Advice for a new MHS loop rider

[dustinswinks]

Hello!

My new wife and I will be spending 3 weeks in Thailand. We are planning to ride the Mae Hong Song loop from June 12 through June 16 (giving us four days and four nights). I realize that this is not a very long time to tour this area, but we could not spend any more time. We have rented a Kawasaki ER6N 600 cc bike from Mr. Mechanic, in Chaing Mai. We will be riding two-up on this bike. We were planning to ride to Mae Saraing, Mae Hong Song,then Pai, with two nights spent in Pai. I have ordered the GT riders map of MHS loop.

Please send us your advice for a new comer riding this route.

Thanks! Your friendly southerner.

 

[schackster]

One thing Im always focused on when doing the loop are the vehicles coming the opposite way around blind corners and into your lane. They dont seem to be able to keep in their own lane. They have enough trouble doing this on a straight road let alone on narrow tight bends.

 

[TonyBKK]

schackster;268314 wrote: One thing Im always focused on when doing the loop are the vehicles coming the opposite way around blind corners and into your lane. They dont seem to be able to keep in their own lane. They have enough trouble doing this on a straight road let alone on narrow tight bends.

^+1 the stretch of road between Pai and CM is particularly treacherous- the road is rough and slippery and there's a lot of traffic and kamikaze van drivers. That said, if you just take it nice and slow never assume you have the right of way you'll be just fine. Enjoy your tour!

 

[nikster]

TonyBKK;268318 wrote: ^+1 the stretch of road between Pai and CM is particularly treacherous- the road is rough and slippery and there's a lot of traffic and kamikaze van drivers. That said, if you just take it nice and slow never assume you have the right of way you'll be just fine. Enjoy your tour!

Seconded. Pai-CM is dangerous when wet, with lots of accidents every time it rains - oil and diesel remains on the road get real slippery when rained on, plus this stretch of the trip also has the steepest curves and worst visibility. It's still nice - just take it slow in the mountains. And always expect a truck coming around the bend on your lane.

The rest of the MHS loop is gorgeous, you'll have a great time.

It's the rainy season, so bring some rain gear. For two up, the standard Thai plastic bag style rain jackets are the most practical; they fold down really small, and they cover the whole body. Bike rain gear is good too of course but might be too hot.
I think the rainy season is the best time to visit the area though as the rain cools things down, and it's usually just a short burst here and there, with gorgeous sunny skies all other times. Clean air for great visibility. And dramatic cloud activity over the rainforest. Also, no tourists around that time.

I can recommend this place to stay in Pai: http://www.paichan.com/ really beautifully done, excellent food, swimming pool, view of the rice field, you have to go there *if* you can do without air-con and TV. With air con TV there's many more upscale places in town, shouldn't be hard to find. I am very biased as it's run by friends of ours, but it's telling that they're almost always booked out, and there's always some guests there who never seem to leave the resort, they just lounge by the pool all day...