As mentioned previously, the Mae Hong Son province is Thailand’s least populous. However, it does host a lot of “hilltribe” people. These are people who normally don’t have full Thai citizenship and who, yes you’ve guessed it – live in the hills! As such, there’s a network of trails criss-crossing the province linking various hilltribe villages. These trails vary in terrain from some that are for serious 4 x 4 vehicles only and are unpassable in the wet season to easier open “fire road” style routes. There’s nothing more humbling than being all kitted up on your tuned CRF riding along thinking “yeah I’m on it!” only to have some hilltribe kid with his granny on the back and a sack of rice in the U-frame come past you . Ha ha ha! That’s also part of the beauty and awesomeness of riding like this with us – you really are “off the beaten track” and get to experience stuff that the guys on roadbikes (let alone the tourists in minivans!) just never get to see. Marvellous.

As with our road tours, our off road guides have been riding the area for a long time and know the terrain extremely well. Notice we don’t say “like the back of their hand”. This is because it changes with the seasons. Bamboo and other fauna grow like crazy and what was a trail in February could be virtually undetectable in October. It’s not unknown for our guides to get off and machete through to the start of a trail that they know is there somewhere!

Add the fact that the guides are mechanically proficient and carry a decent toolkit and spares and you’ll understand that you’re not not going to be hanging around bored and wasting the time you’ve paid for with your hard earned cash whilst he ponders how to fix a puncture or a broken gear shaft. Nope, it’s find some shade, tools out and get on with it and get the group moving again a.s.a.p.

Our guys are also sympathetic to the fact that not everyone is a David Knight or an ex-champ trials rider and are there to assist those that struggle if they have overestimated their skillset when describing the type of terrain they’d like to ride. Indeed, many riders comment at the end of the tour that they’ve picked up useful tips and techniques whilst on tour and that they feel heaps more confident off road. Good stuff.

Absolutely not. Each afternoon we’ll leave the trails and hop onto the tarmac to get to our overnight location. We won’t bullsh*t you and say you’ll be at The Ritz but all accommodations are hand-picked for cleanliness and comfort. In addition, where possible there will be a pool.

Also, our overnight’s are generally (but not always) in or close to reasonable sized towns where there’s a variety of eateries to choose from. Again, you can draw on our guide’s experience to point you in the right direction.