Mae Hong Son Fly-Ride Route · part 2

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Photo stop near Khlong Luang

   Khlong Luang sprawls across the flat rice plain north of Bangkok, a district of canals, industrial estates and university campuses. Thammasat University's Rangsit campus, the Asian Institute of Technology and Thailand Science Park are all here, along with Navanakorn, one of the country's large industrial zones. It is a busy, modern place that gives little hint of the countryside it once was.

   Read the complete Photo stop near Khlong Luang write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Photo stop near Khlong Luang is where the day begins. Next is Bangkok / Thailand return.

2. 2. Near Bang Pakong, on the way back

   The Bang Pakong River reaches the Gulf of Thailand here in a wide, muddy estuary, fringed with mangroves, shrimp ponds and fishing villages, about an hour east of Bangkok. It is not a classic swimming spot, and it is honest to say so: the river water is brown with silt and the shore is mostly mud. The reason to stop is the estuary itself, and if you want a proper swim, the beach at Bang Saen, about twenty kilometres south in Chonburi, is the place most people from Bangkok head for, with a long sandy shore, shady trees and stalls selling seafood.

   Read the complete Near Bang Pakong, on the way back write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bangkok / Thailand return comes up about 107 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mae Hong Son Fly-Ride Route food stop.

3. 3. Bang Bo District

   Bang Bo lies on the eastern edge of the Bangkok metropolitan area, in Samut Prakan province, where the urban sprawl starts to thin out into a flat landscape of canals, fish and shrimp ponds, rice fields and factories. It is not on most travel itineraries, but it hides a lovely old market, and it makes a good place to end a ride with a meal.

   Read the complete Bang Bo District write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   A break here. Next is Back to Mae Hong.

4. 4. Back to Mae Hong

   The sea smells different at Samut Sakhon. The Tha Chin River winds through town to the Gulf of Thailand, and the land around is a flat patchwork of fish ponds, mangroves and, near the shore, salt pans, where seawater is dried in shallow beds under the sun and raked into white heaps.

   Read the complete Mae Hong write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back to Mae Hong closes the day.