sim card in this country, not hard, just an experience!).

After all this raving around it got pretty late and the sun was high and burning, we had to continue. Just a few meter down the road we found one of the most scary hotels in history, we look at each other and say:" stay??!!", the answer was yes, we asked a coin to take away the guilt of being too lazy and it confirmed.

Horror Hotel in Phrae

Some scary corners and corridors.

I loved this place!
One of those scummy antiques collectors could
come here and make a fortune!

We paid 2.50 euros for a room in that piece of history and went back to the coffee shop for another liter. I really enjoyed that lazy day!

The day after we rode 110 km, so easy on the flat land, and a truck brought me over a 10 km uphill by holding on to it. At the top my arm was 6 cm longer.

Got to Lampang, it seemed like a nice city but we staid too shortly to fully enjoy, from there we finally left the high way heading north on a secondary road first, then to a rural road, kind of a short cut to get to our final destination a bit faster.

Going uphill on a lazy day this truck made me realise
i was slower than a three, so i though of holding on to it.

Lampang caught my interest for some reason,
i think ill be back, hope this shitty picture will give you
an idea...

That last day was very hard, but the road was amazing, we rode once again through the jungle. Huge threes and some beautiful villages in the middle of nowhere, everything was so green and different from the usual dry woods we where use to. Many up and downs, every time we got to a view point i though it was the last one but unfortunately it wasn't. Eventually a waterfall and the first singe of tourism, had a refreshing dip and kept on going. We where on a roller coaster dividing us from the valley of Mae On.

What a ride!