The Thousand Corners...

Yes, it's a ride that many riders dreaming of... the "1000 corners". This "1000-corner" is in Thailand on Route 105, Route 108 and Route 1065, a set of hilly roads that will give you a total of approximately 2600+ corners. 

On 10 Dec, me and 15 friends are set to realise this dream on our Multistradas. One of us will be riding on the newly-released Hyperstrada. All of us can't wait to see how the Hyperstrada performs. It is an 11-day expedition from Kuala Lumpur to "the Golden Triangle" and back.

Day 1, we rolled out from Kuala Lumpur and our destination of the day is Thung Song, some 800+ km away from Kuala Lumpur. Initially, we planned to overnight at Patthalung but it's quite difficult to find halal food there.

Day 2, we are heading to Ratchaburi about 688km away from Thung Song. It took us about 9 hours to reach Ratchaburi and while we were looking for a hotel to stay in, one of us had a water hose leak. Engine was overheating and lucky us, we had a mechanic accompanied us. And to add to all that, while waiting for the bike to be fixed, we discovered that another bike had a leak on one of its suspensions. Pity them ! well, there's no way for the Mechanic to fix the suspension on road side and its pretty dangerous to ride the bike further. So we called the Ducati Aid in Thailand and they came to our rescue. So both bikes are sent to a Ducati service centre in Rathapruek.

Day 3, we continued our journey to a town called Tak. On the way we stopped by at the Ducati Ratchapruek to check on the two bikes that broke down last night. Ratchaburi to Ratchapruek is about 1.5 hours away. The two bikes took several hours to get fixed hence we decided to let the rest of the group to proceed with the journey while me and one other guy stayed back and wait until the two bikes are done. At about 3pm the bikes were ready and the four of us continued our journey to Tak with the help of our humble servant, GPS.

The journey from Ratchaburi to Tak is about 486km on Route 32 and Route 1. Once we got on Route 1, it is one hell of a straight road! It even got us to wonder if bikes are allowed to go on it.

We reached Tak just in time for dinner and since tomorrow is the start of our main highlight of the journey, we decided to retire early for the night.

Day 4, it's the day that are have all been waiting for! The journey stats on Route 105 from Tak-Mae Sot-Mae Sariang and continue on Route 108 to Mae Hong Song where we going to stay overnight. Total distance is approximately 500km and should take at least 8-9 hours ride!

Challenging corners! Upslope, down slope, long and sharp lefthanders and righthanders corner-combo. One tip, DON'T LET HELL BREAK LOSE! Take an easy pace and enjoy the corners. Do keep in mind that the road surface is rather slippery especially when wet. Plus, enjoy the sceneries and along those routes there are quite a number of photo-opps and a few National Parks that you can visit. Amazing Thailand!

Oh! Forgot to mention that for this trip I took a local prepaid phone line with DTAC. Very cheap! RM45 for a sim card and unlimited data for a month! The signal is good just about anywhere you are.

We reached Mae Hong Song at late evening.. too many stops to take photos.. ahaks! We have covered a total of 1,864 corners! And guess what..? You can get a certificate for that! Awesome! Just head down to the District's office (office hours), and produce your passport and you'll get yourself a Certificate for completing those corners.

Tomorrow is yet another "cornering" day as Mae Hong Song is just a mid-point. If you are coming from Tak like we did, your "1000 corners" will end at Chiang Mai.

Day 5, from Mae Hong Song we're going to Chiang Mai via Pai. From Route 108 we went on Route 1095. On this Route there some 700+ corners. The distance to Chiang Mai is about 290km.

There's this Hot Spring are you must visit at Chiang Rai.

Before we reach Pai, we arrived at the Route's  highest peak. A lookout point overlooking the valley. At this point the weather was a little bit chilly. Here you'll see children dressed in their traditional costumes and will bug you to take a photo with you. Careful! It's THB10 per kid! However, it's a good experience to take photos with them, plus, they are cute! we spent 30mins here. Then, we continued our journey to Pai where we are going to stop for our Dzuhur (noon) prayer and lunch.

After our lunch at one of a halal restaurants, we paid a visit to a small religious (Islam) school. At this school, students will be taught to memorise the Quran, to be a Hafiz. The school has a very basic facilities. As fellow Muslims, we made a humble donation to the school with a hope that this school will continue on In producing more and more Al-Hafiz, amin!

Next destination... Chiang Mai. If I can remember correctly, we took roughly around three hours to reach Chiang Mai. Unfortunately for me, about 10km away from our hotel.. my side-stand sensor gave way. I can't put on a gear! Dang! We did a wiring by-pass and I was back on the road. Pheew!! The drawback is that I have to remember to retract the side stand everytime.

We were going to spend two nights in Chiang Mai, a chance to recuperate and rejuvenate (and wash our dirty clothes!).

Day 6 and 7, we were in Chiang Mai for two nights so we pampered ourselves with massages, shopping at the night market, and eat and eat! There's quite a few halal food restaurants, already on Google. The Night market is a must. They sell locally produced products and cheap too! A massage can go between MYR30-60. Yes, cheap!

Going around was easy with a TukTuk (three-wheel taxi) or better yet, rent a motorbike as cheap as MYR20per day. If you have a choice, you may want to use your own helmet. Just trust me on this one! If you don't mind to let them hold on to your passport, then no deposit is needed. Otherwise, you just give them a photocopy of your passport and give a THB3000 deposit.

Day 8. Today, we continued our journey to Mae Sai, also known as "The Golden Triangle". Mae Sai is a border town of three Nations, Laos-Myanmar-Thailand. The famous Mekong River also runs through it. The climate was very old, about 15-19C. So imagine the temperature while riding...

We reached The Golden Triangle at about noon. We swung by The Hall of Opium. To me, it's just a museum showcasing its many histories, its uses, illegal use of drugs, drugs trafficking, and how the King of Thailand and his government help to fight against crimes on drugs.

The shops in Mae Sai, closes early. By 8pm, many restaurants were closed. They do have a small night market where hawkers sell food, apparels, and small electrical appliances.

 Day 9. It was our last part of our journey, riding home. It was from Mae Sai to Kanchanaburi, 855km. We planned to rollout at 8am but the temperature was at 12C..sooo....we postponed to 9.30am instead. Dont want to ride shivering, although an 1.5hours later wont do much different but psychologically it did...somewhat.

We arrived at Kanchanaburi around 11pm and we had quite a challenge in getting a hotel. Finally, we found a small Motel which was comfortable enough and the parking is  right at your doorstep. Cool! For MYR80/nite, you get a double bed, attached spacious bathroom, and breakfast.

Kanchanaburi is a World War 2 historical town. The most notable historical place we can visit is the Death Railway on River Kwai. We had a good time there. Scenic, lots of photo-opps. You can even go on a train that takes you for one round on the railway.

All in all the trip was awesome and full of challenges. It was a priceless experience that all bikers should definitely go for. If you ask me, yes, I'd do it again but may be with  smaller group..hehehe. For first timers, I would suggest you go with an experience rider whom have been there at least once or twice. Then you will save time to look for places to eat (especially halal food), lots of lodging alternatives, and so on.  

We have realized one of our dreams, how about you?

Watch us on tv..!