destination advice
 

Hi,

Me and group of friends (4 or 5) are planning a 2 week motorcyle holiday in Asia for 2015 (around may or sep).

We want to rent cheap bikes, travel slowly and have fun.

We are all experienced riders (trans-africa kind of dudes).

Any tested suggestion of where to head and where to rent the bikes from?

Thanks!

R

Hi Renato,
Asia is a BIG place! Do you have a country or an area in mind ?
For a two week time frame, I can recommend doing the Mae Hong Son Loop in Northern Thailand :thumbup1:
We used https://www.facebook.com/popcarrent.chiangmai and went around clockwise. Plenty to see & do & the roads are brilliant.
In April it is 'burning season' so a lot of smoke upsets the sightseeing & September is into the wet season :nono:

I know, but we are pretty open at this stage!

Thanks for the great tips.

R

Northern Thailand is great.. but so is Laos. And Cambodia. One of the best trips that I ever did in SE Asia (or ANYWHERE for that matter!) was in December 2005, leaving Bangkok on rented bikes, but the owner of these bikes rode with us, so that´s why I won´t be able to tell you how exactly you could get rented bikes across the borders there. It won´t be easy, but I hear that it´s not impossible either.

Anyway, we first went to Pailin, Cambodia, then Phnom Penh, then headed towards Laos, stayed at “4000 islands”, nice even if a bit touristic spot on the Mekong, then Vientiane (actually that road was the only sort of boring one on the whole trip), then Luang Prabang (now THAT road was had some of the most amazing scenery I´ve ever seen!)... Then from Luang Prabang, which is beautiful, we negotiated two-day passage on the Mekong on a “slow-boat”, that was carrying sacks of salt. We stayed overnight in a really small village of Pak Beng. Next day into North Thailand at Huay Xai, and then finally took in some of the best curvy roads on this planet in the northernmost part of Thailand, near Lao border (but that Mae Hong Son loop would be really great, too!)..... this took us nearly 3 weeks though. And I know it sounds strange to recommend spending two days of your two week trip on a river boat, so you cannot ride. But that river trip was truly something else, always been the first thing, that I remember from the trip!

I´d try to rent from either North Thailand or Laos, maybe Vientiane. If crossing borders seems like an obstacle on rented machines, then I´d probably go Laos, as it is probably the most diverse of these 3 countries. And I hear its extreme north is really great, too.

From the boat trip on the Mekong:

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/...w_IMG_7096.jpg

North Thai roads:

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3ab2afb5.jpg

I have rented from these in Chiang Mai, pick bike up in about 3 week, can cross border with their bike

Rider's Corner Bar & Restaurant - Chiang Mai Bikers Hotel Thailand

Wayne

If I may ask.. what's the price? I moving to chiang mai in 3 weeks and want to do the same. If affordable.

Fortune and Glory, kid. Fortune and Glory.

I am paying a 1000 baht a day which is about 20 GBP, you can also go cross border rid you let them know, thats what i am doing, I will be there also in about 3 week.

Wayne

Hey lonerider.

What bike have you hired for that price ?

Cheers

Hi Lucan

Hired a CRF250L

Cheers

Wayne

Cheers mate.

Reasonable price I'd say.

Have a great trip, I'll be out in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand in February. Can't wait !

I'm gonna buy a honda win scooter. Mainly just cos it's funny ☺

Thats grt. Want to travel the world. transporting bikes by ship or air is too expensive. Its a good idea to hire bikes and move on.

Hi Lucan,
Have you done much research and if so can you point me in the direction please?
We'll be taking a similar trip but 12 months after you!

Cheers
Pete