On the Edge of Siam Kingdom (Thailand)

Eleven nights and around 1,050 miles in a northern loop from Chiang Mai on a Royal Enfield, taking in the Mae Hong Son loop, the Golden Triangle and the Nan district.

Chiang Mai opens it at Wat Chiang Man, the Warorot market and the night market, then Mae Hong Son by way of Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand at 2,565 metres. Pai follows on the Mae Hong Son loop, which has 1,864 numbered curves and is the most celebrated motorcycling road in the country, with bamboo rafting into the Tham Lod caves among the bats and catfish.

Thaton comes next past elephant camps towards the Burmese border, then the Golden Triangle through Doi Mae Salong, a mountain village settled by Chinese Nationalist soldiers who never went home, and along the Mekong to Chiang Saen. Chiang Rai follows at the tripoint where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, with a day for the White Temple, the Blue Temple and the hot spring at Pong Phra Bat.

Chiang Kham is next after the hairpin climb to Phu Chi Fa and a short walk to look over into Laos, then Nan, a district closed to foreigners for years and still strongly Laotian in character, reached through Doi Phu Kha National Park. Lampang closes the riding with the Burmese woodcarving at Wat Phra That Lampang Luang. Bike rental is included and the price is quoted per person. Northern Thailand has better roads than its neighbours and more corners than almost anywhere, and the loop out to Nan is the part most visitors skip, which is reason enough to include it.