Highland Bound: The Mae Hong Son Tour
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Four days and three nights on the Mae Hong Son loop, ridden anticlockwise out of Chiang Mai and covering roughly 750 kilometres in total. Thai Bespoke Bike Tours counts 1,864 curves on the route and treats it as its signature short trip: a full circuit of Thailand's most mountainous province without the padding of a longer holiday. Days are moderate rather than epic, with the second leg running only about 150 kilometres, which leaves time for a lunch stop in a Chinese settlement on the Burmese border, a long-tail boat ride to Karen villages and an afternoon spent on the Salween River. Riders need real time on large-capacity machines and should be able to hold an average of 80 to 120 kph. The published price of 38,000 baht per rider covers the bike, fuel, gear, three nights of private accommodation and two meals a day; pillion passengers are quoted separately at 13,000 baht.