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Last week I completed a long 1483Km motorbike trip with my sister Laura through the mountains of North and North West Thailand, you can listen to the podcast we made along the way by clicking above.
Setting off from Chiang Mai, we headed North East through the mountains to Mae Hong Son (via Pai), before heading South to Mae Sot and about 650KM along the Thailand/Burma border to our final destination – Umphang. Surrounded by national parks and wildlife reserves (and classified as a UNESCO World heritage site), Umphang is one of the most beautiful, but least accessible districts in Thailand. Nevertheless, it has one major tourist attraction, Thi Lo Su Waterfall, the largest waterfall in Thailand – 200 metres high and 400 metres wide.
Remarkably, Laura had only learned to ride a motorbike two weeks prior to the trip – she drove a 125 CC Honda Dream Scooter and I drove my 200CC Honda Phantom. In total, the trip took seven days of actual driving, with two days ‘resting’ in Mae Sot and Umphang.
This podcast features a lot of the sounds we heard along the way, from the jungle sounds of cicadas & birds of paradise, to frogs, Lisu musicians, a Thai kick boxing match, rafting near Umphang, and an interview with Tasanee at Safe Haven Orphanage.
You can view photos of the trip by visiting our Flickr account.
Route information
The route we took was Chiang Mai – Pai – Mae Hong Son – Mae Sariang – Khun Yuam Sunflower fields – Mae Sariang – Mae Sot – Umphang – Mae Sot – Chiang Mai. (See the map on the right courtesy of Travelfish.org)
The approximate distances are below.
Chiang Mai to Pai – 135KM
Pai to Mae Hong Son – 139KM
Man Hong Son to Mae Sariang (via the sunflower fields) – 250KM
Mae Sariang to Mae Sot – 242KM
Mae Sot to Umphang – 176KM
Umphang to Mae Sot – 176KM
Mae Sot to Chiang Mai – 365 KM
Total: 1483KM
What an amazing podcast, you have just totally relaxed me here in Madrid! More please 🙂
Thanks Ben!
Amazingly professional! Well done! All sounded very relaxed and was very interesting. Also enjoyed, some time ago, your video of your trip through the sunflower fields.
Hope you are having a great time on the island, and that you had a good Christmas. Happy New Year to you both!!
Hi!
My name is Elizabeth Ng and I am writing to you on behalf of Urbane Nomads, a travel design company based in Singapore. May we ask your permission to use your lovely picture of the scenery en route your motorbiking trip on our website please?
Looking forward to your most favorable reply! Do email me at elizabeth@urbanespaces.com.
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks Jay 🙂
I lived in Thailand for 6 months, wish I had done this
I was looking for information on sole traveling by bike through Thailand. You just made my day, your tour expanded with a stop in Sukothai, Pithsanulok and Phrae on my way back to Chiang Mai, together with -if I’m not tired of it- a trip up north in the Golden Triangle is my absolute dream and you just reassured me it is doable and extremely beautiful. No doubts anymore… The only challenge is not telling my mum about it, she’ll die worrying 😉
great write up with some nice photos. we will be riding up there on monday for a few days of mountain scratching and sightseeing and then doing the full loop after xmas. cheers RD