Tours
Chiang Mai is an excellent base for exploring northern Thailand, and there are many excellent day and multi-day tour options to pick from.
When you first arrive in Chiang Mai allow yourself a couple of days to acclimatize before setting off up-country on multi day rides. Do a couple of day trips first, while you are acclimatizing. Check out any of the below to get yourself ready & rolling
Day Trips:
Multi-Day Trips:
For first timers, the tendency is often to cover as much ground as possible. You end up with general impressions that it is good, but you want more. Its best to slow down, take your time & explore properly, enjoying the scenery, villages and people. Don’t try and do / see too much in a short space of time. Potter around the loops and take in as much as you can, and learn something about the poeple, places and culture as you go. If you rush through, you will only want to go back to the same places again because you missed too much.
Trip Planning
New elements on GT-Rider.com Trip Report Forums for 2012 are;
- expanded Trip Plans across our Trip Reports forums through 2012
- use of Tags specifically to find information on places as part of Trip Planning
- highlighting Trip Reports with useful information for trip-planning, with yellow stars
The first example of those is in the Vietnam section: www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/forums/111-Trip-Planning
From Bangkok:
If you live in Bangkok & have a few days off consider these loop possibilities
Day 1: Ride up Bangkok -Cnx
Day 2: Rest day Cnx?
Day 3: Cnx – Doi Mae Salong
Day 4: Doi Mae Salong – Doi Tung – Mae Sai – GT – Chiang Rai
Day 5: Return to Bangkok.
OR
Day 1: Bangkok – Sukhothai
Day 2: Sukhothai – Nan
Day 3: Nan R1148 – Chiang Rai
Day 4: Chiang Rai – Tha Ton – Fang – Chiang Mai
Day 5: Chiang Mai – Bangkok
OR
Day 1: Bangkok – Mae Sot
DAy 2: Mae Sot – Mae Sarieng
Day 3: Mae Sarieng – Pai
Day 4: Pai – Chiang Mai, easy
Day 5: Chiang Mai – Bangkok.
Multiple choices & more than likely you will make up your mind on the day, subject to the weather conditions & outlook.
Rough rain guide – consider this for predicting where the rain’s coming from & where to ride and avoid it. The rain comes from the sea & in North Thailand that means from either;
The Bay of Bengal & Burma way = the west-south-west
The Gulf of Tonkin / China Sea & Vietnam way = east-north-east
So if there’s a lot of rain around you just need to know where it coming from – either the West or the East.
If it’s coming from the west-south-west, then there’s a chance that the further east you go the less chance of rain. So if you’re starting from Chiang Mai then head towards the Laos border & Nan to get a dry ride.
If it’s coming from the east-north-east, then there’s a chance that the further west you go the less chance of rain. So if you’re starting in Chiang Mai then head west towards the Burma border & Mae Sarieng / Mae Hong Son to get a dry ride.
