The Mountains, on Two Wheels
Seven days on Route 1095 and the roads past it: a night in Chiang Mai, three in Pai on a scooter, and two in a Yunnanese tea village against the Myanmar border.
- Length
- 7 days, 6 nights
- Starts and ends
- Chiang Mai
- Pace
- Active
- Best months
- Nov to Feb
Day by day
- Day 1
Chiang Mai
From the airport to the old city, then Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phra Singh on foot. Up Doi Suthep for sunset, then dinner at Chang Phuak Gate.
- Day 2
Chiang Mai to Pai
Minivan from Chiang Mai to Pai over the mountains. Collect the scooter, ride to Pai Canyon for sunset, then the walking street in the evening.
Worth knowingPai Canyon is busiest at sunset. Go at sunrise instead and you will have the ridge nearly to yourselves — the ride is twenty minutes and the light is better.
- Day 3
Pai
The white Buddha in the morning, the Tha Pai hot springs at midday, then the Yunnanese village at Santichon and tea at Yun Lai.
- Day 4
Pai
By scooter to the Land Split, Mor Paeng waterfall and the bamboo bridge at Boon Ko Ku So. River tubing in the afternoon if you have added it.
- Day 5
Pai to Ban Rak Thai
Ride north through the Soppong valley to Tham Lod for the cave and the bamboo raft. Lunch at Ban Ja Bo, then on to Ban Rak Thai on the Myanmar border.
Or insteadRather not ride four hours? A car and driver takes the mountain legs, today and the way back on Day 7. The scooter stays in Pai for the short days.
- Day 6
Ban Rak Thai
A boat on the lake at 6 am, Pang Oung at midday, then tea tasting on the slope.
Worth knowingCash only up here, and the nearest cash machine is a long way back down the valley. Draw enough for two days before you leave Pai.
- Day 7
Back to Chiang Mai, and home
Ride back to Pai and return the scooter, then the minivan to Chiang Mai and the flight out through Bangkok.
Room to change
Every day on this trip can move. These are the changes we’ve already worked out, and what each one involves.
Travelling with parents
A car and driver for the mountain legs instead of scooters, and the flight home from Mae Hong Son, so nobody does the 762 curves twice.
Never ridden a scooter
An hour’s practice on a quiet road in Pai before the canyon. If it has not clicked by Day 4, a driver takes the ride to Ban Rak Thai.
Slower
A night in Soppong on the way north, so the cave gets its own morning and no day has more than two hours of riding.
Longer at the lake
A third night at Ban Rak Thai. You get the mist on the water twice, and the last day stops being the longest.
Tell us what you’d change and we’ll send it back with a price, usually within a day.
Chat with an expertWhere it goes
- Chiang MaiStart and end · 1 night
- Pai3 nights
- Tham LodDay stop
- Ban Rak Thai2 nights
Where you’ll sleep
From people who went
The small print
- Airport transfer in Chiang Mai
- 6 nights: 1 in Chiang Mai, 3 in Pai, 2 in Ban Rak Thai
- Minivans Chiang Mai to Pai and back
- A scooter for three days in Pai
- Daily breakfast
- Temple and national park entries
- Tha Pai hot springs
- Tham Lod cave, with a lantern guide and the bamboo raft
- The wooden boat on the lake at first light
- Pang Oung entry
- Tea tasting at Ban Rak Thai
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Lunches and dinners
- Fuel and the scooter deposit
- Your International Driving Permit
- River tubing at Pai
- Tips and gratuities
- Indian passport holders enter visa-exempt.