Ramblings of a Singapore Biker Boy

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 23

13 Jul 2016, Wednesday. I decided to remain in Luang Prabang for one more night. So this gives me some time to explore the area. Woke up at 5am in the morning to witness the traditional daily alms giving ceremony, but I didn’t get to see too many monks. In fact, I was waiting in my room with my balcony door ajar, waiting to hear some commotion – my signal to dash out to watch the ceremony. I didn’t hear any. So I walked out to the balcony only to see the last remaining monks briskly, swiftly and very silently walking by. Ahhh… Maybe tomorrow.

I concluded that the Laotians are super tidy people. Look at how they take the effort to arrange the veg on sale for the day.

Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 23”

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 22

12 July 2016, Tuesday. Since I was already quite far up north in Laos, and was only about an hour’s ride from the Yunnan Chinese border, I thought I’d just go check it out. I’ve always been curious about border towns – they typically buzz with human activity – trade, tourism – both cross border and international, shops, and sometimes other dodgy activities.

Honestly, the border was a little underwhelming. It’s used more by Laotian and Chinese trucks carrying construction sand and granite than passenger vehicles. After experiencing the expensive border crossing from Thailand to Laos yesterday, I wasn’t in the mood to explore another one. Also, my research has suggested that Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 22”

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 21

11 Jul 2016, Monday. If you’ve been following my adventure tracks so far, you might have guessed that I’m trying to head into Laos. So I woke up early this morning in anticipation of the typical border hassles, especially at these relatively remote borders.

Woke up to a beautiful sunrise. View from my hotel room. You can see Laos just across the Mekong river.

Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 21”

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 20

10 July 2016, Sunday. I collected my repaired Pulsar 200NS yesterday, and I’m itching to go riding again. But since the engine was newly rebuilt, I had to run it in like how one would on a brand new engine – keeping RPM’s below 5,000 for the first 500km or so, and speeds below 80kmh.

sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip, Day 20. Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong.

The ride between Chiang Mai and Chiang Khong was one of contradiction. It was a dichotomy between the most agonising ride and the most pleasurable ride on my Bajaj Pulsar 200NS. The 300km ride was estimated to Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 20”

Review of the Rebuilt Pulsar 200NS Engine

Singapore to Pai, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.

As some of you would have known by now, my Pulsar 200NS engine died on me after I’ve travelled some 4,000 odd kilometers from Singapore to Chiang Mai, Thailand and around the famous Mae Hong Son loop. The troubles started surfacing when I was doing the Mae Hong Son loop, when the engine started acting strange. There was a loss of low-end power and the idling was very rough. At first, I had thought that it was Continue reading “Review of the Rebuilt Pulsar 200NS Engine”

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 19

9 Jul 2016, Saturday. I woke up with excitement this morning. If all things go well, the Bajaj Pulsar 200NS should be fixed by today and ready to roll! It’s been 8 days since it went into the workshop for a top engine rebuild. And so I packed my stuff, left Chiang Rai, and headed back to Chiang Mai on the rented Honda PCX 150.

The route between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai runs through some amazing greenery and vast crop fields – something I didn’t get to enjoy when I rode up here due to the super heavy rain. With an amazingly nice weather, I Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 19”

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 18

08 July 2016, Friday. And since my bike is still being repaired (yes, it’s been a week now), I thought I’d head to the famous Golden Triangle – where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet at the Mekong river. The weather today looked great! At the same time, since I was in the area, and if the weather permits, take a ride to the border town of Mae Sai, where the Thai-Myanmar Friendship bridge was.

Day 18's route. Chiang Rai - Golden Triangle - Mae Sai. — Day 18’s route. Chiang Rai – Golden Triangle – Mae Sai.

Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 18”

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 17. Chiang Rai.

sgBikerBoy is on the move again! Heading further north.

After several days getting stuck in Chiang Mai sorting out my bike repair, parts delivery, and visa matters, I was itching to go riding again. With the Pulsar 200NS still being worked on, I took my rented Honda PCX 150 and headed to Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 17. Chiang Rai.”

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 16

6 July 2016. Day 16. I headed to the Lanna Expo at Chiang Mai Convention Centre in the morning. “Lanna” – or Northern Thai, also translates into “Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields”. It is the northern region of Thailand with somewhat different culture compared to the south. Today was also the last day of the Expo, and I thought I shouldn’t give this a miss.

The exhibition was huge! Much larger than I had thought it to be. Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 16”

The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 14 and 15

While waiting for the engine teardown, I rented a Honda PCX 150 in the meantime as I needed some form of mobility around town. I found a bike rental shop not too far away from my hotel, and now I’m mobile again!

sgBikerBoy is temporarily sgScooterBoy! My new ride around town.

The hotel came with a small pool and I had so wanted to take a dip in it. But my recent right leg injuries are probably not gonna take the chlorinated water too well. Ouch!

And so I spent the day wandering aimlessly around town, exploring the nooks and crannies of the old and newer Chiang Mai. After what’s happened so far, I decided to Continue reading “The sgBikerBoy 2016 Trip – Day 14 and 15”