South by Southeast: Motorcycle Thailand

Each year thousands of travelers head for Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, ground zero for jungle treks, cooking courses and plenty of shopping. But good as Chiang Mai can be, it’s the regions beyond the comfy confines of Thailand’s second-largest city where travelers will find real adventure, an undertaking best-tackled by motorbike.

Northern Thailand’s vast terrain remains one of the country’s last great undiscovered areas, dotted with remote hill tribe villages, breathtaking hilltop vistas and laid-back mountain retreats. The best way to explore this vast region is by motorcycle trekking, an increasingly popular activity for savvy travelers looking to get away from the crowds in Chiang Mai.

There are several reasons why renting a motorbike is the best way to explore Northern Thailand. Touring by motorbike allows you to explore the area at your own pace, unrestrained by the limits of bus schedules and tourist guidebooks – you’re free to “get lost” on your own private adventure. In addition, the region offers an ideal environment for riding: traffic is light and the weather from November to February is mild and dry, with daytime temperatures in the 70’s. Most importantly, motorbike riding in Thailand’s North affords travelers the sheer thrill of area’s curvy roads and gorgeous scenery.

Earlier this month, I decided to try out a motorcycle trek of my own. I would head out from the Northern Thai city of Chiang Rai, riding nearly 300 kilometers southwest towards the lazy mountain town of Pai. Prior to starting my trip, I had zero days of riding experience. Curious to see what happened? Read below for more…

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Is It Safe?
Perhaps the biggest concern for anyone considering a motorcycle “trek” in Southeast Asia is safety. We’ve all heard the horror stories of the friend who rented a motorbike on holiday and ended up with a broken arm or worse. These are all valid concerns, but undertaken responsibly, a motorbike trek can be just as safe as a ride in a car.

If you’ve never been on a bike before, take a day or two in a parking lot or a quiet street to get the hang of the acceleration and turning. Learn the rules of the road. If you’re coming from the U.S., keep in mind they drive on the left in Thailand, not on the right. Make sure to also do some research on the type of bike you should rent. I opted for the small but nimble Honda Click. At 125cc, it’s easy to control for beginners and comes with automatic transmission. Lastly, make sure to get a helmet.

Navigating
Before setting off on my motorbike trip, I grabbed myself a Northern Thailand road map made by Groovy Map from one of Chiang Mai’s many English-language bookstores. The map proved invaluable – not only did it outline roadside attractions like waterfalls, caves and hot springs in both English and Thai, it also listed the condition of the roads as well as ranking them for scenic attractiveness. It’s also worth checking out the extensive itinerary ideas over at Golden Triangle Rider. David Unkovich, who founded the site, provides detailed information on models of bike, destination ideas and how to handle problems along the way.

The Trip

As we departed Chiang Rai, my initial worries about controlling the bike quickly faded from memory. My bike proved easy to handle and maneuver and soon I was tooling around like a pro. My concern was soon replaced by the sheer thrill of riding a bike through the rugged scenery of Thailand, wind racing past my face, humming motor below.

As I quickly discovered, touring by motorbike is just as much about the ride itself as it is about the destination. For every real “attraction” we planned to visit along the way, we spent nearly as much time simply enjoying the ride – leaning into the turns, stopping for scenic photos and chatting with owners at tiny filling stations.

That’s not to say there were no highlights. Some of my favorite sights along the way are listed below. Remember, the real beauty of motorcycle trekking is you’re free to change your itinerary each day as you please. Make sure to throw in your own adventures along the way.

  • Route 1340 – this curvy strip of road, just south of the Myanmar border, was among the most rugged (and gorgeous) I traversed. Plan to be alone, just you and your bike, with nothing but towering limestone cliffs, tiny mountain villages and curvy swithbacks to keep you company.
  • Doi Ang Khang – known among locals as “Little Switzerland” Doi Ang Khang makes a nice day trip from points further south. Stop by to enjoy locally-made handicrafts, fresh organic produce and plenty of killer views.
  • Chiang Dao Caves – Northern Thialand’s vast limestone rock deposits are dotted with plenty of caves. Many cave complexes, like the one found near Chiang Dao, make for an intriguing visit. Make sure to take a tour of the cave’s vast interior by lamp light, including quirky rock formations and plenty of reclining Buddhas.
  • Pai – this once-sleepy Thai hill town is fast becoming a mini-Chiang Mai. After spending a few days racing around on bike, Pai makes for the perfect antidote. Spend a few days enjoying Pai’s plentiful outdoor activities including rafting, hiking and camping. Make sure to stop into town for top-notch Thai and Western cuisine and lots of gourmet coffee.

Gadling writer Jeremy Kressmann is spending the next few months in Southeast Asia. You can read other posts on his adventures “South by Southeast” HERE.

The ultimate road trip: 12,500 miles across Africa on a motorcycle

Thomas Tomczyk is serious about motorcycles. He’s done three motorcycle trips across India, from the steamy southern tip all the way up to the frozen highlands of Ladakh. Now he’s starting his childhood dream–an epic trip 12,500 miles (20,000 km) across Africa.

His zigzag tour will take in 22 African nations including South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, the Saharawi Republic, and Morocco. . .

. . .before he ends up skinny, exhausted, and happy at my house in Spain, where my wife will fatten him up with her excellent paella.

Full disclosure: Thomas is a friend of mine. We covered the massive Hindu pilgrimage of Kumbh Mela together in 2001 and barely managed not to get trampled to death by hordes of naked holy men. But even if I didn’t know him, this trip is so thoroughly cool I would have reported on it anyway.

Thomas isn’t just going on vacation; he’ll be visiting innovative grassroots projects that are making life better for the average African. Through his website Africa Heart Beat he’ll be telling us about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, such as creating a job center for landmine victims in Mozambique, an AIDS theater group in Botswana, and a Muslim-Christian vocational center in Mali that’s bringing the two communities together.

“The idea of crossing Africa came to me when I was 10,” Thomas says.”A large map of the world hung above my bed in a small Warsaw apartment. I would study the geography of each continent, its road and railroad network. The most prominent continent would be Africa, placed in the middle of the map, right above where my head would rest on the pillow. The idea stayed in my mind for years. I would eventually learn to ride motorcycles in India and cover the Horn of Africa for publications in Poland and US. In January 2009 my grandmother passed away and I decided it was time to do the trek I’ve been thinking about for so long. Traveling for travel’s sake was past me, and I decided I needed to find a purpose as I travel, something that would give meaning to the journey and benefit others.”

While 20,000 km is a long way to ride, he’s done it before in India. His longest journey there was 20,000 km on a 1950s technology 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet. I’ve ridden that bike and it’s a monster– heavy and tough enough for the task. This time he’ll be probably picking up a KTM 640 LC Adventure, a lighter but rugged off-road bike from a dealer in South Africa when he flies there Thanksgiving Day.

He’ll be crossing some very remote areas but will keep in touch as much as possible with an array of communications equipment. There will be regular updates on his blog, Facebook page, and YouTube channel. On the day after Thanksgiving, when Thomas is safely in Johannesburg and on the first day of his eight-month journey I’ll be writing about some of the gear he’s bringing along and share some advice he has for covering your own journeys as you do them.

Know of a project Thomas should cover? Tell us about it in the comments section!

Morocco by motorcycle

The guys over at Urban Daddy have been on a roll lately, unearthing some pretty cool packaged tours. First there was Urbane Nomads’ dive trip to the Great Wall of China. Now they’ve found an organized luxury tour of Morocco, by motorcycle.

Hispania Tours offers a 15-day tour through Morocco that features 13 days of riding on BMW motorcycles. The route starts and ends in Malaga, Spain, and includes stops in Marrakech, High Atlas, Fez, Erg Chebbi, and Merzouga in Morocco. At close to €4000, it’s not cheap. But for the price, you’ll get a guide who’ll lead your group of up to 8 riders along the route, a chase van that will take care of any breakdowns and transport your luggage from place to place, accommodations in 3- and 4-star hotels, breakfasts and dinners, all ferry tolls, insurance, and a camel ride at Merzouga.

The company also runs tours through Spain and Portugal, which range from €2000 to €3000 per person. Self-guided tours that include just hotel and motorcycle start at €1300 and motorcycle rentals only start at €75 per day. Pillions (riders who sit behind the motorcycle driver on the same bike) pay about 1/4 of the full rate and according to the website, routes can be tailored according to experience level.

Big Earth Productions launches travel website

Big Earth Productions, responsible for gripping travel documentaries such as Long Way Around and Long Way Down, have just launched a new travel website.

It’s designed to be a one-stop experience for finding information on adventure travel all over the world, providing tips on permits, visas, shipping, and transport. But they’ve gone beyond that to create an online community where people can share advice photos, and video.

BEP has filmed epic journeys starring Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor riding around the world on motorcycles, rickshaws, boats, and everything else imaginable, but especially motorcycles, which are the perfect vehicles for just about any terrain. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of emphasis on motorcycles here, with an entire section dedicated to Two Wheel Adventure, so if you want to do your own international Easy Rider epic, you’ll be set for information. The Cargo section will tell you what permits you need to get your bike to, say, Senegal. They’ll tell you all about pet visas too.

A lot of their pages rely on public participation, so at this early stage some elements are a bit spotty. A video page encourages people to upload shots from their trip and offers advice from documentary filmmakers on how to get the most out of any video camera in adverse conditions. The TV section includes clips from Big Earth Production’s documentaries. My favorite is series of crashes from the Dakar Rally. Did that guy really think he’d save his burning bike by throwing sand on it? Feel free to upload more of those, guys.

One page that holds a lot of promise is a clickable map of the world that aspires to have travel anecdotes and information for every country. Some countries don’t have much yet, but they will fill in with time. Since membership is free, you might want to head on over there and add your own content, but be sure to come right back to Gadling because, in the words of my three-year-old son, “we’re pretty cool.”

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Work and play in Queensland, Australia: Farm Work

So, you have your visa and you’re ready to head to Australia for to earn some money while backpacking for a year or two but fruit picking just doesn’t sound that interesting to you. Well, if you’ve been paying attention this week, you know that the Australian government considers many forms of manual labor to be Specified Work, and that’s what lets you get a second visa (if you are from a country that qualifies). And one such type of employment is plant and animal cultivation. Yes, that category does encompass the fruit picking that I covered yesterday, but it also includes cattle mustering, animal processing and other livestock related activities. In other words, good old-fashioned, See ‘n Say-style farm work.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “But, Mike, I have never worked on a farm before. Why would anyone hire me to herd sheep, work with cattle or drive a tractor?” It’s a reasonable question that many backpackers must be asking themselves before they pack their bags for Australia. And thankfully, there is a farm in Queensland where you can spend a week learning the various skills that one would need to be successful in this type of Specified Work. I visited this training farm and had an intensive one-day learning experience to see what it’s like to work on a farm in order to finance a backpacking holiday. I very quickly discovered that that farm life is not easy, but it is also far from boring.

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Springbrook Farm

About 240km northwest of Brisbane sits the tiny town of Goomeri (population 400). Just outside of town is Springbrook Farm, a 2,500 acre cattle and training farm. Owned by Dan and Joanna Burnet, Springbrook Farm raises cattle for beef and trains backpackers on how to make themselves employable on farms around Australia.

The five-day training course at Springbrook covers several farm disciplines:

  • Horse riding and mustering
  • Motorcycling
  • Tractor driving and machine operation
  • Cattle work
  • Fencing
  • Chainsaw operation

First, some definitions. Mustering is just another way of saying wrangling. When you’re moving cattle from one place to another, you’re mustering. See, you’re on your way to being qualified to work on a farm and you haven’t even left your cubicle! And, as far as fencing goes, leave your rapiers and foils at home. This refers to actual fences and the work involved to install and mend them. If you’re going to muster cattle, you need to have fences.

Second, why motorcycling? Well, as the Burnets explained, many farms herd sheep while riding dirt bikes. Of course, I had hoped that this meant that the sheep rode the bikes, but I was mistaken. Farmers, however, use the bikes to stay ahead of the sheep and get them moving in the right direction.

Backpackers who come through Springbrook Farm for training spend five days learning these skills. We sped through several subjects in one day under the tutelage of a very patient trainer. Having never ridden a dirt bike before, I mastered certain aspects, like continuously moving forward, very quickly. However, I also learned that the initial start-up was a unique challenge that once resulted in me “parking” the motorcycle in a shed immediately upon giving it some gas. But the staff at Springbrook took their time with everyone and showed that safety and self-sufficiency are their two main priorities.

In other words, don’t expect to be coddled when you are learning farm work. In order to get you placed on a working farm, Springbrook makes sure that you have not only the skills but the work ethic to succeed. So, as you tackle new tasks, you’ll receive detailed instructions from your trainers and then figure out any difficulties you face on your own, just as you will once you are employed on a working farm.

Mustering offered it’s own unique set of challenges. Even experienced horseback riders will find that adding the activity of moving cattle in specific directions makes everything markedly more difficult. Cattle, obviously, do not always want to move (or have differing opinions on which direction they should go). And horses don’t always want to obey. Add an uncertain rider to the equation, and, well, mustering can quickly devolve into animals running in random directions while perplexed and frightened farmers-in-training yell, “whoa,” in increasingly frantic tones.

I make this assessment after I experienced mustering for the first time while visiting Springbrook Farm. Mustering for beginners is an exercise in organized chaos, as riders struggle to guide horses, horses struggle to run free and cattle struggle to out-wit their pursuers. After what seemed like an eternity but was probably only 90 minutes or so, with the guidance of our trainer, the skill of one geriatric mare and sheer luck, we moved the cattle to the desired location and only one person was thrown from her horse.

This may be a good time to note that farm work is dangerous. It’s not for everyone. It requires you to always be alert and cautious. Once again, I am not trying to scare anyone away from this type of working holiday, but if you are expecting a watered-down, reality TV version of farm living, then it would be best if you stayed on your couch. Springbrook Farm prepares you for real farm work, and real farm work involves scrapes, bruises and the occasional accident.

At the end of the day, however, you feel fulfilled and proud. And, you reture to some fairly comfortable accommodations Backpackers training at Springbrook stay in a cozy house with shared rooms, a deck that was seemingly designed for barbecues and a pool. During my visit, several of the trainees in attendance had farm experience before they arrived and were just enhancing their skills before seeking employment elsewhere in Australia. Others were learning farm life for the first time and pursuing the adventure that such a unique challenge can provide.

VisitOz

The Burnets also founded VisitOz, which handles the training and job placement of hundreds of backpackers looking for farm work every year. Springbrook Farm is one of the training farms that functions within the VisitOz operations. Enrolling in VisitOz and utilizing their serves will cost around $1,990 AUD (roughly $1,500 USD) but you receive quite a bit in return. Included in the price is assistance with travel arrangements, nine total days of accommodations in Brisbane, Rainbow Beach and, finally, at your training farm, and, of course, your training and job placement. It may seem like a steep price to pay, but if you are intent on finding farm work with a respectable farm, experience with a program like VisitOz can pay huge dividends. And, if you have limited farm experience, it may be the difference between success and injury once you start work.

The stay in Rainbow Beach serves a vital purpose, according to the Burnets. As Dan told us, a farm is no place to get over jet-lag. Farmers need their staff to be rested and focused. This allows everyone to use the time on the farm as efficiently as possible.

The Burnets communicate with working farms and provide them with information on their trainees. By the end of the five days of training, most backpackers receive several job offers from farms and can select the opportunity that most interests them.

Know before you go

Whether you’re planning on utilizing the services of a training farm or finding farm work on your own, it’s best to prepare yourself in advance of your arrival in Australia. Dan Burnet’s advice was to pick up whatever skills you can while you are still at home. For example, become certified in CPR or First Aid. If you have the opportunity to gain experience on horseback, take advantage of it. Anything you can do to make yourself more appealing to farmers and, obviously, keep yourself safe while working is beneficial.

Farm work is difficult and tiring. During your time on the farm, you’ll wake up early, work until you are sore and fall asleep shortly after sunset. But, unlike fruit picking, you will be working with animals and experiencing adventurous activities that will test you mentally as well as physically.

And when your time on the farm is done, you will have a substantial amount of money in your pocket. How substantial? Depending on your qualifications, farm work can pay anywhere from $250-$1000 AUD (roughly $200-$800 USD) per week, with room and board on the farm provided free of charge. Tucked away on a farm for a few months, you can plan quite the Aussie adventure once your time at work comes to an end. All the more reason to stay safe and leave the farm with all of your appendages in tact.

Mike Barish spent a week in Queensland, Australia on a trip sponsored by Backpacking Queensland to see how backpackers find employment and entertain themselves down under. He’ll be sharing what he learned about the logistics of working in Australia’s Sunshine State and the myriad activities that young travelers have at their disposal. Read other entries in his series HERE.