The Northern Thailand Experience

Twelve nights in a loop from Chiang Mai through northern Thailand, with the Mae Hong Son loop, Doi Inthanon and the Golden Triangle, and an April departure timed for Songkran. The hire is included, on a Triumph Tiger 900 or an upgraded BMW, with the suspension lowered slightly for the Asian market.

Mae Sariang comes first by way of the Vachiratharn waterfall and Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand at 2,565 metres, with the Yuam river near the Burmese border. Mae Sot follows at the Friendship Bridge, then Sukhothai, the first capital of Siam, where twenty-six temples stand in a UNESCO listed park along with the whispering Buddha.

Nan is next, with the largest teak tree in the world in Ton Sak Yai National Park, over fifteen hundred years old and some ten metres around at the base, and a ferry crossing at the Sirikit Dam. The rest day there can coincide with Songkran, the Thai new year, which is celebrated by throwing water at everyone within reach for three days.

Chiang Rai follows at the Golden Triangle, then Thaton on the road the locals call Paradise, and Pai with a rest day and caves nearby. The Mae Hong Son loop closes the trip with its 1,864 counted curves and a boat visit to a Kayan village, and the last day takes the Elephant Track, eighty kilometres of mixed terrain through remote villages back to Chiang Mai. Prices are quoted in US dollars. Twelve nights covers the north thoroughly, and the lowered suspension on the hire bikes is a detail worth knowing before anyone plans on heavy dirt.