Day 1 is an arrival day, and we will coordinate to collect you from Chiang Mai Airport or any other hotel or location in the city and to bring you to the bike centre, where we'll complete the required paperwork and get you introduced and acquainted with your chosen motorcycle. 

On completion, we'll guide you to the first night's hotel in Chiang Mai and that evening we'll meet as a group and take dinner together in one of Chiang Mai's premier restaurants to get to know each other a little ahead of the first days riding. 

Day 2 is our first day's riding of the tour, and we leave Chiang Mai in a westerly direction heading for Mae Wang famous for its many Elephant camps, where we stop at one of them to meet the friendly and well-cared for animals.

We then continue on back roads up in the mountains towards Doi Inthanon, Thailand highest mountain standing at 2,565 meters, where we park our motorcycles 200 walking meters from the shrine on the summit, and where we can enjoy the most amazing view and take the opportunity for some photographs that will cause your social media followers instant envy.

Passing a continental divide we spend the rest of the day on beautiful scenic curvy roads the whole way to Mae Hong Son, but before reaching our hotel we stop at the fantastic Japanese war museum in Khun Yam.

Day 3 and before we ride we visit the Karen tribe’s people, better known by the less attractive tourist moniker of The Long Neck Women.

The Karen Tribe are natives of Myanmar who migrated across the porous border several generations ago and made Thailand their home, and the women of the tribe typically wear heavy brass rings around their neck (and arms and legs) to give a 'stretched' or elongated appearance, which they find more attractive.

After this visit we explore the roads for which northern Thailand is justifiably famous, and it's a short half-day's ride to Pai through some absolute riding roads nirvana.

We'll get into Pai in time to explore the famous Pai Walking Street in the early evening, where there is a great selection of bars, restaurants, live music, and souvenir shops.

Day 4 is a diverse day of riding and experiences, and we leave Pai and head back towards Chiang Mai for a while to complete the remaining 1864 bends that we started the previous day.

We stop and take lunch at Chiang Dao, a beautiful mountain formation famous for its many caves.

We then continue to Fang before crossing yet another mountain range to Mae Suai, but before reaching our hotel in Chiang Rai we stop at the famous white temple.

Once you visit the temple you realise why it has become one of the main tourist destinations of North Thailand, and it is simply breathtaking. 

Day 5 and we leave Chiang Rai behind to ride to the famous Golden Triangle where the three borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.

We ride up to the temple Wat Sop Ruak where we'll have a great view over the complete Golden Triangle.

We then visit the ‘House of Opium’ and learn the interesting history of how this area was once the centre of the flourishing and illicit opium trade.

From here we continue on the paradise road to Chiang Khong and the Thai – Laos border, where we take our first land border crossing for the trip, and where we invite you to relax and to simply enjoy the bureaucratic 'show' that our tour guides have to negotiate.

Once in Laos the difference is immediate, and we instantly need to ride on the right side of the road, and the country is much poorer and certainly less populated than Thailand.

Riding on the main Laos transit road to China we ride over mountains passing some remote villages and small towns to Luang Namtha, today’s final destination and the location of our hotel.

Day 6 takes us from Luang Namtha and we continue towards the Chinese border for a while before turning east towards Muang Xai.

Here you will see the new high speed railway connecting Vientiane - the modern-day Laos capital, with Kunming in China.

The railway line is being financed by China and has significantly changed north Laos from rural poverty into a thriving economic area.

From Muang Xai we continue to Pak Beng which is located along the Mekong River, and we stop at a scenic spot where the Nam Beng River flows into the Mekong.

Here we stop for the night and enjoy a night of eating, drinking, and recharging, alongside a dip or the view from the hotel's infinity pool.

Day 7  and our first stretch of road today is to Hongsa, famous for its huge lignite power station.

It’s an enjoyable stretch of road, snaking gently over a series mountains and through numerous traditional Laos villages.

From Hongsa we take a road over the mountain to Luang Prabang, and the scenery is just beautiful, with this area being quite remote and with not many people are living in this part of Laos, and there is still plenty of virgin jungle in this area that we pass through.

In the afternoon we reach Luang Prabang with its gleaming temple roofs, fading French architecture, and with its stunning mountain backdrop.

Luang Prabang has been claimed by UNESCO to be ‘the best-preserved city in South East Asia’, and this is where we spend the evening and where we invite the group to explore the beautiful city.

Day 8 is a rest day in Luang Prabang and to enjoy at your own pace.

In the morning you will have the option to rise early to view the procession of monks on their daily outing collecting alms, a practice that dates back centuries, although the procession is completed early as the monks cannot eat anything after midday. By giving food to a monk you allegedly make merit, which should augur well for your next life.

You may also want to visit the beautiful Kuang Si Waterfalls, and it’s possible to swim in the lagoons bathing costumes or shorts are recommended. 

Another option is a two-hour boat ride on the Mekong River to the Pak Ou Caves, and shorter sunset boat tours are also available which we can arrange on your behalf (all activities are at your own expense). 

In Luang Prabang city you can visit the major temples, including the magnificent Wat Xieng Thong, which nestles at the meeting of the Mekong and the Nam Khan Rivers, and Wat Wisunalat, which is the oldest temple in the city.

Another great optional activity is to sample a traditional Lao massage and herbal sauna, or along the walking street in Luang Prabang there are plenty of really great antique shops, bakeries, restaurants, bars, etc. 

Day 9 and back on the motorcycles, we ride north along the Nam Ou River, and it’s fantastic to ride this road with its gentle curves for mile after mile.

Once in Pak Mong we will be crossing over the Song Cha mountain range, where there is a newly-laid road of immaculate tarmac snaking its way over the mountain and it’s an absolute pleasure to negotiate the magnificent curves and to enjoy the amazing scenery.

We eventually drop down out of the mountains and out into the countryside and then to our beautiful resort in the jungle, where we overnight in Muang Xai.

Day 10 and our tour continues in an easterly direction on provincial roads to the Vietnamese border.

The first stretch we will ride along the Nam Phak River and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

At Pak Nam Noy we start climbing up the mountains towards the Vietnam border, and this is a remote area of Laos, with not many villages and the scenery is spectacular.

Our Vietnamese guide will wait for us at the Tay Trang border crossing to negotiate our passage, and together we will then ride to Dien Bien Phu.

We will immediately notice how things quickly change once crossing into Vietnam, with a very different landscape, with more people, and with more villages and traffic.

The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist-nationalist revolutionaries, and we visit the Dien Bien Phu Museum, and then the notorious hill A-1 battlefield, the scene of a former French command post and a captured tank.

We then overnight in Dien Bien Phu.

Day 11 is a relatively long riding day, and we pass endless stunning local villages with plenty of photo opportunities on offer, before the latter part of the day when we start climbing up the mountain passes and the scenery just continues to get better by the hour.

After an early breakfast, we depart toward Muong Lay, before heading up to Taphin plateau to conquer a scenic and stunning road through the Sin Ho Valley.

We stop at the Sin Ho Market for a tour of this amazing local place with some of the craziest fruits and vegetables that are only local to this area.

We then continue to travel this road until Lai Chau, where we take the winding road to Sapa with a photo stop at the O Qui Ho pass, where at 2,005 meters and called 'Heaven’s Gate', we have a spectacular view of Phan Xia Pang at 3,143 meters, which is Vietnam and South East Asia's highest mountain.

In the beautiful destination town of Sapa, there are plenty of restaurants, souvenir shops, bars, and something for every taste, and this is where we spend the evening. 

Day 12 and our journey takes us in southern direction, where we ride on good quality mountain roads to Nhiah Loh.

During the entire day we pass through endless villages and rice fields, and there are countless photo stops and possibilities to engage with the local community who are extremely friendly and welcoming.

The closer we get to Nhiah Loh the more spectacular the landscape becomes, especially the countless valleys with their endless rice terraces.

The road is especially scenic between Than Uyen to Nghia Lo, where we will stop at a monument on pass 1570 and viewpoint No.1 where we have the opportunity to climb the watchtower, and the view of the rice paddies is best from here.

Finally we overnight in Ngiah Lo.

Day 13 is a day where we have a shorter ride, leaving Nghia Lo behind and heading out on country roads, where we pass endless villages and tea plantations.

We take a lunch break at the 1500 year old village of Duong Lam, with banyan trees, water wells, communal courtyards, temples, winding village roads, small alleys, old wooden houses, and ancient walls.

From here we have 30 miles left to Hanoi, and the closer we get to the capital, the denser the traffic becomes.

The last stretch into the city center is an experience by itself, and Hanoi, a city with a population of eight million people, has a vehicle population of 6.4 million, including 5.6 million motorcycles (mostly scooters).

During our time in Hanoi we are staying at a hotel at the old quarter, a safe and vibrant area full of restaurants, bars, and some amazing shops.

Day 14 provides two choices to our tour participants:

Option 1: Hanoi city tour, visiting the main landmarks of Hanoi Lake, Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, Temple Of Literature, Hoàn Kiếm Lake, Hanoi old quarter. etc. 

Option 2: Hạ Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The name Hạ Long means 'descending dragon'. The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes. Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km2 (600 square miles), including 1,960–2,000 islets. The limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The evolution of the karst in this bay has taken 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate. You will visit Sung Sot Grotto, Luon Cave, Ti Top Island, and be able to kayak on the bay. 

We again spend the night in Hanoi. 

Day 15 sees the tour push out of Hanoi, where we then stop at Tam Coc for lunch and a break.  

It’s a small town, full of guest houses, coffee shops, restaurants, and souvenir shops, with a good opportunity to buy inexpensive Vietnamese local handicraft, and Tam Coc was previously the ancient capital of Vietnam in around the 10th century.

From here we continue south to Cua Lo Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam, and this is one of the main weekend destinations for locals and tourists. 

We overnight in the Cua Lo Beach area. 

Day 16 and we start to follow the main coastal highway connecting Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh City in South Vietnam.

Our first destination of the day is the town of Vinh, from here we ride inland along the 'Ho Chi Minh' trail.

Once on the inland roads we expect less traffic and we experience enjoyable riding and scenery.

Our final destination of the day is the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2003.

The park covers a total surface area of 123,326 hectares and shares a boundary with the Hin Namno Nature Reserve in Laos.

The Park’s landscape is formed by limestone plateau and tropical forests, and it features great geological diversity and offers spectacular phenomena, including a large number of caves and underground rivers.

We overnight in Phong Nha.

Day 17 is again a choice of two options.

Option 1: Start with visiting Paradise Cave, one of the most beautiful caves in the area. Forewarning that from parking to cave entrance it's a 600m-plus hard-work climb up to the cave entrance. The cave has a length of 31.4 km and a height of 60m, and the cave’s width varies from 30m to 100m, with some places up to 150m. The cave is known for its unique stalactite and stalagmite formations. 

Then continue to 'Freedom Bridge' or Hien Luong Bridge crossing the Ben Hai River at the 17th parallel where you will walk across the old DMZ demarcation line from South to North Viertnam. There we find the Memorial of National Unification, the Frontline Flagpole, etc. We then continue eastbound towards the coast to see Vinh Moc tunnel build by the locals to escape the brutal bombardment of the US Army. The total length of the tunnels are nearly 2,000 meters with six entrances to the tops of hills and seven entrances to the South China Sea.

Option 2: We can also visit Khe Sanh military base, and for those interested in the Vietnam War, this is a highlight, and to get there we ride the Ho Chi Minh Trail which is all paved. 

The 75-day siege of Khe Sanh began on 21 January 1968 with a small-scale assault on the base’s perimeter. As the U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese rangers braced for a full-scale ground attack, Khe Sanh became the focus of global media attention. During the next two months the base was subjected to continuous Vietnamese ground attacks and artillery fire, and U.S. aircraft dropped 100,000 tonnes of explosives in its vicinity. But the expected attempt to overrun the base never came.

Today the site is occupied by a small museum, which contains some fascinating old photographs, plus a few reconstructed bunkers and American aircraft. Most of the area is now planted with coffee, and vendors offer high-grade local Arabica beans for sale at the entrance.

We finally travel a short distance to Dong Ha where we stay the evening. 

Day 18 is a magical one and we visit two UNESCO world heritage sites, and starting with the historic old city centre of Hue for lunch.

Hue was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty emperors and the Vietnamese national capital from 1802 to 1945.

We visit the vast, 19th-century Đại Nội Citadel, surrounded by a moat and thick stone walls, and it encompasses the Imperial City, various palaces and shrines, and the Forbidden Purple City - once the emperor’s home.

From Hue we cross the spectacular Ocean Cloud Pass on a high coastal road.

We'll then bypass the busy commercial city of Da Nang before reaching our resort hotel in Hoi An, right on the beachfront. 

From the hotel we head to Hội An for dinner, known for its well-preserved Ancient Town, cut through with canals.

The former port city’s melting-pot history is reflected in its architecture, a mix of eras and styles from wooden Chinese shop houses and temples to colourful French colonial buildings, ornate Vietnamese tube houses and the iconic Japanese Covered Bridge with its pagoda.

Day 19 and we continue down the coast for a little while before turning inland via the Violac Pass to the town of Kon Tum.

There's an old wooden church and a Catholic seminary school here, a legacy of French missionaries from over 100 years ago.

We'll then proceed to our hotel in Pleiku for the evening and our last night in Vietnam.

Day 20 and we have another border to cross as we head to Le Thanh and pass into Cambodia, our fourth corner of South-East Asia.

On our route we stop at Yeak Laom, a volcanic and beautiful lake where we stop for lunch and a possible swim for the daring.

On this part of the journey you notice that the countryside has become flat, the roads are straight, and we cover the last distance to Stung Treng relatively quickly, where again on our trip we meet the Mekong River. 

Day 21 and the tour starts and winds through small villages on our way to Siem Reap, which has become Cambodia - and possibly Asia's most holy of tourist pilgrimages.

Prepare for a few more people than we've typically shared our space with over recent days, and Siem Reap is a bustling commercial and tourist town due to the nearby temples, but it also boasts a vibrant nightlife of pubs, bars, pool rooms, live music, and restaurants.

It's a really great place to unwind and have a few drinks whilst soaking up the atmosphere after this day's ride. 

Day 22 is a rest day in Siem Reap, and what a place to have some time to explore.

The tour is about to transition from those who haven't seen Angkor Wat, to those privileged few who have, and it's right up there with Machu Picchu or the Taj Mahal for bucket-list sight-seeing.

The sheer scale of the temple complex is mind blowing, and a visit to Ta Prohm is particularly impressive, as the authorities have left much of it in the same condition as they found it, still covered in lush jungle growth and creeping vines, and the place is truly awesome.

We will visit the temple area on tricycles, and our local guide will share the history of this vast area.

Day 23 and we make our way out from Siem Reap as we ride along the West Baray, the largest baray at Angkor and one of the largest hand cut water reservoirs on Earth.

It’s an easy gravel road, and along the lake we briefly stop next to a Buddhist temple and food stalls.

Once turning off the main highway to Thailand we will take smaller roads towards our end destination of Pailin, passing small villages, rice paddies, and orange farms.

We will visit a local market in the town of Bavel, and this is the real rural Cambodia. 

Day 24 is the final riding day of our tour, and we cross the border from Cambodia back into Thailand and it's a really great 200 mile final ride into Pattaya Beach.

On arrival we unpack the bikes and get into our Pattay Beach hotel where we take the opportunity to deep cleanse, before meeting as a group to partake in a great final evening of dining together, drinking, and because it's Pattaya - partying until as late as you wish (there's no riding the next day). 

Day 25 is the departure day, and we meet for breakfast (those that are conscious after the last night's partying) and we share a final meal and hour together before sharing hand-shakes and hugs of the tremendous friendships forged, and until the next Polaris tour. 

While we find that most people stay for a little longer to relax in Pattaya, transfers are available to the airport as needed through the morning.