{"id":503,"date":"2013-11-22T12:58:01","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T11:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiangmai-chiangrai.net\/?p=503"},"modified":"2014-03-24T11:14:59","modified_gmt":"2014-03-24T10:14:59","slug":"etape-6-74kms-4000m-jusquau-bout-de-leffort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiangmai-chiangrai.net\/?p=503","title":{"rendered":"STAGE 6 (74k \/ 4000m+): Time for strong (wo)men"},"content":{"rendered":"

This sixth stage is the zenith of the project at least on a sport side. Running 74k a day after having done 220k in 5 days is already a small feat. If you add almost 4000m elevation and the highest part of the week (2000m high), it really starts to get complicated. Then when you will know the jungle will be the densest of the week (which means a very slow progress), you understand why I am in a cold sweat. Finally when you realize there are only 12 hours of daylight at this time in Thailand and we will need therefore to run at least 3 hours at night, you can imagine I have some restless nights!<\/p>\n

This sixth stage will be complicated till the end. In this enclave in Northern Thailand, we are always a few kilometers close to Burma. It happens that some places are temporarily dangerous. It is therefore possible that we will be required to avoid going to some parts. We will know what’s possible once we are around Doi Ang Khang the day before.<\/p>\n

After running down to Nong Dtao we will cross a large valley for a long time and pass few villages without much interest. This is probably the least interesting part of our trip. Leaving it the track becomes wilder and nicer. \u00a0We will go up to start climbing Doi Phaompok the 2nd highest summit of Thailand (2295m). At the beginning the route in a dense and desert jungle\u00a0will be difficult to cross. Then we will run on a better dirt road and \u00a0pass near the top of the mountain at 2000m high before running down to the Lahu village of Ban Pu Muen.<\/p>\n

From Ban Pu Muen it will be a beautiful crossing of mountains and valleys; we will pass many Lahu villages settled on peaks over 1000m. Ban Mae Ai , Jana Doi , Doi Laem, once arrived in each village, we could see the next one on the mountain ridge further. The last part will be a series of climbs and descents in a less dense atmosphere than in previous days, but with wonderful sceneries on mountain ranges.<\/p>\n

From Doi Laem we will tackle the descent to Tha Ton. We will run a few kilometers down on roads due to a lack of trails. When we will see the Chinese-inspired temple Wat Jedi and the Nam Kok River we will know we are close to the finish line\u00a0and this is the end of our exhausting day soon; Tha Ton won’t be far. I do not know if we would have the strength to look at the scenery. It would be a shame not to enjoy the beautiful view over the valley of Tha Ton and have a look at several Buddha statutes on the way down to the city.<\/p>\n