Adventure

Timeless Vietnam, Laos & Thailand

Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Thailand

18 days3500 kmModerate

Overview

Bike Tour Asia's three country loop is the tour to pick if you want Vietnam's northern mountains without flying anywhere, since the whole eighteen day circuit starts and finishes at the company's base outside Chiang Mai. It covers approximately 3,500 kilometres over fourteen riding days, with daily legs of 210 to 330 kilometres and two rest days, one in Hanoi and one in Luang Prabang. The route crosses four international borders. Thailand to Laos is the Friendship Bridge at Vientiane, Laos to Vietnam comes on the Ho Chi Minh Trail day into Cua Lo, Vietnam back to Laos is the Tay Trang crossing above Dien Bien Phu, and Laos back to Thailand is Huai Kon on the approach to Nan. Bike Tour Asia handles the Lao and Vietnamese permits, guides, support vehicles and third party cover as part of the price. The northern Vietnam section is the high point for most riders: Nghia Lo and its terraced valleys, the climb over the O Qui Ho pass beneath Fansipan into Sa Pa, the Sin Ho market and the Dien Bien Phu battlefield. Laos supplies the counterweight, with Vientiane's Buddha Park, the karst country around Phou Hin Boun, the Song Cha range on the way into Luang Prabang, the morning alms procession and the Kuang Si waterfalls, and a Mekong ferry crossing at Pak Beng. The last Thai day rides the Bo Kluea salt wells and the lake at Phayao back into Chiang Mai. Riders choose from the Honda NX500, Triumph Tiger Sport 660, Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro, BMW F900 GS, BMW R1250 GS and BMW R1300 GS. The operator states plainly that the roads are mostly easy but there are steep and technically demanding stretches, and that this is not a tour on which to learn to ride. Five riders confirm a departure. Seventeen nights with breakfast, fourteen lunches, eleven dinners, fuel, unlimited mileage, luggage transfer, a tour leader on a bike, a licensed guide and a support vehicle are included, along with all Lao and Vietnamese permit costs. Visas, flights, alcohol, gear hire, motorcycle damage cover and the compulsory personal travel insurance are not.

This eighteen day Bike Tour Asia loop starts and finishes in Chiang Mai and takes in three countries and roughly 3,500 kilometres, of which the operator describes ninety five percent as paved. The outbound leg runs through Sukhothai and Chiang Khan to cross the Friendship Bridge into Laos at Vientiane, then follows the Ho Chi Minh Trail east into Vietnam at Cua Lo Beach and north to Hanoi. Beyond Hanoi the route climbs into the mountains of the far north through Nghia Lo, the rice terraces of Sa Pa and the O Qui Ho pass to Dien Bien Phu, then crosses back into Laos at Tay Trang for Oudomxai, Luang Prabang and a Mekong ferry at Pak Beng. The return to Thailand comes at Huai Kon, with a final night at Nan. Fourteen riding days, two rest days.

Overview

Itinerary

Arrival in Chiang Mai

Riders arrive at the Bike Tour Asia base outside Chiang Mai, collect their motorcycles and are briefed on a route that will cross four international borders over the next fortnight. Documents for the Lao and Vietnamese permits are finalised. No riding is scheduled.

Chiang Mai to Sukhothai

South out of the northern hills onto the central plains, finishing at Sukhothai where the ruins of the first Thai kingdom stand in their historical park. A straightforward opening leg to settle everyone onto their bikes before the borders begin.

Sukhothai to Chiang Khan

Northeast through Phu Hin Rongkla National Park, a mountain park on the Phetchabun range with a complicated recent history, and on to Chiang Khan, a riverside town of teak shophouses looking across the Mekong into Laos.

Chiang Khan to Vientiane

The first international crossing of the trip, over the Thai and Lao Friendship Bridge and into the Lao capital. Vientiane is a low rise riverside city and the afternoon allows time for its temples before the route heads into the Lao interior.

Vientiane to Phou Hin Boun

East out of Vientiane with a stop at the Buddha Park and its field of concrete sculptures, then into the limestone karst country of central Laos, finishing at the Rock Lodge in the Phou Hin Boun area among towering cliffs.

Phou Hin Boun to Cua Lo

The Ho Chi Minh Trail day. The route follows sections of the wartime supply network through the Annamite mountains before crossing the Lao and Vietnamese border and descending to the coast at Cua Lo Beach in central Vietnam.

Cua Lo to Hanoi

North up the Vietnamese coast and inland by way of Tam Coc, the limestone river landscape often called the inland Ha Long Bay, before entering Hanoi for a two night stop in the old quarter.

Rest day in Hanoi

A day off the motorcycles in the Vietnamese capital. Riders choose between a city tour of the old quarter and its lakes or an optional cruise on Ha Long Bay, and the stop also gives the team time to service the bikes.

Hanoi to Nghia Lo

West out of the delta into the hills, calling at the ancient village of Duong Lam with its laterite houses and riding through tea plantations before reaching Nghia Lo, set in a terraced valley in Yen Bai province.

Nghia Lo to Sa Pa

One of the finest riding days of the tour, climbing through rice terraces and over the O Qui Ho pass beneath Fansipan, Vietnam's highest mountain, to the hill station of Sa Pa near the Chinese border.

Sa Pa to Dien Bien Phu

South and west through the Sin Ho valley and its hill tribe market, then down to Dien Bien Phu, the basin where the French garrison fell in 1954. The battlefield and its museum sit within the town itself.

Dien Bien Phu to Oudomxai

Back into Laos at the Tay Trang crossing, then northwest on mountain roads through sparsely populated country to Oudomxai, a junction town in the hills of northern Laos and the last stop before Luang Prabang.

Oudomxai to Luang Prabang

South over the Song Cha range on a road of near continuous curves, dropping finally to the confluence of the Nam Khan and the Mekong at Luang Prabang, where the group stops for two nights in the old royal capital.

Rest day in Luang Prabang

A rest day in the UNESCO listed town. The dawn alms procession of monks through the streets and the turquoise pools of the Kuang Si waterfalls are the two obvious things to do, and the town is compact enough to cover on foot.

Luang Prabang to Pak Beng

Northwest along the Mekong through Hongsa, with a ferry crossing of the river itself, to the small river port of Pak Beng, a stopping point on the slow boat route that clings to the hillside above the water.

Pak Beng to Nan

The final border crossing, back into Thailand at Huai Kon, then over the mountains past the Bo Kluea salt wells, where brine has been evaporated inland for centuries, and down to the quiet provincial town of Nan.

Nan to Chiang Mai

The closing leg runs west across northern Thailand, passing the lake at Phayao and stopping at hot springs before returning to the Bike Tour Asia base at Chiang Mai, completing a loop through three countries.

Departure from Chiang Mai

The tour ends with a transfer to Chiang Mai airport or to a hotel in the city. The motorcycles are handed back to the team and no riding is scheduled on the final day.

Timeless Vietnam, Laos & Thailand

Overview

Timeless Vietnam, Laos & Thailand

Overview

Tour Route

Itinerary

Arrival in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai to Sukhothai

Sukhothai to Chiang Khan

Chiang Khan to Vientiane

Vientiane to Phou Hin Boun

Phou Hin Boun to Cua Lo

Cua Lo to Hanoi

Rest day in Hanoi

Hanoi to Nghia Lo

Nghia Lo to Sa Pa

Sa Pa to Dien Bien Phu

Dien Bien Phu to Oudomxai

Oudomxai to Luang Prabang

Rest day in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang to Pak Beng

Pak Beng to Nan

Nan to Chiang Mai

Departure from Chiang Mai

What's Included

What's Not Included

Available Motorcycles

Tour Operator