Tips about our itinerary in the North of Thailand

Hello everybody,

In November we will cycle from the northeast to the north of Thailand. We already have choosen a route, but we still have some question, so if anyone can help, that would be great !

Our route is as follows :
We arrive in Bangkok, we plan one or two days to visit this city, and we will take the night train to Nong Khai, where we will start cycling. We first cycle along the Mekong, via Si Chiang Mai and Chan Khan. In this village we leave the road 201 and we take the 2195 via Ban Pak, Pak Man, Dan Sai and Nakhon Thai. From this place we would like to visit the national park Thung Salaeng Luang. After that we will continu towards Sukhothai.

Question : Which road should we take to Sukhothai ? The big road (12) which goes straight to Sukhothai via Phitsanulok ? Or should we take the smaller roads via Chat Trakan, Uttaradit and Sawankhalok ? Are these places of any interest ? Or do we better skip this part, and take a bus to Sukhothai ? (our time is a bit limited; we only have 3 weeks, so we want to skip the less interest areas and take a bus instead on these roads)

In Sukhothai we would like to visit the national park by bycicle. After that we continu and would like to take the train to Chiang Mai, in Sawankhalok, a bit north of Sukhotahi.

Question : Is this possible ? I can't find any info about the trains from Sawankhalok to Chiang Mai. On the map it seems that Sawankhalok is a terminal station...

Question : If we would have enough time, is the Si Satchanalai historical park worth visiting ?

In Chiang Mai we will do some cycling in the region of the golden triangle. According to our information this, it seems that the first part from Chiang Mai is on quite busy roads, so it might be a good idea to do this part by bus ? After that we will continu cycling towards Fang and Thaton. From there you can take the boat to Chiang Rai, or you can cycle to Mae Chan or you can take a 'parallel' road via Mai Salong, which is maybe quite steep at times ?

Question : Which route is the nicest ? Probable the one via Mae Salong ?

Question : I read that the villages with the hill tribes are really worth visiting ? Where do we find them in fact ? Is this a touristy thing, or is it still authentic ?

There are several opinions about the golden triangle. Some people consider this as a must-see, others really didn't like it. The villages at the border are described in the footprint as not so interesting. Is this correct ?

How far we will continu in the area of the Golden Triangle we don't know yet. It will depend on our available time. We will take the train back to Bangkok from Chiang Mai.

Question : Do we have to make a reservation in advance for the train? How many days ?

I still have some general questions :
- Is it necessary to wear a helmet ? I know, this topic has probably been discussed a lot in other messages, but when you cycle in Thailand, do most people wear one, or not ? Maybe, when the roads are really calm with less traffic, it's maybe not necessary ?
- Which clothing ? Is it possible to wear cycling pants ? I read that it is sometimes not appreciated ?
- Can I expect problems with dogs ? (I don't like them...)
- Has anyone an idea about sending packages home from Chiang Mai ? Is it possbile by normal mail ? What would this cost ?
- Does anyone know if the area around Nan is nice/special ? Maybe another possibility of going North is via Nan, instead of via Sukhothai ? But I can't find much information about this area...

If anyone has a nice address of a place to sleep, eat or whatever, please let me know !

Thanks in advance for your help !

Greetings,

Koen, Belgium

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