My next planned stop was Udon Thani, I hoped to be there for the Thai New Year, my third new year this year. But the journey would require one or two overnight stops. I contacted Steve for any suggestions. He sent back a route via Nan, weirdly it had a strange loop near the end of the leg to Nan. The note said, if you have time to do the loop, you must. By now I knew, if Steve says you must, then you must. But first I had to get there and it would just be a case of getting the kilometres done.
My first stop was more of a double take as I went past and had to go back. I saw a waterway full of people. I spun the bike round and went back. Parking up I stood and watched for a while. It was like a small festival, loud booming music played from the banks of, what turned out to be, a large pond. Men, women and teens were dragging nets or lifting and lowering suspended nets to catch fish. An old lady waved me over and walked me along the bank, telling me in her best Thai, all about what was going on. As we walked fish, thrown from the water, flew past our heads. Quickly scooped up and put in big buckets. At the end of the path an old man and younger woman had a sidecar with a bucket of fish and a small bonfire. She explained that it happens a few times a year and is a social event for the town. The old man handed me a glass with clear liquid and insisted I drink it. It smelt like raw potato and was intact Thai Whiskey. I gulped it down, trying not to look shocked as it burnt my throat. I couldn’t stay, despite their kind offer, in any case I don’t like fish or Thai whiskey.
Walking back to Red,I saw the lights were on. I’d not turned the ignition off, my mind flashed back to that sign in the hire shop warning me to always fully turn off the ignition. Luckily Red fired up without issue and I was off.
I was headed for Loei as that was about third distance. Mapping was set to avoid major roads and the rest of the day was riding along country lanes in parkland and open fields, through numerous small towns and villages. Eventually the larger town of Leoi came into view and my hotel for the night.
So this was just a stop over, time for a shower, a trip into town for food then bed.
Now this leg of the trip has the Steve Coupland addition. The ride was very nice, just whipping along the country roads and as the day was concluding I started the additional loop. A road that contains a copy of every race circuit corner in the world. It was incredible. The bike was happy being thrown from one perfect tarmac corner to the next, on and on it went. There was a stretch known only as corner number three, but it was signposted for miles.
It was late afternoon and as ever I was quite warm. I spotted a great place to join the locals. I was invited to sit at one of the tables, drink iced water and eat fruit. I took a quick swim before heading off.
I completed the extra loop that Steve suggested and made it to Nan. What I needed was a nice hotel with great shower and food. So why then did I book an authentic Thai homestay? Absolutely what I didnt want, however the hosts where lovely. A husband and wife with their charming little girl. At about 5yrs old she spoke perfect English. The house was old, like, historically old. It was dark wood and the door to my room was closed from the inside by a block of wood to secure it. It was so hot. The modern air con unit was next to useless, showing 32° when I turned it on and 26° the next day when I left.
I found an Italian resteraunt called Near Nirvanan. Great name, average food.
Next morning, and Grumpy from lack of sleep, I left early, to get coffee and fuel. Hitting the road to Udon Thani, it was much as the day before, huge fun. I found a waterfall that charged you to enter but failed to mention the absolutely no swimming rule.
Steve had mentioned an excellent coffee shop and I was keen. So keen that heading down a particularly twisty road, I smelt hot brakes. Then I noted that I was no longer using just two fingers on the front brake but four and Red was still running away. I was effectively making the brakes so hot they started to fade. I stopped at the coffee shop. An ideal time to let the smoking brakes cool. The coffee shop, my main driving force to be here, was closed.
As the brakes ticked and pinged adding their own smoke to the atmosphere, I searched online and found a hotel in Udon Thani and booked two nights. It fitted the bill. The centre of UT and near good resteraunts.
The rest of the journey was simple enough and I was reminded that it was the start of the Thai New Year (Songkran). That reminder came in the form of children at the roadside throwing water at passing vehicles and bikes. It was refreshing and dried quickly. It only happened about 7 or 8 times and was always welcome.
Rolling into UT the hotel couldn’t come quick enough. Traffic was slow, traffic lights painfully long on red and the sun was beating down. I abandoned the bike under a cover in the car park.
I must have come out the shower and fallen asleep, only to wake about 8pm. It was dark and there was a huge party going on somewhere. Walking out onto the balcony I saw it was a whole street party. The main street through town.
It was a late night but so much fun.
Earth, Wind and Tyres 