Need help planning a route from CM --> N Thailand --> NE Thailand and back

[peco]

I have been searching the forums and looking through close to 100 trip reports for N Thailand & NE Thailand and i am just completely lost. All of the trip reports look amazing, i could look through Captain_Slash reports all day!

but im having trouble piecing all these trip reports together to make a route for myself.

I will be arriving in Bangkok 15th Jan, i will spend maybe a week there and then ill be heading straight up to CM to rent a bike, Suzuki Van Van looks nice as i have no experience with big bikes.

Now i have already visited the tip of northern thailand last year - Soppong , Chiang Rai and area around there so there is no need to go there again.

As the titles suggests i am looking to rent a bike from Chiang Mai and ride through northern thailand to get to NE Thailand (where i have never visited). I would like to travel around NE Thailand and then make my way back to Chiang Mai

I can set aside 2 weeks to complete this trip.

I only feel comfortable on tarmac roads (of course they are not perfect all the time), i have never been off road and as im doing this myself i think its best to stay on the tarmac.

I love riding through mountains where i am above the clouds so any route that takes me to a high elevation would be great.

Also i dont like riding more than 200km per day, i love taking pictures and usually stop every 15 mins to take snaps.

So -

1 - How long would you set aside to do something like this?
2 - What are the best, safest, most comfortable routes to take?
3 - Any tips on things to take?
4 - Is it possible to do the route in a loop so im not doing the same trip on the way back to chiang mai?

look forward to hearing your suggestions

 

[PICO-PICO]

If after reading so many reports you don't know what are for you the most tempting places to see, routes to travel, which I understand than do what I did= just ride from one place to the next avoiding the main roads. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. E.g. the small roads along the Mekong, Nan, Loi area. Dont plan, just keep drifting. That is pure luxury!

 

[peco]

PICO-PICO;263974 wrote: If after reading so many reports you don't know what are for you the most tempting places to see, routes to travel, which I understand than do what I did= just ride from one place to the next avoiding the main roads. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. E.g. the small roads along the Mekong, Nan, Loi area. Dont plan, just keep drifting. That is pure luxury!

I dont mind drifting about but i just would like to know what are the best roads with the best scenery and sites along the way. Just looking at a map and picking a destination to get to is fine but i have no idea knowing what is in between, and this is the most important thing to me

 

[corbay]

I have just done the ride you are asking about and I drifted, no real plan.....it was brilliant

Ever bit.....

 

[SilverhawkUSA]

I second what Pico says. If you have looked through 100+ reports with photos and still don't know where you want to go, how are a few more replies going to make a difference? 'Not knowing what is between" is the fun part for most of us. Use the trip reports, and some others may reply here, and just go.

 

[corbay]

Same thing happened to me, I look at loads of report's and then couldn't make my mind up which way to go, I knew where I wanted to go so I just set of in that general direction, avoiding the major roads.

I ended up in some fantastic place's, some I had seen on the site others I hadn't, it really didn't matter which way I went, round ever corner there was a photo opportunity, make sure you know where you want to stay that night and head for the hills.....The roads are better than that of the UK and of course you must be careful on a motorcycle, other than that I found the Thai roads a joy...

And the views.......