Rolling Over Northern Thailand

Ten nights in a loop from Chiang Mai, self-guided, 2,400 kilometres over eleven riding days, taking in most of what northern Thailand has.

This is the operator’s complete self-guided route and it goes further south than the others. The Salawin River opens it, which forms the Thai-Myanmar border for a long stretch and is the kind of frontier that still looks like one, with Mae Sot, the main crossing, beyond it.

Sukhothai Historical Park follows, the thirteenth-century capital that preceded Siam and a world heritage site, with the ruins spread among trees and water rather than fenced into a compound. The route then turns north and east for Nan, autonomous for centuries and still separate in feel, the salt wells at Bo Kluea, the Sirikit dam crossing, Chiang Rai and the White Temple, and the Mekong at the Golden Triangle. The famous 1,864-curve road, a Long Neck Karen village and Doi Inthanon close the loop back into Chiang Mai.

Carefully selected hotels are included and the tour is self-guided; the full inclusions are not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. The riding is a hundred per cent paved at 180 to 320 kilometres a day across eleven consecutive riding days, which is a real commitment rather than a holiday with some riding in it. The cool dry season from November to February is the window. Eleven days unaccompanied over this distance suits an experienced rider who would rather not keep pace with a group, and at this price it undercuts every guided tour of comparable length in the range by a wide margin.