A 7 day South East Asia Touring Recommendation?

I live in Hong Kong and have a 9 day holiday in early February. I would like to do a 7 day ride with loaded panniers to test out a new touring bike and equipment somewhere in SE Asia. We can cover up to 75 kilometers a day and hills are fine. Any recommendations? The 2 that I really want to ride, from Hanoi to Luang Prabang and the Chiang Mai/Mae Hong Son loop need more than 7 days riding or would just be too rushed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as to where we might find good food, quiet roads and photogenic places for 6-7 days of riding.

Cheers
Mark

I suggest you find where you can fly with your bike for a reasonable cost. See recent post about someone who is paying a fortune for his bike on Vietnam Airlines.

AirAsia are pretty good with bikes and fly from HK.

With only 7 days you have pretty much got to hit the ground running, so somewhere like Bangkok would use up a few days getting to and from cycling destination. Even Hanoi would take a while to get to good destinations, but a better bet - head NW.

f you can fly to Chiang Mai, there are loads of possibilities, eg heading out towards Chiang Rai, Golden Triangle, etc.

along with airasia, check out jetstar and tiger. still relatively cheap and easy (w/box)
to carry your bicycle. plenty of cheap flights from the hubs at singapore and kuala lumpur.
.
tiger just added some new flights, including singapore-chiang mai.

You could try Vientiane - Luang Prabang or start from Phnom Penh and do a loop around Tonle Sap with time for a few days at Angkor Wat.

Cheers, Will

Hi Runbikeswim,

Here's another suggestion ...

• Fly to Bangkok, then fly to Udon Thani
• Ride west to Nong Bua Lam Phu or a bit further to Loei
• Ride north to Chiang Khan on the Mekong River
• Ride east along the Mekong to Sangkhom
• Continue east along the Mekong to Nong Khai
• Night train back to Bangkok

It's a very nice loop with great scenery, very light traffic, inexpensive accommodation and food, and wonderful people. Distances range from around 60 km per day to 110 km per day.

And remember to print out the baggage policy at the time you purchase ticket. Some airlines are very bad (e.g. Air France). If they change their baggage policy some time after your purchase, they ask you to pay for the extra cost when you check in. Hard copy of the policy is very important.