I was told of an enduro route that led to an old mans' house- a farmer that never left his house because his vehicle had broken down and that was that! I am not sure how much of that story is actually true, but what I did believe was that he was the man to see to get directions to an untouched hot spring. Worth a try!
The track meandered through a valley floor before climbing up one of the hills. The route was incredible overgrown but still passable. It was also lots of fun zipping through the long grass.
I was slightly worried about the combination of long dry grass and a very hot engine so I tried to find clearings each time I stopped.
Thickets became a nuisance but not a reason to turn back. The grassy valley went on for ages and didn't really change much from the start to the end over an 8km distance. As the trees and bamboo grew taller, the track cleared and an open gate meant 'keep going'.
Through some simple farm land, of- I'm not sure what but there were some cabbages mixed in with some green beans, I came across the farmers house. I slowly rode up and turned off my engine. The old truck- with a trailer was there and it did look pretty dilapidated, so maybe the story was true.
I called out a few times but heard nothing. His house/shack didn't really have doors on and even though I didn't go in or start peeping, I am quite sure no one was there. I kind of relied on this old man to give me the next set of directions.
Without him I had to start guessing the way and my 20 minute wait began to seem pointless. The track that I rode along had fizzled out and as I went further, it turned into numerous footpaths that began to break off.
I had to admit defeat. When one footpath ended, I had to return and try another. When I had tried all of them I was getting low on fuel and didn't have a refill.
I managed to get one good view from the top of the hill over looking the far side of the valley, but no way down.
Retracing my tracks I passed the empty farmhouse and found the gate in the forest had been locked! I had an immediate look around to see if it had been locked with bad intentions, but no one was around. I checked the chain and lock and it was 'locked'! Actually I checked about 5 times and it was still locked each time!
The gate couldn't be twisted or pushed apart. I wasn't going to damage the gate so I had to find another way.
At this part of the forest, there were some areas that weren't as over grown, and a slow slip around, breaking branches worked.
I got back, sad to say I never got to the hot spring and to make it worse I had to ride in shorts all day because I forgot my MX trousers- those grass cuts really started to sting lol.
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