Mae Hong Son Loop Northern Thailand by Motorcycle

Song Credits:
🎶 Lights Out – UTAH 🎶 Mongo (with goosetaf & azula)  – Kyle McEvoy 🎶 Wild Calling – Virgil Arles 🎶 Falling For You – lwfi 🎶 Hope – The Dramatics  🎶 All Roads Lead Home – Generdyn 🎶 Flicker – Airplanes 🎶 Come On Up The Mountain (Instrumental) – Renegade 🎶 One Million – UTAH 🎶 Can’t Stop Me Now – Oh The Larceny 🎶 Finding You – Airplanes

In January – February, 2020 I had the chance to visit northern Thailand and do two motorcycle trips, the Mae Hong Son Loop and a ride around the Chiang Rai area. I absolutely loved traveling in northern Thailand for so many reasons!

In recent years, northern Thailand has become increasingly popular among tourists on two wheels. The combination of curvy roads and beautiful landscapes, delicious food, a thriving arts scene and wonderful Thai locals make it an ideal riding destination!

I left a snowy Vancouver behind on January 24 and arrived the next morning in Taipei, Taiwan where I spent a 12 hour layover exploring the city. It was a great experience to get a taste of the city and explore a traditional temple as well as the modern Taipei 101 skyscraper, one of the world’s tallest buildings.

After Taipei, I flew to Bangok and spent a few jet-lagged days in the bustling city, exploring the temples and tourist sites as well as catching up with my cousin who is a teacher there. Next up was Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city, in the northwest region of the country. It is a 700 year old walled city that still has remnants of its original wall. Chiang Mai also has dozens of ornate Buddhist temples and is a hotbed of artistic and culinary delights. In Chiang Mai, I rented a 2018 Honda CB500X and spent a few days exploring the famous Mae Hong Son Loop on two wheels.

The Mae Hong Son Loop is a circular route, roughly 800km in distance, that is a rider’s paradise with thousands of curves along the way! I chose to do the loop counter clockwise, because I read that the loop starts off easier and becomes increasingly more curvy and difficult going in this direction.

My first day of riding was a long one. The first stop was Doi Inthanon, a national park accessed via a winding road. In Doi Inthanon you can visit the country’s highest point that is marked by a large sign next to a military base. It was very chilly at the high elevation, so I was glad I brought my warm layers along! There were no spectacular views at that point, but some really nice vistas along the way.

The roads around that area, and throughout the loop, were very greasy from the lack of rain over the past few months. I discovered very quickly that it is not uncommon for drivers to overtake while coming around blind corners and they often ride into the oncoming lane during this risky maneuver, so you definitely have to be vigilant riding around there!

From Doi Inthanon I rode to Mae Sariang and was greeted by a beautiful sunset, one of many I experienced in northern Thailand. The area that I stayed in was not at all touristy, and I joined a number of locals at a night market festival where I enjoyed my dinner of noodles for the unbeatable price of 20 Thai Baht, which is roughly equivalent to $1 Canadian.

By the end of the night, I was absolutely exhausted from the hours I had spent riding in the heat, so I slept very well at my guest house. The next morning I enjoyed a chat over breakfast with my guesthouse host, Jo, who told me about how he trained to become a monk in his youth, but opted for a different lifestyle as an adult.

The ride the next day was another spectacular one and also very hot! I made a few pit stops along the way to take in the beautiful views and enjoyed meeting the locals at small roadside shops. People in northern Thailand are some of the kindest and most respectful people I have ever met in my travels!

At one stop I bumped into a fellow traveller who I had run into a few times along the loop, and we visited the Kayan Long Neck Village together where we purchased some handicrafts from the local villagers. It is my understanding that many of the Long Neck people are actually ethnic minorities from nearby Myanmar, but the government of Thailand allows them to live in Thailand because of their contribution to the Thai tourism economy.

That evening I arrived in beautiful Mae Hong Son and enjoyed a tranquil evening on the picturesque lake. Mae Hong Son is a delightful small town with a very authentic vibe. There were certainly more tourists there than in Mae Sariang, but it was primarily Thais around there.

The next day I woke up early to enjoy the beautiful sunrise before riding up to the hilltop temple, Wat Phrathat Doi Kongmu, and taking in some lovely sights of the town.

From there I rode to Pang Mapha province where I met a group of friendly riders, including one woman named Nanny who had made the trek from Bangkok on her Africa Twin.

My time here was one of the highlights of the trip! I spent the night in a pristine little bungalow overlooking an incredible valley in a quaint village that offered a glimpse into rural Thai life. The hosts brought a wonderful hot dinner right to my doorstep and I enjoyed yet another delicious Thai meal with million dollar views. Because of the high elevation, I was quite cold that night, even wearing my warmest clothes, including my jacket. The following morning I woke up early to the incessant sound of roosters crowing at around 5am and enjoyed one of the most stunning sunrises I’ve ever witnessed in my life, which certainly made up for my lack of sleep the night before.

To make my morning even more delightful, I enjoyed an iced coffee at the coffee shop right across the street before heading back to the highway towards my next stop: Tham Lod Cave. I stayed at a lodge right near the cave which was the original guest house in that area. The food and accommodation were excellent, as was the company of the other guests. I met a few inspiring travellers there including a young family with two little children in tow, and an American traveler, Cayman, who has been traveling non-stop for a number of years now. Cayman and I explored the cave together and split the cost of the mandatory guide. The cave was a very interesting experience with fascinating geological features that made me feel like I was in an Indiana Jones film! At the end of the tour, we witnessed thousands of birds flying around the mouth of the cave. We stuck around a little longer, hoping to see some bats as well, but sadly none of them made an appearance.

From there I rode over to Pai, a town that I had heard quite a bit about from other travellers as well as locals. The town is an interesting mix of traditional farmland and up-and-coming tourism catering to bohemian travellers as well as the young party crowd. An expat living in Chiang Mai explained to me that people either love or hate Pai, and it’s not uncommon for travellers to visit, intending to stay only a short while but getting caught in the “Pai hole” long term.

In Pai I met up with my friend Thomas who I had met in Canada’s motorcycle community years ago. We befriended another couple of travellers who were riding a Honda CRF250, and together we checked out Pai’s hotsprings, live music scene, markets and tourist spots like the Pai Canyon and Pai Land Split.

I had quite a nice experience in Pai with my friends. But one of my highlights actually started off as a very stressful situation. On my last day in Pai, I woke up and suddenly realized that I didn’t have my camera with me. I had a sinking feeling when I realized that I had left it at the Bamboo Bridge, a popular tourist site in Pai, the evening before. I jumped on my bike and rode about 30 minutes to get back to the site where I had left it and was so relieved to find that it was still there!The owner of the land was milling around nearby, and gave me a huge smile when he saw me approach. Despite our language differences, it was evident that he knew the camera was there and had deliberately left it in its original spot in case I returned. I tried to give him some money to thank him for his honesty, but he refused. So instead I bought a fresh watermelon smoothie from him and left a big “tip” for him and his employees. I enjoyed my beverage, reflecting on how deeply embedded the values of respect and honesty are in northern Thai culture and how lucky I was to be a recipient of their kindness.

Because of my little delay that morning, I got a late start to my home stretch ride back to Chiang Mai and found myself caught in the stifling high afternoon heat in bad traffic. I was relieved to complete the trip and rehydrate with some fresh coconut water, my go-to beverage in Thailand. Thankfully, in Thailand lane filtering is allowed (unlike here in Canada), otherwise I can’t imagine how I would have survived sitting idle in that heat for hours!

The traffic in Chiang Mai was particularly heavy during this time because it was the start of Chiang Mai’s Flower Festival, a huge annual festival that marks the end of the winter months when the region’s roses and other flowers are in full bloom. The festival kicked off with a big parade, an incredible display of beauty, creativity and culture, with thousands of local participants marching through the city in costumes and traditional attire.

The Mae Hong Son Loop, and northern Thailand in general, is now one of my favourite places I’ve ever travelled to because of the riding and local culture as well as the unbeatable food. As a solo female traveller, I felt it was a very safe place and in general the locals were very kind and honest. To my relief, there was very little haggling required in local markets, which is a huge contrast to many places I have travelled. There is not a significant discrepancy between “local” and “tourist” prices and I rarely felt concerned about being ripped off.

It was a pleasure to be able to ride the Mae Hong Son Loop on a Honda CB500X motorcycle, however a much smaller motorbike would have certainly sufficed as there were very few opportunities to open up the throttle and I found myself staying in low gears the majority of the time anyway. As is the case in most of south east Asia, the locals almost all ride small bikes or scooters, and sometimes they playfully teased me for having such a large bike. It was indeed overkill, but enjoyable to have such a comfortable machine that I was familiar with since I ride a similar bike in Canada.

Overall the Mae Hong Loop was such a special trip and I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to experience it. I couldn’t recommend it more for post-pandemic travel!

Thanks for reading. Do you have any questions? Feel free to fill out form below and I’ll do my best to respond in a future blog post or Q&A video!