Six days. 400 miles.
One small motorbike (125cc). Two excited ThumbsUp Travelers.
Best. Trip. Ever.
I’m sitting crunched up behind Josh and clutching onto his windbreaker for dear life as we weave and bob through the mountainous jungle terrain of Northern Thailand on our tiny motorbike- on the left side of the road. Backpack strapped to my back and helmets locked and loaded, we slowly wind our way up and around, and up and around again. Our bodies shift, feeling the extreme curves of every turn as we climb higher and higher into the top of the jungle. Finally, after what seems like eons, we make it to the top of the summit of the mountain range (one of numerous others), and the spectacular views spill off the side of the road as we look past in awe (and me in slight nervousness at how close the cliffs are next to our bike).
We step off our little safe haven of the two wheels we call “Red Lightning,” stretch our legs and take in the panoramic view around us. Absolutely Stunning. ‘This is it’, I think. ‘This is why we quit our jobs.’ My next thoughts? ‘I can’t believe our bike made it up here?! And more importantly, when do we make it to our last stop for the day because my butt HURTS!’
We decided in Chiang Mai that we were going to take the motorbike trip. I’d heard about the Mae Hong Son Loop before from some other bloggers, and as we looked more into it, the idea seemed perfect. Josh and I were in Thailand just last year and spent time in Bangkok, on the southern beaches, and stayed at an elephant camp in the jungle near Chiang Mai. We fell in love with Thailand, and the northern jungle (including Chiang Mai as a city), so we knew we wanted to go back North and see more. The motorbike trip was the perfect way to do it- we’d have the freedom to wing it as we went, the costs were low, and the fresh air and excitement of the open road couldn’t be beat. The rainy season was just ending, and the weather was cooler- so it was the best time to go.
The Mae Hong Son Loop is a pretty well traveled ride for the adventurous backpacker, but it really wasn’t busy at all, and at times we’d go for miles without seeing anyone. There are numerous ways you can travel the loop (ranging from easy riding to more difficult), so we picked up an awesome (waterproof) map of the region, and mapped out a rough plan for each day. We picked the counter-clockwise loop that was supposedly the more difficult direction, and off we went!
Day 1: Chiang Mai –> Pai 80 miles
Day 2: Pai (and around)
Day 3: Pai (and around)
Day 4: Pai –> Tham Lod Cave –> Ban Rak Thai (Mae Aw) 84 miles
Day 5: Ban Rak Thai –> Mae Chaem 117 miles
Day 6: Mae Chaem –> Doi Inthanon –> Chiang Mai 91 miles
Day 1: Chiang Mai –> Pai 80 miles
Finding the right bike was a bit of a challenge, but we did a lot of reading and went to multiple companies to make sure we had a reliable bike that had insurance and had enough space for two people. Once we had the bike booked and our route mapped, we grabbed some bug spray and bartered at the market stalls for a smaller pack to carry on my back (rather than both our RTW packs), then we were ready!
The bike took a little practice getting used to, but Josh did great with it. I hopped on and grabbed onto Josh with a stomach fu
ll of butterflies, but once we got out of Chiang Mai the traffic got thinner and my nerves started to calm down. As we drove further the roads got more country and more jungle filled, with nothing but small stands selling coconuts juice and sweet treats. After an hour or so we turned onto Road 1095, which was the road that would take us through the mountains and into the town of Pai, where we would be staying our first night. The road started with rolling hills, and turned into a pretty mountainous stretch. We got into a good rhythm together on the bike, and though we were moving pretty slowly (around 35-50 km/hr), we made good progress. We stopped at a coffee farm off the main road and had an awesome friend noodle lunch, along with some killer iced coffees. It totally hit the spot! I was surprised at how many quaint and cute places that lined this stretch of the road. When we finally arrived in Pai we were incredibly sore and tired. It was around 5pm and getting dark, so we went right to our bungalow villas, which were just outside the city and tucked right inside the rice fields. I squealed when I saw it! It had the most incredible ambiance, and it was decently covered from the mosquitos too, which was really important. We enjoyed the night market in Pai and tried tons of different street food (Delicious!), then called it an early night.
Bungalow View
Day 2: Pai (and around)
I absolutely ADORE Pai. The town is sitting amidst the mountains, jungle, and rice fields, and has this indescribable bohemian, backpacker vibe to it unlike anywhere I’ve been. It felt like a surfing town without the Ocean. It definitely has somewhat of a Western influence to it, which some might feel has changed it, but I fell in Love.
Our second day we stuck around Pai and just explored. We hiked up to a hillside temple, walked to a waterfall where you can cliff dive, checked out Pai Canyon, and much more. It was wonderful. Check out some pictures here:
Strawberry Farm, Pai
Strawberry Farm, Pai
Rice Fields, Pai
Temple on the Hill (Wat Phra That Mae Yen)
Temple on the Hill (Wat Phra That Mae Yen)
Pambook Waterfall, Pai
Pai Canyon
Land Split- one morning the farmer woke up and his land had cracked like this- no one knows why
Amazing snack stand at Land Split
Pai Night Market
Khao Soi, Pai
Sticky Rice treats, Market in Pai (the best sweet treat)
Day 3: Pai (and sickness)
In the middle of our second night in our Pai bungalow, we had a pretty restless night of sleep. Josh was still super sick with his cold that wouldn’t go away, and I awoke around 5am with terrible, churning pangs in my stomach. I very quickly got up, realizing that this wasn’t a dream- I was sick. And it was bad. My stomach hasn’t been know to be very strong, and apparently the market got the better of it.
We were supposed to leave Pai on Day 3 and head to Tham Lod Cave, making our remaining 4 days of driving shorter and more leisurely distances. The sickness quickly changed that plan. I was absolutely incapable of moving, unless it was to the toilet. I’ll spare you the details, but I was sick all throughout the day and anytime I thought I was getting better, I wasn’t. Josh went and found a ‘western’ market that had Sprite and Ritz crackers, and some Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup, bless his soul. Between him and our Thai Mama at the bungalow, I got good treatment. I took some Thai nausea medicine that tasted like coconut milk (shocking), and slept.
It also gave Josh a chance to catch-up on some rest too since he was still sick with his awful lingering cold that had at this point turned into a hacking cough.
Our Thai Mama who ran the bungalows thought we were in shambles, and I guess we pretty much were. By the evening time I started feeling better, but we both took sleeping pills and shut out the world. I’ll tell you what- this was one of those times that I really felt pangs of homesickness. You just want to be home when you feel like that. Luckily this bungalow was pretty nice and we had some privacy.
Relaxing at Pai
Glad you were in comfortable accommodations when you were so sick!
Where did you store your large travel backpacks while you were on this bike trip?
Janel
Janel, we left our main packs at the hotel that we stayed at before and after the motorbike trip in Chiang Mai. We were lucky that they stored them for free and that everything was there when we returned!