This expedition has been designed in two distinct parts:
* Part I of this motorcycle tour winds through the Golden Triangle area of Northern Thailand.
* Part II, the second and longer tour segment, traverses the wild and rugged terrain of Laos. We spend much of our time in Laos visiting many of the wondrous hilltribe societies scattered about this region.
The Thailand segment is designed to be easier on the body so that anyone wanting to share part of this expedition with a family member or friend can confidently do so. When the convoy crosses the Mekong River, a van will be waiting to carry all pillion riders back to Chiang Mai where they can catch a flight back home, while the rest of us begin a nearly three-week odyssey through Laos.
Part I: Thailand
Your Itinerary
Day 00 - Chiang Mai. Participants meeting and pre-tour orientation.
Day 1 - Mae Sot, 350 ks.
Our 1st day’s ride is a long but easy warm-up, mostly over mountain-hugging highways to Mae Sot, a largish trading town on the Burmese border. Bustling barter is going on here in all sorts of commodities, including gems and handcrafted items for sure to be of interest to motorcyclists from Western lands. When you walk around the streets and markets of Mae Sot the fact will hit you hard that you are now in a completely different part of the world than the one you departed only a few day’s earlier. Our Western-style lodging tonight is more than comfortable. Massage services will be available, and then we'll dig into a fine Burmese dinner.
Day 2 - Mae Sarieng, 220 ks.
A thin and winding, sealed road hugs the Thai-Myanmar border and makes for a very enjoyable ride through remote areas where there is hardly any commercial development.
Mae Sarieng is a small Thai town and during your ride today you’ll get a glimpse into the rural, northern Thai life-style. Mae Sarieng also marks the start of the Mae Hong Son Loop, Thailand’s greatest and most famous motorcycle road. The Mae Hong Son Loop is considered the premiere motorcycle road in allof Asia, and stacks up favorably against any other renown motorcycle route in the world. It is a sealed road, well designed, and in excellent condition, and we’ll be driving over it for the next three days. This evening’s lodging is in an attractive riverside lodge, and we’ll dine on cuisine, grown, raised, and gathered from within this fertile section of Thailand. Thai cooking is famous all over the world and you'll sample only the most authentic dishes they way they were meant to be eaten, not corupted to appeal to Western palates.
Day 03 & 04 - Mae Hong Song, 170 ks.
An excellent biking day through impressive forest cover over the Mae Hong Son Loop. We’ll stop at several hilltribe villages along the way, including the Longneck, or Giraffe Women (Padong hilltribe). We will also visit some famous temples, one of which is an historic Shan-style wat built entirely of wood.
We spend the night in this provincial capital that surrounds a lovely, central lake. Tonight we dine Kan-Tok-style, which is a northern Thai dinner accompanied by live folk entertainment. After our third great meal in a row, you will realize that the food on this tour is definitely one of the trip highlights.
Deluxe accommodations this evening, and the next, in an upscale resort hotel. Our second day in Mae Hong Son is a sightseeing and rest day with optional short drives visiting several points of interest in the surrounding area.
Day 5 - Chiang Dao, 260 ks.
We finish up riding the Mae Hong Son Loop, then jump onto a major trunk road for a bit, but end our biking day on smaller, secondary roads. We’ll explore the Chiang Dao caves and visit with more of the various hilltribe groups that are settled in this area. Our lodging tonight is in an exceptionally beautiful garden resort set amidst stunning scenery.
Day 6 - Doi Mae Salong, 210 ks.
Extremely narrow, tight, and winding mountain roads with hardly any other road users to get in our way. All of the riding is on sealed roads, but many parts are broken up and deteriorating. Exceptional biking today and exceptional scenery all day long.
In the morning, we visit a Burmese border crossing that has been closed the last several years because of the political situation in the area. Our lunch stop is at a royal experimental agriculture project surrounded by lovely gardens in a lush park setting. The food here is superb.
Doi Mae Salong is one of the more unique stops in Thailand. It is home to the remnants of the Chinese Kuomintang Army who fought in support of Chiang Kai Shek against Mao Tse Tung during their Communist Revolution. After their defeat by Chairman Mao’s Red Army, they were driven out of China into Burma, and then into Thailand where they have been residing ever since. A few, old generals are still alive.
There is one magnificent hilltop temple we visit, and there’s also a lively hilltribe morning market lined with stalls selling hilltribe articles and consumables. Manicured tea plantations surround lofty Doi Mae Salong, and this small town so strongly resembles a rural Chinese village that you would swear you are actually inside China.
Our lodging tonight is in a hotel complex owned by the family of one of the generals. A scrumptious Chinese Yunnanese banquet is on tap and it gets me salivating just thinking about it.
Day 7 & 8 - Mae Sai, 120ks.
Another exceptional riding day on extremely narrow, tight, and winding rural roads, through more spectacular scenery with hardly any other road users to contend with. All of the riding today is once again over paved roads, but just like yesterday, many sections are broken up and deteriorating. Some parts are so steep you have to keep your arms braced stiff into your handlebars to keep your body from sliding off the front of your bike!
In the morning, we will visit the former headquarters of the retired drug lord, Kun Sha. After that, we visit the mountaintop temple, Wat Doi Tung, where it is said if you ring each one of their over four-hundred bells you will be guaranteed a place in heaven. An offer like this doesn't’t come along very often!
Our routing today rides the demarcation line between Myanmar and Thailand, and some of it is still under dispute. Heavily patrolled and guarded, we pass through several army checkpoints on this ride. In the afternoon, we will actually visit a Thai army camp that keeps watch on a Myanmar army camp that keeps watch on the Thai army camp we are visiting. Only a hundred meters of open field separates the two.
After dropping down from the limestone crags above Mae Sai, we visit the Monkey Temple where hundreds of monkeys have the run of the grounds. The more energetic bikers can climb the steep steps into a mountainside cave to view the exotic prayer halls deep inside.
Our lodging in is a modern Western-standard high-rise hotel right on the Thai-Burma border. Mea Sai is the northernmost town in Thailand and the crossing point into Tha Chi Lek, Myanmar.
The following day is another rest day. We spend it taking a walking tour to many items of interest inside Tha Chi Lek, Burma. Bicycle rickshaws lined up at the crossing are a fun alternative to walking. Everything under the sun is for sale in Tha Chi Lek, from fine crafts to precious gemstones including world-famous, Burmese, pigeon-blood rubies. Many of the products sold in Myanmar are illegal in the rest of the world, such as tiger skins and bear gall bladder: Tha Chi Lek is not on the World Wildlife Fund’s list of favorite places. A famous fortuneteller resides in town and puts on quite a show for those wanting celestial insight into their future.
Day 9 - Chiang Kong, 200 ks.
Winding, sealed roads, in good condition for a change. Half this ride runs along the Mekong River, the 12th longest in the world. In the morning, we visit an Opium Museum where you’ll learn how this ancient drug shaped the history and culture of this region. This will be an excellent indoctrination for later on in the tour because in many areas in Laos we will actually witness the opium poppy being cultivated and harvested.
After that, we stop for a group photo at the exact apex of the Golden Triangle--the point where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand converge, separated by the Mekong flowing down out of China. And we will also visit the Chiang Saen archeological site where the unearthing of an ancient city a millennium and a half old is taking place.
We sleep tonight is in a rural guesthouse on the banks of the Mekong River, overlooking the Lao border town of Huay Xai, which we will cross into the following morning. Another northern Thai feast awaits.
The following morning the significant others accompanying us on this gentler half of the tour will depart for their flights back home, while the rest of the convoy will cross over into Laos for Part 2 of the Expedition, the down and dirty part. And it will be like stepping through a time warp into the biblical era.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Minimum Tour Kilometers: 4,500, or 2,700 miles. (This only covers the distances between itinerary stop.
* Includes everything except airfare, visas, alcoholic beverages, and items of a personal nature.
* Not included in this total is any sightseeing riding we will be doing. Over the course of a month, this will add up to a substantial portion.)
* Tour price for the One-Month Thailand-Laos Expedition: USD6,900.
- If two persons sign up for this tour, the price will drop to USD5,900 per person.
- If three or more persons sign up for this tour, the price will further be reduced to USD5,495. per person.
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