Thailand, Laos, Vietnam Tour (Tri-Nation Thrills)

Sixteen nights from Chiang Mai across Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, guided, with three border crossings and a rest day in each of two capitals.

Three countries in a fortnight is logistically the hardest thing the operator runs, and the paperwork for taking a motorcycle across those frontiers is the reason it costs what it does.

The Golden Triangle and Chiang Khong open it, then Luang Namtha in Laos, and Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu, where the French garrison fell in 1954 and the war in Indochina effectively ended. Sapa follows in the mountains, with its rice terraces and hill tribe villages, then Hanoi with a rest day, and Ninh Binh, where limestone towers rise straight out of flooded paddy. Con Cuong comes next, then back into Laos at Nam Can for Phonsavan on the Plain of Jars, Vang Vieng among the karst, and Vientiane. The return crosses to Thailand and runs north by Nan to Chiang Mai.

The choice of motorcycle with three base models included and upgrades available, and a complimentary hotel night in Chiang Mai, are included; the full inclusions are not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. The price shown is for one rider. The cool dry season from November to February is the window across all three countries, which is a convenient alignment. Seventeen days and three borders is the operator’s longest tour and the one that reaches furthest. The daily distances are substantial, several of them well over three hundred kilometres, so this suits riders who are content to cover ground rather than linger.