Back road to Pai

Liam thought we might take the back road from Chiang Dao to Pai. It was nine in the morning. The sun felt spiky but the cool mountain air tempered it. Liam looked up from his map and said there’s a route that’s mostly dirt. But it might get tricky.

We’re at a coffee shop at a junction in Ban Mueang Khlong. Our first stop from Chiang Dao. Across a sliver of water, motorcyclists pitched their tents. I’ll ask them, Liam said. He walked over, took out his phone, and the bikers leaned in to study the Strava map. He asked them if they had traveled on the road or knew of it. Yes, that’s all dirt, one guy said. And there might be flooding. He looked at Liam and grinned: adventure!

At this point, you think we would have had the good sense to shift plans and take the main road. But the thought of driving all the way back to Chiang Dao and then getting on the highway put us off the safer option.

The road was muddy and carved up by bikes and trucks. We waded the first stream easily enough. And the next. Until we reached one that was deep and feisty. We were able to get the Honda 500X easily enough, but we were uncertain the cruiser would make it.

We had been standing by the side of the river for fifteen minutes and contemplating ditching Pai, when a delivery man in his tiny scooter forded the river, gesturing with one hand at the shallow end. That was all the encouragement we needed.

Alekos got the cruiser across. We whooped and howled.