Khun Yuam And Thai Japanese Friendship Memorial:
Our ride from Khun Yuam to Mae Hong Son started with a visit to the Thai Japanese Friendship Memorial museum.
Khun Yuam is a small little peaceful town next to Yuam river near the Thai Burma border which became a base for the Japanese troops during World War 2.
The memorial had several interesting artifacts from during that time including guns, uniforms, trucks used during that time etc.
There was a 10 min film that was screened giving us a glimpse of those tough times and how the present day Khun Yuam is what it is now.
After the visit to the war memorial, we started riding towards Mae Hong Son which was 65km away. The short ride with mostly downhill profile also has 800m of elevation gain.
It meant that we get to enjoy the exhilarating downhills and also keep reminding the legs about the climbs that are ahead in the next 3 days with a few short climbs along the way.
The valleys we rode in reminded me of riding in Vermont back in 2010. It was surreal. The terrain is quite similar with constantly undulating roads with tree cover on both sides and various hues in the hills. It was amazing!
We enjoyed the flowing downhills with a few short climbs that we were able to carry the momentum over and got to our first stop at the 30km mark. It was near a temple.
At about the 40km mark we stopped at another coffee place that was perched at the side of a hill with some amazing views. We had our cold cocos and coffees and posed for multiple pictures.
At this coffee shop we met a European couple who were doing the same Mae Hong Son loop on their motorbike! The lady was talking about how she was enjoying riding the curvy roads that are constantly up and down. I thought I could relate to that.
After the coffee stop I followed Ravi Kiran who was zooming ahead on the hills and downhills with equal elan. We stopped for a quick few pictures at another scenic spot before heading towards Mae Hong Son. We met Murali along the way and the three of us made it to the hotel in the city.
After freshening up quickly we went out for lunch at a nice Thai Burmese place. The food was fantastic.
A few of us went out for a Thai massage that is highly recommended. They came back to confirm why it is highly recommended. After a bit of rest, we went to visit a temple and view point in the evening.
The view from the top is breathtaking! You could see the airstrip, the lake that’s next to our hotel, the city and the entire mountain range that surrounds the city. It was beautiful.
From the view point we went back to the hotel and walked to the night market that’s next to the lake next to our hotel.
After a bit of shopping at the night market we had dinner and called it a night!
What’s Ahead!
Today is a 75km ride to Cave Lodge with about 1700m of elevation. There are a number of 9-10% kickers on the menu for the legs. The last 3 days seem to be as hard as the first two days. Looking forward to getting them done with a smile.
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