Chiang Rai and cycling.…(7)

It's quiet in Mae Sai…..

Two weeks ago, in Episode 6 of my cycling serial, I mentioned Mae Sai and Chiang Saen as destinations on the outer edge of my range. I also wrote that, given the distance, I wanted to get there before the heat and annual air pollution descended on this beautiful province again.

Well, I have now realized that intention. After two days of calm physical exertion, I got up last Monday, shortly after sunrise, and left in a northerly direction. On the way I felt that the legs were good enough for a long drive and I decided to drive Highway 1, which I was driving on at the time, to the end, so to the border crossing in Mae Sai. It is not the most ideal cycling route, a fairly busy main road with separate lanes, especially over the first 30 km from the city, but the road surface is fine and there are hardly any differences in height. There is no real alternative for this route, by the way; at least not for the entire route: in some places you can cycle parallel to the main road through villages and between the fields, but that doesn't really help if you want to make such a long ride.

The northernmost Thai border crossing; completely closed on the day of the military takeover in Myanmar.

After a smooth ride I drove into Mae Sai. What was a bustling and bubbling border town in pre-Covid times turned out to have changed into a - compared to 'before' - place where most shops and the Thai variants of our catering industry were closed, with few people on the street. I knew that the border crossing had been closed to passenger traffic since March last year, but that freight traffic was allowed through under strict conditions. However, the transition turned out to be hermetically closed, with fences over the roadway. Once back in Chiang Rai, I found out that a coup d'état had taken place in Myanmar that day and therefore the transition was completely closed. Freight transport was possible again later that week

The Sob Ruak, the border river, with Mae Sai on the left and Tacilek on the right.

Right next to the striking border office – in the picture to the left – and the bridge that connects the two countries, you can get to the border river, the Sob Ruak (also spelled 'Sop Ruak'). In my opinion, 'river' is a (too) strong word for the narrow stream between Mae Sai on the Thai side and Tacilek in Myanmar, but in the rainy season it will probably contain a bit more water. As it is, you don't seem to get much more than wet feet/legs wading from one country to another. That Sob Ruak, by the way, ends up in the Mekong 25 km downstream, at the famous Golden Triangle Park (the three-country point),

So there was little to do in Mae Sai and that is why I was soon on my way back. At a large gas station, when driving out of town, I replenished my fluid and energy supply at the 7-Eleven and Amazon Coffee present there. Click on the pedals, get back on Highway 1, look at infinity – eh, not literally of course and certainly not the mind at zero in Thai traffic – and pedal on. With 130 km on the clock I returned to my trusted base. So that was one, one more to go…

Along the road from Mae Chan to Chiang Saen. Doi Tung (1400m) in the distance.

Number 2, Chiang Saen, I would do a week later, so last Monday. That intention literally fell into the water. Unusually for this time of year, it started to rain and thunder late in the afternoon on Sunday, and continued into late Monday evening. In between it was sometimes dry for half an hour, not longer. Tuesday would be dry and sunny again, and a glance out the window on Tuesday morning confirmed that prediction was coming true. 15 degrees at 08 am, and the forecast was that it would be 22 degrees in the afternoon. Fantastic weather to hit the road!

The first kilometers were not easy. As an aftermath of the depression of the past day and a half, there was initially a strong wind that I had full head. In the Dutch polders that is daily work, but cycling in Thailand I rarely have to take wind of any significance into account. Fortunately the wind became less and less that morning and of course I had the prospect that I would have it with me on the way back.

Due to the exuberant rainfall, nature turned out to be wonderfully refreshed. Green was green again, all dust had been washed away and the air had also been washed clean, resulting in beautiful views along the way. That 'on the way' was the route Chiang Rai – Mae Chan – Chiang Saen, the shortest and also the most flat route.

The Mekong at Chiang Saen. The water has been higher...

In Chiang Saen, I first went to see the mighty Mekong, an image that never bores me and of which I am always impressed. Three months after the rainy season, the water level is a lot lower than I expected. The dams in China, further upstream, will play a role in that, I suspect.

The consequences of Thailand's reduced tourism to virtually zero are less visible in the city of Chiang Saen than in the real tourist 'hotspots'. Many tourists did visit the Golden Triangle, in the same district only 10 km to the north, but never visited the city itself. Accommodation is therefore only available to a limited extent, and shops/restaurants, etc. are almost entirely aimed at the population living there and in the immediate vicinity. Yet it is more than worth a visit, because of the beautiful location on the Mekong and the - in my opinion at least - authentic and relaxed atmosphere. Chiang Saen also has a rich history that goes back far in time - it is one of the oldest cities in present-day Thailand - a lot of which can be found, especially within the old city walls. Those walls, with a moat on the outside, run in a spacious semicircle with the Mekong as the beginning and end and thus demarcate the historic old part of the city.

Part of Chiang Saen's old city wall, here on the Mekong.

Cycling out of Chiang Saen with the Mekong on my right, and still feeling fit, I decide to cycle on to the Golden Triangle Park, the border triangle where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. I had been there several times before, but never by bike. I knew it was just under 10 km to go – well, it had to be done. It is located near Ban Sob Ruak, named after the border river that flows into the Mekong there.

The three country point, the Golden Triangle.

Before Covid made itself known, this was a very busy tourist attraction, which was skipped by few visitors to the north of Thailand and was a regular item in almost all organized tours and regional excursions. Now it offers a desolate sight of closed shops, restaurants and hotels, and only the occasional visitor - who then quickly disappears because of the deserted impression the place makes and the resulting depressing atmosphere.

So do I; after taking some photos I click back on the pedals and start the journey back. Via Chang Saen back to Mae Chan, stopped there for the much needed dose of caffeine and on to Chiang Rai. I seem to have stretched my intended range a bit because a look at my counter, upon arrival, shows me that I have pedaled 146 km together.

Tomorrow I'll leave the bike, if you don't mind.......

Golden Triangle: a Buddhist temple with a beautifully stylized ship.