58 km

We started the day riding through misty, foggy mountains, enjoying the cool, high-altitude air because we knew we’d be going lower today.

The road was great all day, because from the start we were on scenic Route 8. We climbed and descended to ride through several narrow green farming valleys. Tiny villages spread out along the road in these valleys, and many people could be seen walking along the road with tools for farming, with the women carrying woven baskets on cords over their shoulders. The valleys were mostly cleared of jungle forest and planted with crops like rice and corn, the higher slopes supporting rows of coffee trees.

We ended our day’s ride in Ban Na Hin. We plan to see about renting a moto tomorrow to ride the rough 40-odd kilometers to Tham Lot Kong Lo cave, where we can take a 7-kilometer boat ride through the cave. It’s been recommended to us by a few people.

Since we arrived in the early afternoon, we decided to hike in to see Tat Namsanam waterfall, which is supposed to be spectacular in the rainy season. We got to hike through the jungle forest with huge trees, vines and all the insects you can imagine. We rode about 2 km from our guesthouse (Xok Xai) up the trail and then hiked about 2 km. The second half was quite steep and rugged, and we found ourselves climbing over down trees and ducking under vines to follow the trail. When we finally arrived, the waterfall was… not spectacular, but pretty and held all the potential for spectacular come rainy season.

We ate at the guest house and enjoyed talking with a German backpacker before heading to bed.