Phu Chi Fa, Camping in the Golden Triangle

We met a lovely French couple also cycling everywhere and enjoyed talking to them over lunch. When they told us that they had camped at Phu Chi Fa,  I saw Trevor's eyes light up...
It was a big day getting there, 65 km, we arrived about 5pm very thankful for the sticky rice with sesame and bananas that the delightful young girl gave us as we left our accommodation that morning. We stayed at a basic guesthouse the first night. Next day we had a relaxing morning then headed up the steep 2 km hill to the popular lookout which is right on the Thailand/Laos border complete with signs showing each country.
There is a small village below in Laos and the Mekong river is just visible. (Photo)
Not many people around but apparently in early January there were 27000 plus people per day at the lookout, hard to imagine!
We watched the sun set over the Thai valley then after dark we put up our tent, heated up the dinner we had brought earlier and were asleep very early. Very peaceful and quite isolated.
We heard voices about 5 am as people were making their way up the hill to see the fog roll in from the river and to see the sunrise. It was really cold. But again a stunning sight. A hundred plus people at the viewpoint.
The Hmong hill tribe people dress the young children (2 to 5  year olds) up in their costumes so people can get a photo taken with them and pay for the privilege... Or just donate. They were there at 5 am and most of the day. In NZ it would be called exploitation but here it seems to be accepted as just something they do. I personally found it quite hard to watch.
We packed up and headed down to the village for a late breakkie, a family size urn of rice soup, then had a good ride down to a town around 60 km away.
Next day we went another 70 km to Chiang Rai, highlight of the day was the awesome jug of iced coffee. Back to civilization.

The long and winding road...

A collection of photos on our day heading to Phu Chi Fa, we took the easier less steep route... hill tribe country in the golden triangle near the Lao border, amazing 65 km first  through a national park  where we spent time walking a trail. The bridges in the north have two flags on them. Corn husking was the work today. ( photo) Another awesome day in Thailand. Loving it.

Phu Langka - worth the extreme effort!

Chiang Klang to Phu Langka, 70 km.
Wow, glad we have 4500km behind us as this was one big day. A couple of km's to get the legs going then a 13 km hill, windy scenic route, only good for goats and four wheel vehicles,  over a mountain then wound around the top, through what looked to be quite a poor village before dropping into Song Khwae about 25 km into the day. Stopped for lunch alongside the army. The army photographer spoke English and told us they were delivering blankets and clothing to some schools as it had been an unusually cold winter and some people had died from hypothermia. Some of the houses are just made of bamboo and very basic without heating.
We were heading to Phu Langka, an area where lots of Thai tourists come to see the fog settle over a valley. Quite a phenomenan here!! But quite a remote area, just the one place to stay. The hills were huge, low gear for a lot of the way.One of those days where you keep checking to make sure you are in the lowest gear - and you always are!  Beautiful scenery, layers of hills, we had had enough by 3 pm but on and on it went. Finally dropped down into a village where we sculled a couple of cold drinks as we had run out of water.  Then a final 8 km to the top of the next hill, that was so tough... and our place to stay. So averaged 10 km per hour riding. Left at 8am and arrived at 5 pm. Can't recall stopping for 2 hours but I guess those stops at the top of each hill gasping for air do add up. Just got there in time to shower and enjoy a beer and chippies watching the sunset. Then  dinner and bed. We had to use our own inflatable mattresses on top of the bed as the mattress felt like a table... We have found that a lot lately, the beds looks good but there is no padding in the mattress at all.
Up about 5 am to wait for the sunrise over the same valley now shrouded in fog and covering the village completely.  It was one of those memorable occasions, a special sight.  The extreme effort of the day before forgotten as we sipped coffee wrapped up in as many clothes as we could find!
Bowls of hot rice soup later we headed off for a cruisy 50 km ride  mostly downhill and flat to Chiang Kham.

What?? More Wat's - Lovely days near the Lao border

Chiang Muan to Nan 73 km, a big climb up for the first hour and a half.  Two car loads of people from the weekend were heading there as well to farewell the police chief who was starting a new job in Nan the next day, they met us just at the top of the first climb with lots of laughter and encouragement! Then across the top and down into a village for the obligatory noodle soup, which is sometimes the only thing available. We have had it heaps, none ever quite the same, I didn't finish this one as I thought it tasted Yuk... Onwards up the second big climb of the day. Taking it slow, about half way up, my eyes, feet and hands started itching and swelling. The start of an allergic reaction to something I ate at lunch... Great! So I swallowed two different antihistamines, tried to keep calm as Trevor read the instructions on the epi-pen and sat in the culvert on the side of the road for a couple of hours and slept. (Photo) Luckily my tongue and lips did not swell, so epipen stayed intact, eventually felt a bit better and headed off slowly. I think Asia lives on legumes and there are peanuts in everything so even being very careful there is still cross contamination. Still had 40 km to go to next accommodation. We saw a few camping spots but didn't have much food or water with us. Arrived in Nan about 5 pm, my right eye almost swollen shut and just a bit shattered.
Next day had a quiet morning in Nan. The kaffe (coffee) ( photo) culture is definitely in the Thailand so we have a latte when we can, got to get calcium from somewhere... Headed out in the afternoon to see a few more Wats. Some very impressive old ones. Buddhism seems to be an intrinsic part of Thai life. In every city, town and village there are many many wats. The bigger the place the more there are and the more money is spent. One Wat we visited in Nan people were buying gold leaf and applying it to spheres to be placed somewhere. A lot of visitors to the Wats, mainly Thai but also foreigners.  Some appear to be tourist attractions. There is no fee charged as they are places of worship but donation boxes abound. The poorer areas there are noticeably less Wats and less opulence...
Nan is close to the Lao border and years ago had its own local dynasty and  sovereignty. Parts of the old city wall remains. (photo)
Just on dusk we decided to bike to the viewpoint, the police chief had just finished work, was out for his evening bike ride and spotted us so he joined us showing us the way, (photo with him) and then we shared dinner. So a nice end to the day.
Nan to Pua - 74 km, only one climb of 20 km out of the town then a nice ride up a valley. Found a nice place to stay, they call everything a resort here but I think it just means they can accommodate plenty of people as they are not like resorts as we know them. Local rice soup included for breakfast. It contains rice, pork and vegetables and many condiments available to add to it. It is great watching the locals get it just how they individually like it. It is a real ritual. Add some dried garlic, ( dried gloves with skin still on) fresh spring onion and coriander, dried chilli, fresh Chilli sauce and then the fish sauce, soya sauce, pepper etc, it all goes in and then they stir it for about 5 minutes and then repeat it all if they have another bowl.
But it is Yummy and filling.
We were heading into a more remote very hilly area with not much accommodation so spent the next night just 25 km up the rd to reduce the following day to 70 km. So a short ride and relaxing day to Chiang Klang.
The photo of the large Buddha we could see from quite a distance, just randomly in the countryside. I put my bike in front of it to give the size perspective, it is enormous.
The large clay pots are everywhere as well and often contain water.
There are layers of hills with lovely valleys nestled amongst them, agricultural area mainly growing vegetables and strawberries and lots of banana palms. Difficult to take good photos as there is a real heat haze all day despite still being chilly in the mornings.