Hooked On Asia

Road en route to Angkhang Nature Resort

We were driving north out of Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second city, and I have to say I was feeling pretty confident. The formalities for the car rental had been completed swiftly and smoothly at our hotel: driving licence* checked and forms completed. Maps and guidebooks now strewn across the back seat of our hire car: I was ready!

My colleague and I were testing a new fly-drive programme for Magic of the Orient and I got to drive!

The morning traffic was a minor inconvenience and once we had cleared the outer ring road the 107 was a relatively smooth road. In my experience the standard of the roads in Thailand is pretty good. Pot holes are fairly common but then we get them here in the UK too. In fact driving in Thailand is probably neither better nor worse than many other countries: as usual you just have to get used to the local idiosyncrasies. I did have one advantage: they drive on the left, just like at home.

Our destination that day was Doi Angkhang and the Angkhang Nature Resort. The Resort has been developed as part of the Royal Angkhang Research Station, under the Royal Project Foundation: an initiative by His Majesty the King of Thailand to help the hilltribes establish suitable cash crop alternatives to the opium poppy. Four decades on and the project continues to have a positive impact on the villagers.

Angkhang Nature Resort Location Map

I had studied a map (unfortunately not this one on the left) and decided I would take the scenic route along the 1178, then on to the 1340 across to the resort. That was the plan: I estimated 3 – 4 hours for the whole journey.

After around 4 hours we were quite literally in the middle of nowhere. We saw the occasional hut perched on the side of a hill but no people, no traffic and no sign posts (not that one would have done us much good since, away from the main routes, signs are in Thai script!).

The scenery was stunning and amongst the most dramatic I have seen in Thailand. We were surrounded by mountains and green valleys and much of the time the road snaked along the top of a ridge with a steep drop either side. We joked, more than a little nervously, that at some point we must have crossed the border into Myanmar.

Being true to type (stubborn male driver) I was very reluctant to admit to myself, or to my amazingly chipper travelling companion, that maybe, just maybe, I had gone wrong somewhere.

Finally after driving for around an hour along an unmade road I had to admit that something was not quite right. There was little sign of life and I really didn’t want to be stuck in Myanmar, or wherever we were, when nightfall arrived. It was time to turn around and retrace our route.

*A drivers licence from your country of residence (with English translation) or an International driving Licence is required. You must carry it and your passport at all times when driving. For more information visit the Budget Car Rental Thailand site.

Continued: Discovering Northern Thailand By Car Part 2 of 2