Thailand Motorcycle Tours -:- TransMotoSport -Thailand Adventure Riders » Coming on Tour “Helpful Hints” http://www.transmotosport.com Motorcycle Tours in Northern Thailand & Laos with Mark Rossi Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:36:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Helpful hints for tours http://www.transmotosport.com/coming-on-tour-helpful-hints/366.asp http://www.transmotosport.com/coming-on-tour-helpful-hints/366.asp#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 08:27:35 +0000 Mark Rossi http://www.transmotosport.com/?p=366 Money
You get your best currency exchange rate for Thai baht in Thailand so waiting until entering the country to exchange money is best, all airports have currency exchange vendors.
Thai Atm’s are internationally linked so you may use your local bank card to withdrawal money while in Thailand, but beware bank charges are high. On tour you can access a ATM everyday.
If using traveler’s cheques it is best to do so in Chiang Mai before your tour and exchange enough money for the period of the tour.
Cash exchange: Can be done in major tourist areas, however again its best to exchange your money in Chaing Mai before the tour as not to inconvenience the group.
You need to carry enough money for food and beverages with you, I would suggest dining for 3 meals, drinks and snacks will cost about 600bht/ day if you are a huge eater and like 1 or 2 western meals a day. If you are a moderate eater 400bht will be enough.
If you like a beer at night that is totally up to you, a small bottle can range from 50bht – 100bht so dependent on how much you drink is how much cash you need to bring.

Traveling to or from Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is serviced by a limited international airport, most flights land at Bangkok and connect to Chiang Mai. From Bangkok to Chiang Mai there are numerous ways to travel, The best budget airline to use is Air Asia as it operates out of the international airport and if pre-booked online tickets go as cheap as 1200bht one way.
Thai Airways is a well known and comfortable airline to also use.
There are also sleeper trains and V.I.P. buses available to Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai also have direct flights to most south east Asian major cities although sometime not daily.

What to bring on tour
We basically us the same riding gear day in and out with a wash day every 3 days.
Transmotosport supplies you with Helmet, Gloves and gogles, and we have off-road style riding boots (150bht / day) and touring jackets (50bht / day) for hire. please advise before hand what riding gear is required, but if you can, wearing your own gear is always more comfortable. I would also suggest bringing some bicycle pants or similar padded pants for more comfort as buttocks can become tender.
If traveling in a small group of less than 4 people, we do not use a service vehicle so all gear is carried on our motorcycles, I suggest you pack what you are wearing to ride plus.
*3 riding t-shirts or similar
*3 sets of underwear and socks
*flip flops to wear at night
* 1 pair of shorts for walking
* 1 pair of jeans or shorts for night time
* December and January we carry jeans and a warm sweater
* toiletries
* for November, December and January I carry with me a set of outdoor thermal underwear for warmth, it surprising how cool it is at altitude in the mountains, thermals are light and pack small, well worth the investment.
* July, August, September and October if you fear being wet from a warm rain storm, pack your wet weather gear, cheap raincoats are available every where in the area and are good enough but do not always keep you 100% dry.
It is my suggestion to pack and travel light and leave the complications of every day life behind you while on tour, again,.. basic needs are easily accessible and cheap.

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