Lopburi to Khao Kho & First Fall for Bragge

From Lopburi it was a decent ride to Khao Kho. After 5 days of flat riding all over Thailand I was happy to see some mountains. Khao Kho was suppose to be the 1st place for camping as well so I was a bit more excited.

View from Khao Kho Royal Palace Viewpoint

I reached Khao Kho easy enaugh to the marked main camping site. Pretty basic by the side of the road with toilet but thats it. I was quite early so I thought to go riding around to see the sights if there was a better spot. I wouldnt mind spending 100 to 200 baht for paid camping site if there is a chance for food and charging pot really. Detour to see the Khao Kho Palace which looks like a Iban longhouse and then the storm came and I got stuck in the hut shelter for two hours.

Khao Kho Main Free Public Camping Site 

Khao Kho Main Public Free Camping Site 

Khao Kho Royal Palace Carpark 

Taking Shelter from the rain 

Two hours was a long time for me to research where to go for paid camping. So once the rain stopped I started riding to one of the camping spot I thought would be good. Road became small road to path to dirt road. Due to the rain the dirt road also became a mud path. Funny thing thou, I actually reached the marked camping spot through all the hard mud road without a hitch. The camping ground however had no one manning it, nobody home ... so I had to find another pronto.

Nobody Home at Campsite - Khao Kho

I turned around and thats where the problem started ... going downhill on mud is no joke. I went pretty slow .... almost walking pace but the bike was heavy with all my luggage and throtle control is not very good yet making the back wheel spin too fast in the mud. At one point the back wheel slipped and the bike tilted beyond my balance so I just let it fall to the right. Almost a stationary dumb fall and pretty slow so nothing was damage.

Tried to pick up the bike myself but alas it was too heavy for me. Walked downhill calling out to all the private camping ground building but no one was around. The thrid one had a guy and somehow I manage to convince him to follow me to help pick up the bike. Thailand people are really friendly and helpful. He walked with me back to the bike and helped lifted the bike then I was on it again slowly navigating the muddy road down hill.

Bragge First Fall - Khao Kho 

Great Help from Local to pick up Bragge 

I stopped at the guys camping ground thinking I should just spend the night here as a thank you. The guy call his friend a girl that could speak english and she told me it was 3000 baht. What ?? that is a crazy amount way out of my budget. I had to apologize to them repeatedly. I could not afford it I told them and they were quite friendly telling it was not an issue and that I could rest there first before moving on. I thank them many times and requested a photo with my savior then I was off again downhill back to the gravel road before hitting cement road ...

Looking from one camping ground to another and most of them had no one around. I ended up back to good road and found a very nice huts + camping ground but when I asked for the price they quoted me 850 baht for the hut and 250 baht for the camping. I bargained the camping to 150 baht and all was good. Borrowed a hose to wash out Bragge from all the mud and stones hoping the chain would still be ok since it was globs of muds sticking to it. I could only imagine how much mud must have got into the front spokret so I kept washing and pushing the bike to rotate the chain and washing again.

Paid Camping became Paid Hut - 500 Baht per night Khao Kho

Cooking my Dinner for the Night in Khao Kho

Once that was done, the guy asked me if I wanted the Hut for 500 baht .... a big smile on his face and with my exhauseted journey and fall, it was like a big temptation to have a bed instead of setting up tent and sleeping on wet grass. 500 baht it was .... and now I am all settle down.

I hope Bragge did not take too much damage with the mud track ... need to go for a good wash tomorrow and find some workshop to oil the shit out of the chain.

Luckily I took the offer and paid 500 baht for the one bed bunglo at Khao Kho. Somewhere around 3am a huge thundershower came down and absolutely drench everything. I slept even more soundly with good cool weather and nice rain sounds on the roof top.

Traveled on : May 2023