Post RideForCambodia...SEA ride continues

[Digiamo]

Waiting for the others to finish packing for our flight to Thailand.

I sure had a blast during the RFC and learned something about where donation money goes when contributed to legitimate NGO's. It is definately a good cause.

We'll continue to keep you posted on our progress for the next two months.
Joe and I fly home April 9th and George March 15th.

We look forward to more adventures and as always, appreciate the feedback and support.

Droid S 3 & TT2

 

[gmast1100]

Love it all. Continue to enjoy yourselves over there and when you do decide to head "Home", have a safe and enjoyable flight back. Until then-keep those pics comin!!!!!!!!

 

[Digiamo]

Well, we had a mostly enjoyable night train ride up to Chang Mai, Thailand

...after a perfect flight to Bangkok from Phenom Penh.
Here is the train:

We are with Vermont Dan now at Riders Corner in Chaing Mai.
Plan is to rent bikes and ride roads in the back country as we did in Cambodia.
More pictures will be posted to the Ride for Cambodia /SEA thread.


Droid S 3 & TT2

 

[Digiamo]

Fantastic. Will you guys be posting your pics and videos here or in the Cambodia thread?

Both threads may remain active with regard to this tour but I will be posting pics and updates here if they happened after yesterdays official end of RideForCambodia.
Raven will be leaving us as planned on Saturday. George, March 15th.

Don't wanna think about how sad it will be to lose their contributions to this epic ride. Don't wanna think about going back just yet.

Riders Corner bathroom.

Droid S 3 & TT2

 

[Scooter]

Good thing I found this new thread. I opened George's SPOT page the other day and saw that you guys were on the move but then I calculated that it was past midnight where you were?!? I didn't realize that you guys were on a train instead of the bikes. : Makes sense now.

To bad George didn't have a Moonshine sticker to put next to those others...

 

[George]

Funny one, Scooter. I hadn't thought about the time aspect on the SPOT. We thought I had lost the SPOT as the train rolled out'a the station in Bangkok. I usually keep it on my belt when not on the bike,,, just setting quietly in our seats when I realized it was missing!!!! Ah, well, such is life. Figured it was laying in the street somewhere 'round the station as I had wondered about a bit. Anyway, maybe 10 minutes later, I stood up to do something and it fell <clunk!> on the floor. Still can't figure how it came loose but there ya are. Happy days again.

The train ride was uneventful 'cept for conversations with some good folks. Pics to be poSTed at the STOC Tag thread.

I'm still adding Cambodia pics to my Picasa albums and will post links to the Cambodia thread; links to Thailand pics will be here. In the meantime here's a hot link to all my albums. If ya get bored, you can always click back to my Moonshine 'Burger albums.

 

[Digiamo]

At POP's cycle rental, a fellow comes up to me and said with a look as if he knew me " I think I might know you. Where are you from"? I told him NYC and he declared he knew me from my trip to Panama and met me in Guatemala. I looked again and exclaimed "I met you at the border with Mexico.


We had a great reunion and wondered what the chances are that we'd ever run into eachother again, let alone in Thailand.
He will try to catch up with our group and I hope he does.

With our CRF 250's under us, we managed a great ride out of Chiang Mai to Mae Saraing where the author thumbs this out under a Professional Massage Therapist.

We picked up a new friend, DC from Homer, Alaska,
along to way on the black CBR 250 who we would not have met if not for Joe losing his way after missing a turn. Almost without exception, some good comes out of events that initially appear as only bad. DC led us to the hotel we are at as he has been here before. He seems like a great fellow.

AC, TV, Good WiFi in the room and two beds $13 for two persons.
After the massage we good eat and get more of DC' s story.


Droid S 3 & TT2

 

[George]

My tracks are tracking too.

 

[Digiamo]

George releases his feminine side, a sure sign of a man secure in his masculinity


We toured Mae Saraing after dinner mostly in search of ice cream.
JACKPOT!
We thought she was saying only one waffle left but by the looks of this dessert she probably said " Only one waffle needed". She brought five spoons without prompting. It was awesome!




We are picking up riders as we go along and we are loving it. Here is VT Dan in blue and DC from Homer, AK toasting with George. DC has been riding Thailand on and off for years and apparently is in love with this country. He is offering many great suggestions and by all the evidence, looks like he wants to hang with us for a while. Having a crew member with a bit of the local language and a harmonic personality is always a plus.
We move north today toward Myanmar on route 108 as six. DC said it's a must. From the look of it, we are in for a treat.


Droid S 3 & TT2

 

[Raven]

Here are a few road photos.






To quote George, "Well dang, we coulda rode that in North Georgia!"

 

[Indian Express]

Looks like you are having the times of your life and meeting new friends along the way! Danny what are the chances you would meet someone you met in Mexico in Thailand! That is an awesome story in itself! You guys are giving me all kinds of ideas of doing something in India but don't know if it would come close to this; the gears are certainly turning! Keep sharing the pics and videos it has been a real pleasure and priviledge to follow along with you all!

 

[Digiamo]

WE HAD A BALL with the CRF 250's kickin' up some dust all the way to the Myanmar border and back out the same way. Then rt. 208 northbound until dusk as was suggested by DC (Doug) and turned out to be a great opportunity to put the bikes through some paces on high speed twists and turns. I like this bike. Its very versital and light.
Here we are in Mae Hong Son for an meal and an overnight. George posts a chalk announcement for RideForCambodia.com on the ceiling of the bar/restaurant

Then we notice an TV interview taking place with the owner which sparked my curiosity. I asked the interviewer who called herself "Cake" and she explained that she is doing a TV story about the town and this establishment is an important piece of the vitality of the community.
We got her to sign the STOC Tag book.

Droid S 3 & TT2

 

[Indian Express]

Dang, the Boyz sure do attract the ladies!!

Yeah, I've been noticing that!

 

[TipSTer]

Nice pictures. Could you guys take these bike across border? Be sure to ride on the left lane!

 

[Digiamo]

Thanks for the advice, Tip but we get reminders on a regular basis here

We just had breakfast at a place that loaned books. I didn't know Mac was famous for writing spirtual books in the Far East.

Droid S 3 & TT2

 

[Digiamo]

Want adventure? Just follow VT. Dan. Three hours on a two/ one track trail with about two dozen river or creek cossings brings us to all that was talked about and all that enticed us to come to Thailand.



Droid S 3 & TT2

 

[nhdiesel]

Dang, the Boyz sure do attract the ladies!!

What he said!

Beautiful country there. It must be a blast to be on bikes that handle those back roads better. That guy VT Dan...he looks somewhat familiar, and he only lives the next state over...I'm wondering if I've ever run across him somewhere. What part of the state is he from?

Amazing coincidence with the guy from your other trip.

 

[forgitaboutut]

Thanks for posting guys!
I would give my left nut to be able to do this someday!

 

[Raven]

On another note, George and I scouted out an overland route from Mae Hong Son to Pai. We'd planned to meet up with Danny, Joe, and Dan this evening in Pai and figured they'd beat us by hours! Little did we know our off-road adventure would end up being the tame ride!

Anyway, here's a few snaps.
In the beginning the road is nice!

George swears there's a road from where he's pointing with his left hand and where he's pointing with his right....

Hmmm, the road is now a sidewalk - seriously, it's concrete and about a lane wide.

Now it's dirt.

Yield to cows.

Terraced fields.

 

[Raven]

So, tonight we splurged on a $60 room instead of the usual $10 to $15.
Interior

Exterior

George on the bridge over the river Pai