KTMphil
Senior member
On Monday 27th May, 2013, I will be riding a BMW F800 gs as part of a "recce" tour from Chiang Mai to the Tibet border / Kawa Karpo at 6,740 meters (22,113'). Assuming this goes well and we like what we see, Reed, owner of Asian Motorcycle Adventures, will be offering tours on this route & you'll legally be able to take your own motorcycle from Chiang Mai, through Laos & China to the Tibet border hassle free. All the necessary temporary driving permits & motorcycle permits will be arranged for you, a hassle free adventure.
Con (left) wishing us a safe ride
Reed will have a daily blog documenting our trip, he writes beautifully which will make it a great read, the first part/ introduction is below:
"Hello. My name is Reed Resnikoff and I am the owner/operator of ASIAN MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURES, a motorcycle touring company based in the beautiful northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
On Monday, May 27, myself and Phil Gibbins, an avid motorcyclist also based in Chiang Mai and the creator of the motorcycle website www.rideasia.net, are going on a rather unique motorcycle tour that will take us all the way up to the Sino-Tibetan border and to a town called Shangri-La.
We will ride two BMW F800 GS's from Chiang Mai through northern Laos on into Yunnan Province, China. Waiting for us when we arrive in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province, will be the third motorcyclist on this trip, George Migliorelli, a round-the-world biker presently living and working in Hong Kong. George will be riding a Chinese-made 250cc dirt bike and trying like hell to keep up with Phil and myself.
We figure the entire tour will take around four weeks. It better because that is all the time the Chinese granted us on our visas.
Our ultimate goal is to reach the highest mountain left in the world whose peak has never been summited, Kawa Karpo at 6,740 meters (22,113'), sitting on the southeastern edge of the Himalaya plateau. The reason why no one has ever reached the peak has nothing to do with the difficulty of its flanks but everything to do with it being off-limits to foreigners as it is one of the four holiest mountains of Tibetan culture and the dwelling place of one of their most powerful goddesses, Shri Chakrasamvara. It is not a good idea to go messing with anyone's Gods because you never know.
Our base in this seldom-visited region is going to be probably the most exotic-sounding town on earth, Shangri-La. Shangri-La was made famous in James Hilton’s 1933 novel “Lost Horizon.” Yes, this town was created in the mind of a novelist but literary scholars seem to agree that Hilton based the town he called Shangri-La on a real place in Yunnan called Zhongdian by the Chinese and Gyalthang by the Tibetans. Those ever-resourceful Chinese, after becoming aware of this, officially changed the name of Zhongdian to Shangri-La and this is what has appeared on every map since then. Whatever, we are riding our motorcycles to Shangri-La. How sexy is that!
I will be writing a daily blog about this tour. I've never written a blog before. In fact I've never even read any blog by anyone else before, so please bear with my inexperience until I work the kinks out of this form of communication. And if any readers out there have suggestions on how I can improve the blog as it unfolds, I am more than happy to listen.
I will try to make this blog as informative and entertaining as possible and promise to sprinkle each report with photos and videos from each day's ride. I will be shooting with a Canon EOS Mark III digital camera with the brand-new 24-70 2.8 "L" II lens (for those who know). Hopefully I will be able to capture superb images to share with you all. In addition, we are also taking a bunch of GoPro HD video cameras for action footage. And in my pocket, ever handy, will be my brand-new Samsung Galaxy 4 smart phone that is supposed to take excellent images with its 13 megapixal camera.
I am sure Phil Gibbins will be taking along a camera or two, but he is out in the Thai jungle somewhere getting in some last-minute riding before going out for another month of riding, so I can't ask him at this time what camera gear he is bringing. I will inform you all when he resurfaces.
in each blog I will be providing a map so you can follow our progress or lack of it.
But to start off, I am including three maps at the bottom of this blog so you can get some idea as to where we are riding.
I had to use three separate maps because the territory we are covering is so vast and I couldn't find a single map to display it all.
I also want to inform you readers that I am an inveterate foodie (last time I wore a belt was 13 years ago), and a portion of each blog will be devoted to the foods we encounter and the meals we eat. Having lived in China for 5 years some years ago, I am most excited about what tastes await my palate. My stomach is grumbling just thinking about this.
You are receiving this blog because sometime in the past you had contacted my company expressing interest in a motorcycle tour.
If you do not want to be bothered with receiving any more of my blog posts, just ignore this email.
But if do you want to follow this tour, please do the following;
Go this url:
Shangri-La Here We Come - A Motorcycle Touring Blog from Chiang Mai, Thailand to the Tibet-China Border. - Asian Motorcycle Tours - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam Motorcycle Tours
then click on the RSS feed icon on the right-hand side of the webpage.
If you know someone who might be interested in reading daily reports about this trip, please forward them this url or email.
Thank you for your attention and I do hope you enjoy our trip. Remember to look at the three maps below.
Best Regards, Reed Resnikoff.
Below is the first map, showing our starting point in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We will enter Laos at Huay Xai and cross the Chinese border southwest of Mengla.
This second map shows the northern part of Yunnan Province, where Shangri-La and Kawa Karpo are located.
The third and final map shows most of western Yunnan Province. The map relief will give you a good idea of the terrain. Kunming is the capital city of Yunnan Province and this is one of our stops on this tour. At the very bottom of this map you can see Mengla which is the first major Chines city we will hit.
If you want to keep updated with this blog, go the below url and click on the RSS feed icon on the right-hand side of the webpage. Once you do that you will receive every subsequent blog I send out.
Shangri-La Here We Come - A Motorcycle Touring Blog from Chiang Mai, Thailand to the Tibet-China Border. - Asian Motorcycle Tours - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam Motorcycle Tours
Thank you for your attention. Best Regards, Reed Resnikoff
--
Asian Motorcycle Adventures
Mobile: (66-[0]80) 493-1012
info@asianbiketour.com
Asian Motorcycle Tours - Motorcycle Tours throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and more
Follow us on www.facebook.com/AsianMotorcycleAdventures --
Asian Motorcycle Adventures
Mobile: (66-[0]80) 493-1012
info@asianbiketour.com
Asian Motorcycle Tours - Motorcycle Tours throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and more
Follow us on www.facebook.com/AsianMotorcycleAdventures" .
Asian Motorcycle Adventures Co. Ltd.
is registered, fully bonded and insured
with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
International License No. 21-00553
Con (left) wishing us a safe ride
Reed will have a daily blog documenting our trip, he writes beautifully which will make it a great read, the first part/ introduction is below:
"Hello. My name is Reed Resnikoff and I am the owner/operator of ASIAN MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURES, a motorcycle touring company based in the beautiful northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
On Monday, May 27, myself and Phil Gibbins, an avid motorcyclist also based in Chiang Mai and the creator of the motorcycle website www.rideasia.net, are going on a rather unique motorcycle tour that will take us all the way up to the Sino-Tibetan border and to a town called Shangri-La.
We will ride two BMW F800 GS's from Chiang Mai through northern Laos on into Yunnan Province, China. Waiting for us when we arrive in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province, will be the third motorcyclist on this trip, George Migliorelli, a round-the-world biker presently living and working in Hong Kong. George will be riding a Chinese-made 250cc dirt bike and trying like hell to keep up with Phil and myself.
We figure the entire tour will take around four weeks. It better because that is all the time the Chinese granted us on our visas.
Our ultimate goal is to reach the highest mountain left in the world whose peak has never been summited, Kawa Karpo at 6,740 meters (22,113'), sitting on the southeastern edge of the Himalaya plateau. The reason why no one has ever reached the peak has nothing to do with the difficulty of its flanks but everything to do with it being off-limits to foreigners as it is one of the four holiest mountains of Tibetan culture and the dwelling place of one of their most powerful goddesses, Shri Chakrasamvara. It is not a good idea to go messing with anyone's Gods because you never know.
Our base in this seldom-visited region is going to be probably the most exotic-sounding town on earth, Shangri-La. Shangri-La was made famous in James Hilton’s 1933 novel “Lost Horizon.” Yes, this town was created in the mind of a novelist but literary scholars seem to agree that Hilton based the town he called Shangri-La on a real place in Yunnan called Zhongdian by the Chinese and Gyalthang by the Tibetans. Those ever-resourceful Chinese, after becoming aware of this, officially changed the name of Zhongdian to Shangri-La and this is what has appeared on every map since then. Whatever, we are riding our motorcycles to Shangri-La. How sexy is that!
I will be writing a daily blog about this tour. I've never written a blog before. In fact I've never even read any blog by anyone else before, so please bear with my inexperience until I work the kinks out of this form of communication. And if any readers out there have suggestions on how I can improve the blog as it unfolds, I am more than happy to listen.
I will try to make this blog as informative and entertaining as possible and promise to sprinkle each report with photos and videos from each day's ride. I will be shooting with a Canon EOS Mark III digital camera with the brand-new 24-70 2.8 "L" II lens (for those who know). Hopefully I will be able to capture superb images to share with you all. In addition, we are also taking a bunch of GoPro HD video cameras for action footage. And in my pocket, ever handy, will be my brand-new Samsung Galaxy 4 smart phone that is supposed to take excellent images with its 13 megapixal camera.
I am sure Phil Gibbins will be taking along a camera or two, but he is out in the Thai jungle somewhere getting in some last-minute riding before going out for another month of riding, so I can't ask him at this time what camera gear he is bringing. I will inform you all when he resurfaces.
in each blog I will be providing a map so you can follow our progress or lack of it.
But to start off, I am including three maps at the bottom of this blog so you can get some idea as to where we are riding.
I had to use three separate maps because the territory we are covering is so vast and I couldn't find a single map to display it all.
I also want to inform you readers that I am an inveterate foodie (last time I wore a belt was 13 years ago), and a portion of each blog will be devoted to the foods we encounter and the meals we eat. Having lived in China for 5 years some years ago, I am most excited about what tastes await my palate. My stomach is grumbling just thinking about this.
You are receiving this blog because sometime in the past you had contacted my company expressing interest in a motorcycle tour.
If you do not want to be bothered with receiving any more of my blog posts, just ignore this email.
But if do you want to follow this tour, please do the following;
Go this url:
Shangri-La Here We Come - A Motorcycle Touring Blog from Chiang Mai, Thailand to the Tibet-China Border. - Asian Motorcycle Tours - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam Motorcycle Tours
then click on the RSS feed icon on the right-hand side of the webpage.
If you know someone who might be interested in reading daily reports about this trip, please forward them this url or email.
Thank you for your attention and I do hope you enjoy our trip. Remember to look at the three maps below.
Best Regards, Reed Resnikoff.
Below is the first map, showing our starting point in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We will enter Laos at Huay Xai and cross the Chinese border southwest of Mengla.
This second map shows the northern part of Yunnan Province, where Shangri-La and Kawa Karpo are located.
The third and final map shows most of western Yunnan Province. The map relief will give you a good idea of the terrain. Kunming is the capital city of Yunnan Province and this is one of our stops on this tour. At the very bottom of this map you can see Mengla which is the first major Chines city we will hit.
If you want to keep updated with this blog, go the below url and click on the RSS feed icon on the right-hand side of the webpage. Once you do that you will receive every subsequent blog I send out.
Shangri-La Here We Come - A Motorcycle Touring Blog from Chiang Mai, Thailand to the Tibet-China Border. - Asian Motorcycle Tours - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam Motorcycle Tours
Thank you for your attention. Best Regards, Reed Resnikoff
--
Asian Motorcycle Adventures
Mobile: (66-[0]80) 493-1012
info@asianbiketour.com
Asian Motorcycle Tours - Motorcycle Tours throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and more
Follow us on www.facebook.com/AsianMotorcycleAdventures --
Asian Motorcycle Adventures
Mobile: (66-[0]80) 493-1012
info@asianbiketour.com
Asian Motorcycle Tours - Motorcycle Tours throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and more
Follow us on www.facebook.com/AsianMotorcycleAdventures" .
Asian Motorcycle Adventures Co. Ltd.
is registered, fully bonded and insured
with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
International License No. 21-00553