Hi,

I need to do a visa run from Chiang Mai and am considering making a bit of a trip out of it. The provisional plan is to bus it to Chiang Rai then rent a motorbike/scooter there and see some places around the town (I've heard good things about a temple nearby but outside the city) as well as going to Mae Sai to get my re-entry stamp. I would appreciate any advice on places to go - things I should see/do? Good places to stay and eat. Any tips really. I've heard Mae Salong is nice and doable on a bike from Chiang Rai/Mai Sai so I was thinking one night in Chaing Rai then biking to Mae Sai and from there straight to Mae Salong - a night there and then back to Chiang Rai - return my bike, and bus back to Chiang Mai. I would only be driving a simple Honda dream 125cc or something like a Honda Click incidentally.

Thanks in advance for any advice one can offer.

Hire a Bike in CM. Its a nice trip from there to CR through the mountains. If its the white temple your interested in its more or less on the CM road anyway about 20Kms before CR.

Best get yourself a GT-rider 'Golden Triangle' Map. Widely available in CM book shops.

I made 2 trips from my home near Chiang Rai to Doi Mae Salong recently, and both on a 125cc Honda Dream. I am a heavy guy and was in 1st gear for some of the steepest hills but I made it just fine.

In Mae Salong I stayed at Shin Sane Guest House and found it more than acceptable. The folks there were very friendly.

A copy of their business card is at this link: http://donhandley.com/11a2011/msalong21.jpg

My photos from those 2 Doi Mae Salong trips are here:

http://donhandley.com/11a2011/index.html

http://www.donhandley.com/5dec/index.html

I found this article about "Motorcycling the Chiang Rai Loop" to be quite helpful personally.

http://www.travelfish.org/feature/19

Cheers all, thanks for the very helpful posts and links, much appreciated :jap: