• Chiang Mai – The Rose of the North
• Chiang Rai and the stunning White Temple
• Riding through the spectacular limestone karst mountains of Laos
• Experience the warm hospitality of the local hill tribes
• Ride up to the Laos/Chinese border at Boten – formerly a casino town and a surreal experience
• Visit the Unesco World Heritage site of Luang Prabang
• Rest day with  a visit to a multi-tiered limestone waterfall and a bear sanctuary
• Phonsavan. Ride to the mysterious “Plain of Jars” and see if you can solve the puzzle!
• The road from Luang Prabang to Vientiane is one of the best in S.E. Asia
• Experience the vibrant capital city of Vientiane
• Ride 200km along the banks of the Mekong
• Sunrise hot air balloon ride over the beautiful Vang Vieng valley (optional, and additional cost applies).
• Ride through four Thai national parks in one day
• Beers at sunset overlooking the Mekong!

1. Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong.9:00am sees us on the bikes with engines running and an eagerness to “get out there” and start the experience. We’ll let you get familiar with the controls and handling of the Vstrom 650 by exiting the city on an easy highway before the going gets twisty. Today’s ride is about getting to our overnight hotel right on the Mekong which forms the Thai/Laos border and as such comprises mostly high speed dual carriageway style riding but this is Thailand so the roads that are built to run through mountainous areas so are anything but straight! We’ll fit in a visit to the White Temple of Chiang Rai – touristy but a “must see”.
2. Chiang Khong to Boten. An eight o’clock start to the day and straight down to the Friendship Bridge for the border crossing into Laos. Our experienced staff will handle all of the difficult paperwork to take a bike into Laos, hopefully the process will be complete within a couple of hours. Crossing the Mekhong river into Laos, the first stage of our ride will be through remote farming villages, the road bordered by rice paddies. The second part of our day’s ride will be up into the high mountains of the Luang Namtha national park, mostly ridgeline riding with stunning mountain views.
   Our overnight stop is in a town called Boten, right on the Chinese border with the predominant language Mandarin Chinese. After passing through hours of extremely rural scenery, arrival in this modern town will come as quite a shock. Its reputation as a den of iniquity has somewhat diminished over the last few years, with the closure of the casinos and most of the brothels. However it does still boast a 24/7 sex toy vending booth!
3. Boten to Nam Kat Yorla Pa.  An early 07:30am start, to create a half day rest so that riders can choose to participate in activities later in the day at our overnight venue. With that in mind, our main priority today is to get to our final
   destination. The roads are small, narrow and very twisty, with as always in Laos, stunning mountain views. Our overnight stop is in the Nam Kat national park at the sublime Nam Kat Yorla Pa resort, this we consider the jewel in the crown of the trip as far as our lodging options go. This area is deemed one of the most beautiful and desired nature resorts in Laos and the whole of South East Asia. Activities on offer are varied with a fantastic jungle zipline, trekking and waterfalls. Or you may just like to relax by the pool and soak up the atmosphere of this amazing rural retreat.
4. Nam Kat Yorla Pa to Luang Prabang. A nice relaxed start to the day with a 09:30 departure. Soon after passing through the regional capital of Oudom Xai, we’ll head up into the high mountain passes heading east before dropping down into the River Ou Valley. Following the river we’ll be treated to some
   lovely scenic riding before joining the Mekong river and our final push into the UNESCO world heritage town of Luang Prabang nestled between the Mekong and Khan rivers. Considered to contain the best maintained colonial era
   architecture of anywhere in South East Asia, a not to be missed location of any visit to Laos. We’ll lodge in a nice central location close to the river and an easy walk to the nightlife and old city center.
5. Activity day in Luang Prabang. Activities include:
   A visit to the Kuang Si waterfall, boasting pale turquoise blue water that tumbles from the dense jungle above into perfectly sculpted limestone tiered pools below.
   An Asian black bear sanctuary.
   Visits to the places of interest in the UNESCO protected city.
   Mekong sunset river cruise.
6. Luang Prabang to Phonsavan. A ride eastwards on good roads to the town of Phonsavan where we’ll park up and ponder the mystery of how the giant stone “jars” came to be here and what their use was? This was also the most heavily bombed area of the country and there is still strong evidence of this whereby the locals have used large shell cases as stilts to raise their houses above the rice paddy and also craters. Be careful where you step as there is still unexploded ordanance!
7. Phonsavan to Vang Vieng. An earlier start of 8:30 and we traverse the highest mountain pass of the entire trip today and as you may imagine, the vistas are stunning. After lunch we descend into the magnificent valley of Kasi which has majestic limestone karsts every which way you look. Vang Vieng also provides us with the opportunity to take an early morning hot air balloon ride to see the valley in all it’s splendour from a different perspective – highly recommended.
8. Vang Vieng to Vientiane. An eleven o’clock start today for you to be able to do the hot air balloon ride or just have a much earned lay in and a leisurely breakfast. A nice easy ride as we skirt the Nam Ngum reservoir before dropping down into the Mekong Valley and our destination of Vientiane.
   Vientiane is the capital of Laos and the only real city that the country has to offer. Built along the banks of the Mekhong river it has some pretty good nightlife if you know where to look.
9. Vientiane to Dansai. An 08:00 start on the bikes ready for a mind blowing day of riding. One hundred and twenty kilometers following the Mekong, with some great views of the river. Some incredible mountain passes on shiny new tarmac (at the time of writing), followed by lunch on the Mekhng before dropping back down towards the Thai border crossing. Mid afternoon should see us back into
   Thailand where we’ll have a short but great ride to our overnight destination.
   Our lodging for the night will be in the Phu Pha Nam resort, a funky and in its own way a grand affair.
10. Dansai to Nan. 08:00 start. Four national parks in one day on some great tarmac through the mountains, with what are probably the most remote and traffic free roads in Thailand. Nan a provincial capitol offers us some nice lodgings and a good insight into the unseen Thailand.
11. Nan to Chiang Mai. A 9am start this morning and, once clear of Nan city, a ripper of a ride through the mountains to our final lunch stop of the tour at the picturesque lakeside town of Phayao. After lunch and a stroll to aid digestion, it’s back on the bikes for the final 160km push back into Chiang Mai on a mix of beautiful sweepers and a fast, well-surfaced dual carriageway. Estimated arrival time is approx 4pm.

TBB Tours has been riding and operating tours in Laos for over five years, offering you great local knowledge and piece-of-mind so that you can relax and enjoy your trip with us.

This tour is “all inclusive” meaning that everything apart from evening meals and alcohol is supplied. Bikes, riding jacket & helmet, fuel, insurance, accommodation for 10 nights, breakfast, lunch and any admission fees with the exception of visa fees at the Burmese and Laos borders.
This is a tour suitable for anyone with a reasonable amount of “big bike” experience and pillions are welcome. We don’t ride extremely fast and definitely not recklessly but you must be competent and comfortable with speeds averaging between 80 – 120kph.