Thailand part 1: route and summary

Thailand is a wonderful country for cycle touring. There are many roads to choose from, meaning that you can avoid the main roads most of the time. Even when you are pushed onto a busier highway, the shoulders tend to be wide and smooth. Food and accommodation are easy to find, standards are high and prices are reasonable. The people are friendly and courteous, and seemed pleased to see us. Lots of thumbs up on the hills! The only downside I can think of are the FEW aggressive dogs who like to give chase....but once you've figured out that you should stop pedalling and not panic, even that isn't so bad.

We were struck by the low numbers of tourists in towns that DO feature in Lonely Planet etc. They all seem to be concentrated in Chiang Mai and Pai, leaving the likes of Lampang, Mai Hong Son and Chiang Saen blissfully tourist- free....however this seems a bit sad for their tourist industry! Does no one read the Lonely Planet any more??

We thoroughly enjoyed our route and recommend it, with the caveat that some parts of the Mai Hong Son loop were pretty strenuous! As for the season, we did get quite wet at times and it was a little on the hot side, but if we can survive coming to it fresh from the UK 'summer', it can't have been that bad.