Two Lakes and a Fish Farm, a Ride East of San Kampaeng

[friscofrankie]

We took a little ride yesterday just get away from the house, Much as the ol' lady wanted to go to the Mall I fooled here into getting on the back of one of tiny little road bike, we headed for the hills east of Chiang-Mai. Heading east we went through Bo Sang and San Kampaeng, We followed the road out 'till got old, ugly and narrow. The road leads to Ban Thi.

About seven or eight Kilometers past San Kampaeng we took a right under a wooden MooBan gate onto a road made of interlocking brick. Couple of more kilometers of villages and rice fields we started heading into the hills.
Traffic was practically nil, the air fresh, clean the quiet. Stopping the bike the quiet would roar up in your ears.

The road was smooth, empty and surrounded by green.


There are two reservoirs up here and a large fish farm. Very few people. Great place for picnic.

The first reservoir, or "Ang Gep Naam" (gotta love the Thai language) I guess we could call it the Huay Lan Reservoir. Or' Ang Gep Naam Huay Lan" has a few fishermen/women around no boats, nor beer bars but couple food stalls selling roasted eggs and pig innards They had soda pop on sale but I didn't see any beer being sold:

The dam road:


View from the dam:


WE crossed the dam and found a dirt road that leads and around the west side of the lake there seemed to be more folks fishing on that side even though the bank is steep and difficult to climb. There was more shade, ice chest fulla cold beers and a shady spot who wants to be bother by a pesky fish on the line?

There was shade along the west side but a bit away from the water. The shore was flat broad not really beach but almost park like:


The only lake-side dining (bring your own)


We decided to pass on a rest here the road seemed to get more interesting heading up the hill we've been here before, we haven't gone 'there' yet.


last shot of Huay Lan (gotta feeling we're gonna be coming back this way)


"bout 500 meters up the road we spied and interesting little bistro:


Parking in the rear:


Was pleasant place to stop and have a smoke and I was sorely tempted to stop and have one of their tasty beverages they had on sale, the road was getting more and more interesting we'll stop later.


Couple more kilometers and we found this jewel in the forest:




No one, Not a soul, Quiet. Serene no paths around the lake you get the feeling no one comes here. I think I could spend an entire day floating on a canoe here watching teh clouds. But the road kept gettiing more interesting. Turing off the dam road...


We found ourselves at a fish farm where they raise Pla nin and crayfish.


I was luck enough to arrive on a day when they had several tanks full of fry, they feed them hormones to force them to mature as males. the males being a much larger fish.
Some baby fish undergoing chemical sex change:


Lots o' baby fish getting doped up:


There were dozens of these trays, once they were doped long enough the fry were then moved to larger tanks where millions (billions) of their brethren were already gettin fat and being male.

The crayfish are about 20 to the kilo. They send them alive all over the world. Unfortunately there were no babies to check out but there were plenty of ponds full of fish and crawdads. these ponds went on in both directions for maybe 500 meters:


Place was littered with these things:


This guy was great walked throughout the place, explained abouthe cross-breeding experiment, how the fry are bred and managed. He took us trough the breeding tanks. and wanted to walk through the back forty of ponds, I opted for the short tour.

This was a guy that loved his job and loved to talk.

After leaving the fish farm the road got a bit too interesting:


The road turned dirt about 100 meters up. This dirt road was "rough" according to the fish farmer, it went down to the lower reservoir we decided to head back the way we came there's favorite watering-hole on the rice fields I like to sit at, have some liquid refreshment.
We headed down the hill, emerged from the forest to this:


two hundred meters or so down the road we found an oasis out fo the sun:


Dunno why, but whenever I get in this place I'm pretty much done for the day: Lots of pig guts but she's got a fe choice pieces of slow cooked pork on teh grill as well, made a nice salad and a plate with some dippin sauce n the side was perfect accompaniment to a few Ice cold Chaang brand, beer-like beverages served over plenty ice.

The rice fields are for sale, 7 rai. now If I can convince the ol' lady that country life is a good life...
Pleasant way to spend, and end, the day. I'll be going back. Often

[ChiangMai noon]

^
that looks absolutely wonderful Frankie.
where exactly is it?

[friscofrankie]

I gave as good directions as I could. just keep heading east of San Kampaeng towards Banthi, I'll take you out ther next time you have a day off. you can show me the new house it would be sorta on the way.

No signs or road names out there I could see, There are some wat stairs leadng up the hill on the left about a kilometer before the trun off on the right, the turn off is paved with the bricks you see in the pics.

[BUCKEYE]

It is wonderful. Thanks for the trip. Each bit has been very enjoyable!

[sledge]

F in beautiful mate

[Begbie]

The last sharp bend before chiang mai - lumphun golf course go straight instead of right and go on about 4kms. The entrance to the dam has one of those big archways drive under that and up the brick road.

[Little Chuchok]

Place was littered with these things:


Orchid?

[friscofrankie]

yep

[dirtydog]

I hope you borrowed some for your garden

[friscofrankie]

^ why? They're much nicer to look at when they're alive.

[Jock Itch]

Looks like a magical place !! - did you see the folk catching any fish ?? - or were they just using it as an excuse to enjoy the "Serenity" ??

[ChiangMai noon]

Frankie took me up there the other day.
not the easiest place to find really.

very beautiful though and we had dinner at a different restaurant.
it was very good.
People were fishing and camping at the reservoir.
it was a bank holiday weekend.

[Bobk_nyc]

real pretty, I could go for a place like that.

[Bobk_nyc]

as long as you can eat the fish.

[friscofrankie]

We had a nice steamed ruby fish the thng came towards the end of the meal and remember the four us looking at each other wondering, "Who's gonna eat this fucking thing" After "Kai Ping," two plate of fried chicken, two som tam, and a small plate of sticky rice no one was particularly hungry. Somehow the fish managed to disappear though.
The water has be cleaner that anywhere else. It's run-off from the hills and the amount of people there could hardly have much of an impact . Last weekend was a four-day holiday and there were more people there than I've ever seen; it was a small handful.

[DrAndy]

looks a great place FF

see you there

[gos]

Thanks ff looks great made a note to visit when I get there

[nedwalk]

looks like where i went on my little honda hog back in july, wouldn,t have a clue where i was i had a guide, but overlooked a big dam/resevoir,and a couple little huts where you could get some tucker and beer ..a lovely day out ..it was on the road to chaing rai from chaing mai...ta for the memories ff

[Scooter]

Looks lovely.
I must get out more.

[friscofrankie]

t was on the road to chaing rai from chaing mai...ta for the memories ff

Different place, Maybe. Lot's of nice places for a day trip around here, though.

[Frankenstein]

The last sharp bend before chiang mai - lumphun golf course go straight instead of right and go on about 4kms. The entrance to the dam has one of those big archways drive under that and up the brick road.

Ok, I will make an attempt at clarifying the description of how to get there.

1. Starting from Nawarat bridge. Drive east up Charoen Muang Rd., past the railway station - all the way up to the Superhighway, onto which you turn right.

2. Driving along the superhighway, after a while you will see a major overpass. Before this overpass, turn left, following the signs for San Kamphaeng (the signs are small, don't miss them). You should now be on the new road towards San Kamphaeng.

3. Follow this road for quite some time, past the turnoffs to Bor Sang and San Kamphaeng, until you get to an intersection with a large sign indicating the Chiang Mai - Lamphun Golf Club to your right. Turn right onto this road and follow it. (This is where I went straight. Don't, you'll end up in Mae On.)

4. Follow this road until you see the sign indicating a right for Chiang Mai - Lamphun Golf Club.

As Begbie said, keep going straight here. You enter a village and after a little while, you will get out of the village. The road joins with another to go through rice paddies on both sides. There are teak trees planted along the side of the road.

5. After only a few hundred meters, there is a sign on your left indicating a turnoff to Ang Huay Lan Reservoir to your right (as below). You will now notice the wooden archway to your right. There was also an empty police checkpoint at the turnoff when I came that way yesterday. May not always be there though.


Signs before turnoff to Huai Lan Reservoir.


Closeup of signs at the same turnoff.



THIS is what the right wooden arch looks like. Note the brick road.


6. Once you're on the brick road, just keep going through the small village and through the rice paddies and finally up the hill to the reservoir.


There are now two vendors at the reservoir selling barbecued goodies - Nile Tilapia with herbs and spices, barbecued pork ribs, fermented sour sausage (naem), chicken wings, and barbecued eggs as well as sticky rice. Beer and ice is available, as is Thai rum/whiskey and soft drinks. Not sure if they are there throughout the week or only on weekends.


The banana leaf packages contain the sour sausage, the Nile Tilapia fish is in the tin foil...

The food, although cheap, wasn't that good overall, so unless you're really hungry and haven't brought anything to eat, you might just want to opt for cold drinks.

Yesterday there were a few tents pitched up near the shore, a few people fishing. Didn't seem to have much luck though.

On the off chance you need to use a mobile phone up there, the signal up there is very unreliable for both DTAC and AIS. The best point for AIS is just before the middle of the sealed road on top of the front enbankment of the reservoir. Didn't manage to find a really good spot for DTAC.


This is where you get the best AIS signal.

If you should happen to miss the first turnoff to the Chiang Mai - Lamphun Golf Club like I did, then it is still quite possible to get there in other ways. Most of the roads to the right connect there, but you may need to ask the locals for directions because there are plenty of small roads in there (and plenty of skinny white brahmin too).


If you see this, you're lost. It's not the right wooden archway at all.

After driving several kilometers too far along the road towards Mae On, I still managed to backtrack through the villages and get to the reservoir without going back up onto the main road. The key word is to ask for ang gep nahm hooay lahn (Huay Lan water reservoir).

If you, despite the road description, should happen to turn right at the next red light after the Golf Club turnoff, it will still not be too hard to find your way to the reservoir. Let's say you did turn right there - then you need to turn right again at this smaller intersection:



If you look closer at the signs in the intersection, there is a yellow sign advertising Chicken Noodles in English - guai-dtiao gai dtoon:



Hope that helps.

[Marmite the Dog]

I recognise that place. I believe a few of us had lunch at a small shop nearby.

[Dalton]

^ Does the cow look familar...

[Frankenstein]

I recognise that place. I believe a few of us had lunch at a small shop nearby.

Sounds likely, I remember seeing a few restaurants scattered along that road, which runs mostly parallel with the highway to Mae On.

As we found out when we thought we might have found the right turnoff to the reservoir, the arch leads into an abandoned housing development, called something like Green Villa or Green Hills.

[Happyman]

Really must get off the island ! (Phuket)
Never been further North than Anthong and I was working then .
As a fishing freak those lakes look bloody great !

Transport would be a problem though- must be 4 days and a sore bum on an Airblade !