Route
The Mae Hong Son Loop of North Thailand takes us from Chiang Mai through Doi Inthanon to Khun Yuam and finally to Mae Hong Son. From Mae Hong Son, the route continues to Pai before taking us back to Chiang Mai. As a short weekend ride, there is not enough time for adequate sight seeing. The time is just about enough to finish the loop with minimal stops. More days are certainly advised for Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Pai. The total distance we traveled was around 640km.
Map of North Thailand and route taken
The roads are twisty but well-paved. There is no off-road riding if you keep to the main routes. The only non-tarmac roads we encountered are the junction before Mae Ya Waterfall and the junction before Tham Lot. Even then, any motorcycle should be able to handle these roads easily.
This is about as bad as the road goes
If you have rode in Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos before, you should not have any problems navigating the roads in North Thailand. Road signs are available through out the loop, especially at major junctions. Petrol should not be a problem as well. If you do not see petrol stations, you can still find stalls by the road sides selling bottled petrol. Remember to top up your tank whenever you can, especially if you are not sure of the distance to the next town/village.
Since I brought along my Garmin GPS receiver during this trip, I tracked my routes and took down my waypoints. If you would like a copy of the files, just post a comment and I will send the download link to your email. The size of the file is around 712KB.
Motorcycle
The bike rental scene is well-established in Chiangmai. You would find a great variety of bikes from Honda waves, Honda Phantoms, Honda Super 4, Honda scramblers to BMW tourers. We decided to go for scramblers at the most popular bike rental shop in Chiangmai – Mr Mechanic. Mr Mechanic is located at 4 Soi 5, Moonmuang Rd. T.Sri Phum, A.Muang, Chiangmai. They can be contacted at (+66)53-214708 (tel), (+66)53-41837 (fax), (+66)1-8824402 (mobile) or mrm@yahoo.com. Because of our tight schedule, we booked three honda scramblers in advance at 600B per day for each bike. Upon arrival, we received 2 Honda Degrees and 1 Honda AX-1. Both models are quite similar but Honda AX-1 is much more fuel efficient.
Mr Mechanic (Photo taken from Mr Mechanic website)
38 responses so far ↓
1 Jas // Jun 10, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Could you please email the tracks to me ?
2 atticus // Jun 17, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Sorry for the late reply, sent!
3 Wilson C // Aug 5, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Some friends and I are planning a motorcycle trip to Thailand towards the end of the year. Grateful if you could send the track file so we can get some ideas.
4 atticus // Aug 15, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Sent
5 Henny // Sep 27, 2009 at 6:13 am
Hi
I would like the trackfile please.
Can you send it to me
Thank you
6 mark lees // Sep 27, 2009 at 8:22 am
Hi there.
please email me the trackfile too. I made an almost identical journey two years ago but only got as far as Pae Pa hot springs, it was awesome though. Might do the whole loop when I return to Thailand in January 2010, hence the need for the trackfile. Thanks dude.
Mark
7 Russ McDermid // Sep 28, 2009 at 2:39 am
I too would appreciate the track file.
Am going there in Oct and sure it would be of some use.
Rgds Russ.
8 Atticus // Sep 30, 2009 at 9:05 am
Sent to all, hope it would come in handy for you.
9 Kris // Nov 22, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Hello I am off to Mae Hong Son next month, I will be driving around the loop and would like to know about the best places to visit, can you send me your files please.
Thanks alot.
10 zaidi // Nov 22, 2009 at 3:25 pm
hello..can i have your waypoint sir..will be off to me hong son next month..thanks
11 zaidi // Nov 22, 2009 at 3:26 pm
hello..can i have your waypoint sir..will be off to me hong son next month..thanks..sorry email is zaidi@um.edu.my
12 atticus // Nov 22, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Hello, sent to both.
13 moira // Dec 19, 2009 at 9:16 am
Am an elderly female, going to do this ride feb10. would appreciate any good advice and trackfile too.
Moira
14 moira // Dec 19, 2009 at 9:21 am
should ask. Did you find many shaks to be able to sleep over in en route, am looking at taking my time.
15 Geoff Powys // Dec 20, 2009 at 8:07 pm
We are looking at riding the loop in February. I would be grateful for any info including the trackfile.
Your article is very helpful.
Geoff and Moira
16 Geoff Powys // Dec 20, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Huh, Didn’t know Moira had already written to you. She must be getting excited about the trip. PS. She aint THAT old.
Geoff
17 Atticus // Dec 21, 2009 at 11:07 am
Hi,
File sent to both. Does ’shak’ means guesthouses? Major towns and cities definitely have them i.e. Pai, Mae Hong Son, Khun Yuam, Chiangmai. For smaller towns, you would need to check the guides or google online. Sorry I couldn’t give a better reply as I am out of country and didn’t have my notes and books with me.
Have a great trip!
18 bob // Jan 12, 2010 at 11:35 am
Hello I am off to MHS end of this month , Will be riding around the loop and would like to know about the best places to visit, can you send me your files please and route u take.
Thanks alot.
19 Atticus // Jan 12, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Hi Bob,
I have a pretty rushed trip. Places visited are as mentioned in my trip report. Given more time, I would check out places in Mae Hong Son and Pai. If you are interested in visiting the “long-necks”, arrangements can be made at Mae Hong Son.
File is sent to your email.
20 Anda Ho // Feb 4, 2010 at 10:55 am
Your article is great! Really informative. I’m planning to do this trip next month. Please send me a track files. Thank you very much!
21 Atticus // Feb 4, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Hi Anda, sent to you. Have a great trip and do post back after your ride!
22 Richard Walsh // Feb 10, 2010 at 3:54 am
Hi
Thanks for the great info. Four of us are going to do the loop in March. I would really appreciate getting the track files. Thanks a lot!
23 Atticus // Feb 10, 2010 at 7:46 am
Sent! Enjoy your trip!
24 gary wong // Feb 18, 2010 at 2:02 am
Great article! My son and I are planning to do that loop next week. Please send me the track files. Thanks a lot.
25 atticus // Feb 21, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Hi Gary,
Sent. Have a great trip!
26 Cheryl // Mar 3, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Hi Im sure this is like a job for you now, if you could could you send me the file, thanks so much for helping out so many people!
Thank you
27 Atticus // Mar 3, 2010 at 8:47 pm
It’s no trouble, file sent!
28 Elaine // Mar 9, 2010 at 4:48 am
Hello, I am considering to do that route on Friday. I would really appreciate your GPS track. Thank you!
29 atticus // Mar 9, 2010 at 8:00 am
Hi Elaine,
File sent. Do post back after your trip!
30 Preston Jones // Mar 20, 2010 at 11:47 am
Hi, I also am planning on doing the Mae HOng Son Loop, could you please send me your route as well …. Thank You
presleejones@gmail.com
31 atticus // Mar 22, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Sent!
32 Lorraine Phillippo // Mar 25, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Would really appreciate the track file for our trip later this year. Many thanks!
33 Atticus // Mar 27, 2010 at 12:17 am
Sent as well.
34 Richard Bergeron // Mar 28, 2010 at 6:26 am
We just came back from Thailand and made about the same trip but in 5 days. We took the longer route by following the 108 through Me Lae Noi which I would recomnmend a lot since this was probably the nicest part.
Thanks for you adise, it was very helpfull.
35 Noor Hasnah Adam // Apr 28, 2010 at 12:18 am
Please email to me the track. Thank you very much…
Mistribikerz (Singapore Ladybikerz group)
36 Atticus // Apr 28, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Sent.
Note that you can buy GT-Rider’s MHS Map from M-technik in Singapore.
Have a great trip.
37 Vanessa // Jul 29, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Hi. My Fiance & I are thinking of doing this route in November. Could you please email me the track file. Cheers
38 atticus // Jul 29, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Sent! Remember to get a copy of the GT-Rider MHS loop map.
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