Biking in Asia

Thinking of a 3 weeker - last 3 weeks in Jan

Options are Thailand / Cambodia / Vietnam - or all three :stuck_out_tongue:

Prices for bike hire look much cheaper than anywhere else I’ve done it…so any thoughts / recommendations?

(Have already dropped Rixxy a message)

The tours look expensive and some only do 100km a day. Even on dirt tracks - seems a bit light?

BL

you should also get in touch with Aidan and speak to him, i know he did exactly that last year at some point.

oh and of course, Martin :smiley:

iirc dawn & sean did something similar earlier in the year

We did 15 days in Nepal and loved every minute of it, we are doing 10 days in Vietnam as the first part of our honeymoon and then 10 days in Thailand. Trust me 100 miles is a lot in a day in some of those countries due to road conditions, stopping to see stuff, food, etc. if your going unguided then speak to Rixxy about where he stayed as his trip looked good, if your going guided then there are a lot of good companies out there we used blazing trails but they only do India, Nepal and South Africa and I would recommend them to anyone that asks.

driven a truck all over thailand and a fair bit of off roading on a bike, am doing a 6 week trip there next week about 4 weeks will be riding bikes.
wouldn’t bother with any of the guided tours they are well over priced,thailand is easy especially northern thailand ,can rent 650 versys for around 25 quid a day ,check out rideasia.net ,riders corner in chiang mai is the place for all the info …sure rixxy is gonna say the same as was reading his blog and he seems to have done all this…

this trip i am doing 4-5 days around east thailand before xmas then after xmas bangkok ,chaing rai,nan,mai hai song etc etc might bump into you if you decide to go…

Did Cambodia 1:1 with a guide and Honda 250. http://www.cambodiaexpeditions.com

Zander would also recommend, having done a few weeks with them.

Cheers all - have emailed those guys (cam exp) to see if they have anything planned that might work. Any other tips / suggestions much appreciated.

Quick update for anyone interested.

Opted for a bike trip around Southern Africa instead - going to start and end in Joberg - and hopefully get to see a fair bit of Northern SA - maybe Swaziland / Lesotho too. Got a BMW GS650 hired - at around 50 quid a day - bargain when hiring a bike - though annoying as a car is about 15 a day.

Decided not to hire the Satnav - 23 days hire at 10 a day - ouch - figured I’d buy a map and accept I get lost a few times. That or I might buy just a Garmin there as I could do with one in Malawi…we’ll see.

So anyone done any riding in Northern South Africa - do let me know any tips.

Cheers
BL

(Photos and custard to follow)

Maybe Admn could relabel the thread title?

Cheers.

As Martin says - Cambodia Expeditions are great for that region. Zeman and his associates are hard to beat.

I also did a couple of weeks around Southern Africa with Global Enduro before they went bust :frowning: They’ve now pretty much reformed as https://www.facebook.com/TheBigAdventureCompany

They’re expensive compared to doing it solo, but nice to get the support and at least partially pre-researched routes - some of which were amazing.

We headed north into Botswana, and bits of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia - including the salt flats - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makgadikgadi_Pan . It didn’t seem too difficult to get bikes out of South Africa as long as you have the papers, and Botswana was worth it.

I wouldn’t recommend the salt flats solo and without research, but Botswana was great. I guess the main hilights were the Elephant and Rhino sanctuaries which I’m sure can be Googled, also some of the places around the Okavango Delta / Maun.

If you need an expert in Safari and places to visit, you can’t beat this guy - https://www.facebook.com/matthew.copham - he’s like Crocodile Dundee in Botswana.

Edited to add - a pro-video guy was with us and took the following piece :slight_smile: http://vimeo.com/75474834

Another edit - the Old Postal Road between Botswana and Zimbabwe was a hilight too :slight_smile:

Quick update. Got from Joberg to Kruger last week. Then a long run, through mountains, along the edge of Swaziland to St Lucia. Easy run today to north of Durban, staying on the coast in Ballito. Got some pics on FB.

If Gav is on here, he might be able to post onto here, I cant save em.

Glad you posted Nick, were just wondering what you were up to.

Hint: Spend a few quid of your mega wages some time to get a camera, or a phone that takes pics.

:slight_smile:

I’ve already moaned at Nick for not taking any photos :slight_smile:
Anyway, here’s two he has manage to take.

The view from the brothel he’s staying.

Nick’s fascination of fire hydrants of the world is a never ending hobby.

Mega wages? I am unemployed Mrs Jet.

From Feb Ill be working for a charity on charity wages :crazy:

Depending on the charity, some pay more than London agencies.

Mine doesnt. 85% pay cut as it happens. My reward will be in heaven rather than in the bank account :crying:

Sounds like this means I can’t call you a champagne socialist anymore… :wink:

So is this another bean counting job, or are you going back to teaching?

Either way, as someone who made a similar move a couple of years ago, working for people rather than money & big business does bring it’s own rewards in this life, good luck with it.

Will be the FD for a :smallish charity. Based in Lilongwe. Never was a champagne socialist, more a lager man as well you know Pat!