Winter in Thailand. No snow, but lots of fog- perfect for a drone. (video)

North Thailand has many secrets and many places that have been forgotten. During a recent trip, I visited Nan Province and followed a rough GPS location pinned to Thailand's oldest and largest opium mountain- now popular with campers who have 4x4s or enjoy a long trek.

The mountain's opium plantations are long gone and have now been replaced with coffee or left for meter high grass to reclaim the land. Long country tracks lead you through the foothills until you reach a small village- Ban San Charoen. From here, low ratio gears are engaged pretty much for the entire 10km climb.

The view from the top and view points along the way were amazing. A short drone video I put together catches some of the best parts of the trip.

A rain storm made the driving difficult and the mud very slippery! A few local trucks that ferried coffee cherries down the mountain to be roasted used tire chains- I had to make do with momentum and recovery tracks.

After a few attempts on some of the steeper, wetter sections and a late arrival to the top, we finally made it. Camping at the top offered amazing views and also divided 2 provinces- The flag pole signified the border between Nan and Phayao province.

With regular stops to take photos, cut fallen trees or plan a drive-line to avoid gullies and big rocks, the 10km took almost 5 hours- but a fun 5 hours. Almost every corner gave something spectacular to photgraph.

The higher we climbed, the foggier it became. Thinking we were just driving into an endless layer of cloud cover we kept our fingers crossed that the mountain would break though. Sure enough, it did.

As we broke free of the fog and cloud, the track started to dry and handling became easier- that was until the return journey the next day where we passed a group on their way up.

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