Rain, rain, and more rain! We went through some very pretty country today, parallel to the border with Myanmar, but had to deal with moderate to strong rain for most of the way. Our ponchos and water pants turned out to be water-retarding rather than water-proof, so pretty soon we were drenched to our inner selves. Right then and there Karen, Pat, and I incorporated as the WBMC or Wet Butts Motorcycle Club, trying to find a silver lining to our wet predicament. Just as we were feeling sorry for ourselves a group of 10 big touring motorcycles passed us and, seeing that misery loves company, we found some consolation on the fact that those folks had payed close to US$ 5,000 per person to come enjoy riding the many curves of the Thai roads, but were still stuck with riding under the monsoon just as we were (but we paid less than US$ 150 per person to rent the scooters).
Out goal was to reach Chiang Dao, but half way there, at Fang, we were so wet and cold that we consider stopping there for the day. Fang is at the end of a long valley and we were experiencing a deluge. What then could we expect once we reached the mountains, which we had to surmount to reach the valley of Chiang Dao?
Speaking of valleys, we have been going through a type of basins and ranges, where each of the small watersheds is home to a different ethnic group. Sorting themselves by watershed means each group has some flat valley land to cultivate rice (or corn, although we are not sure what they do with it), and mountain slopes to cultivate orchards (or in the past fields of poppies), harvest wood, and build their houses. It is a real lovely setting, particularly when the sun is shining.
Fortunately we decided to press on, and it was a really good decision because once we reached the mountain pass the rain stopped for half an hour, which gave us the time to enjoy going through the curves on a comparatively dry road surface. It was a real fun time, so when we reached our hotel in Chiang Dao we were in much better spirits.
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