Before leaving for Thailand, Weronika and I sat down with a bottle of wine and discussed what we each wanted to see and do. I’ve discovered through previous experiences that setting these expectations is critical when travelling with someone. The objective was understand what’s important, and plan accordingly.

I’m delighted to share my passion for motorcycling with Weronika, so it was quick and easy to agree that riding motorcycles in northern Thailand was on the top of both our lists. It is supposed to be a beautiful region, relatively untouched by tourists, and we decided on a 4 night, 5 day route.

During the ride, our goals where:

  • Visit a tribe of long neck people, known as the Karen Long Neck. Although visual fascinating, their traditions are slowly dying, as more and more of them elect to not wear rings around their necks, favouring modern lifestyles instead. Interestingly, I always though the rings pushed their heads up, when in fact they push their shoulders down.
  • Visit the Golden Triangle, the north eastern tip of Thailand were you can see both Myanmar and Laos across the river. It’s not a place you can spend a long period of time; 30 minutes is all you really need to soak in the views and atmosphere, but it’s interesting to see three countries in one glance.
  • Ride on Route 1148, which is one of the best drives in the world for motorcycling riding (source not available), with well paved curved roads and wonderful views.

We accomplished these goals and more.

After riding for a few hours, I realized that despite the chaos on the road, with the cars, the tuk tuks, the scooters and the motorcycles, drivers in Thailand tend to drive really well. They anticipate your moves, which allows them to pass you very closely, and they accommodate you when you’re passing them. It’s great to feel safe riding in a place that doesn’t initially inspire confidence.

The White Temple next to Chiang Rai is a modern masterpiece of white plaster embedded with reflective stones. We stopped for a few hours to admire the stunning and detailed architecture. Weronika felt like a princess, and rightly so.

Route 1148 was simply gorgeous. The winding roads lead up and down hills, with views of green valleys and jungles and small villages. Not only were the roads well paved, they slanted towards the turn, allowing you to really lean and feel secure. However, my rented motorcycle of several years didn’t feel so secure, and would have loved to be able to magically teleport my own motorcycle for this stretch of road. Despite that impossibility, we thoroughly enjoyed the thrills and didn’t stop to take many pictures (I do have videos though!)

In general, the north was quite non-touristy, with locals speaking little to no English, and the food was incredibly cheap. For example, a well-priced pad thai was 50 baht (2 CAD, 1.4 EUR) in most towns, and 150 baht in very touristy places. Here, a pad thai and soup with vegetables cost 50 baht together! A fan of bananas were 15 baht! Local food, local people, local charm.

Of all the towns, Nan was my favourite. Although we didn’t spend a night there because of our schedule, we did stop to rest and enjoy a quick bite. Not only is the town very charming, with rivers and parks, but it was the least touristy with still relatively modern conveniences. It’s harder and harder to find the real small town life in Thailand, and Nan is the current place.