The loop, light.
Five days round the classic Mae Hong Son Loop from Chiang Mai — packed light and fast, up through Pai and the northern hills. A serious climbing challenge, and good training with GranGuanche on the horizon.
The classic Chiang Mai loop — a road bikers and motorbikers both love — packed light for five days of hills, hairpins and haze.
Out of Chiang Mai and straight onto the 1095 — the road that draws every rider north, its curves counted and painted on the milestones. I'd started and finished at Vanilla Residence, the usual base, and rolled out light: no camping kit, just enough to move fast. The loop earns its reputation — long climbs stacked back to back, the biggest close to 3,000 metres — exactly the legs-under-load riding I wanted before the Canaries.
Pai is the natural first stop, a backpacker town in a mountain bowl — a boutique room, a wander through the night market, and an early night before the long push on to Mae Hong Son.
This was burning season — the northern haze sits heavy from roughly February to April, and it flattens the views and the photos. I only had the time off then, so I went anyway. Worth knowing: for clear air and colour, ride the loop outside Feb–Apr.
The far side of the loop is quieter still — new concrete viaducts curving out over the valleys, barely a vehicle on them, the forest closing back in. Lonely, spectacular riding, even under a white sky.
The loop's final sting is Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain — but I gave the summit a miss this time. I'd already had a huge day in the hills and needed to get back to Chiang Mai. Worth knowing: you can't ride back down the summit road, you have to take a lift, so it's a there-and-back detour. One for another day.
Tough but good — exactly what it was meant to be. A beautiful, hard loop, ridden light, that left the legs ready for the islands. I'd go back in a heartbeat, just not in March.
Each day is a separate Strava activity — browse forward and back there for the rest.
