Anahm The final day of this 11 day cycling adventure was the easiest and one of the most pleasant riding experiences of this whole trip.
Waking up in a bed at the Mae Tang Watershed Research Station was a nice treat, it meant not having to pack away the tent and gear first thing, we could get straight on the road, a huge thanks to the guys that work there for their kind hospitality, we tried to offer them some cash for the stay but they wouldn’t accept, read previous blog for more details on how we ended up here.
We got on the road around 7am and headed to the Mok Fa Waterfall, while pedaling up the steep hill to the entrance about 10 dogs came out of nowhere and began chasing me up the steep climb while barking aggressively, after a few minutes I decided to stop and so did the dogs, but they continued to bark. After discussing the options we decided to head back down the hill and onwards to Chiang Mai to save us some time. We zoomed past the dogs on the downhill stretch and got back onto the 1095.
As we continued along the 1095 the route was fairly flat and we quickly started to reach small towns until we reached the seven eleven in Sop Poeng which was a milestone we’d been aiming for.
The seven eleven was a great place to stock up on snacks for our final stretch, it is also a great marker for the junction onto the 3009. The 3009 is known to be more scenic and has much quieter traffic conditions than the alternative option which is to stay on the 1095 and catch the 107 which has very busy traffic conditions and is more built up.
The ride along the 3009 was an incredibly rewarding section of the journey, there is a mix of open farmland, small villages and lots of beautiful temples along the way. The terrain is more or less flat which meant we glided through it quite quickly.
The 3009 eventually connects to the 107 and the final 17km to Chiang Mai were amongst the busy traffic.
After dropping all our supplies off at the hotel, bikes and panniers off at the store it was time to grab some food and relax.
The Cycling Journey was over for now! I encourage anyone heading to Northern Thailand to do some cycling in the region, the scenery is breathtaking and it’s a rollercoaster of a ride that’s both highly rewarding and challenging at the same time
