Sunday, December 21, 2008

Route 118 Chiang Rai


And so having my holiday in Chiang Rai, the resort which I stayed was actually located some distance away from the city itself. Lesson learnt is that now I will recommend to anyone wishing to have a self drive holiday, do rent the car at the Airport. I had mine delivered to the resort and it cost me an extra THB $800 just for the delivery. Avis wanted to charged another THB $800 to collect the car but to which I refused. I drove to return the car at the airport instead.




Now, about route 118. One of the best roads I ever drove. In the rented Vios I drove, severely underpowered and not a car of my choice but budget constraints I had to adhere. However surprisingly, the car delivered burst of reasonable short torques at 3000rpm where I needed to negotiate the bends at speeds my mother would complain. I drove more then 600km in all exploring the area and had heaps of fun shifting between 3rd and 4th gears. Ascends and descends aplenty, long stretches were scarce. The corners tilted at slight angles, the rubber didn’t have to grip so tough. Fun driving, route 118 around Mae Suai. If only I had my dream car, an Evo that I could heel toe from dawn till dusk. In the light aluminum Vios I drove, swaying about round and round the bends. Like a sampan, for the very first time.

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