Painted Roads

Tiers of rice terraces fading seemingly to infinity as they drop away through a vast valley, karst pinnacles like those from a Chinese water painting, minority people whose way of life and dress is little touched by the outside influences of the global village most of us inhabit; North East Vietnam as such is possibly the most stunning destination in South East Asia for a cycling holiday, and this tour is all about adventure. From Hanoi in the north of Vietnam we first transfer to within a few kilometres of the Chinese border from where we set out by bicycle to explore a region overwhelmed with natural splendour.

The cycling is on small, quiet roads with challenging climbs and breathtaking descents. Our exploration of this part of Vietnam follows valley floors, climbs through karst hills and past rice fields, crosses spectacular mountain passes and explores wonderful plateaus. If you desire a bicycle touring adventure through a Vietnam little visited by outsiders then The Painted Roads North East Vietnam cycle tour could well be for you.

The Vietnamese had, by the 1970s, suffered more than their fair share of bother with the unwanted interference of other nations. So when the Chinese crossed their northern border without invitation in 1979, the war-weary nation wasted no time defending its newfound sovereignty. The North Vietnamese Army was, at the time, arguably more aware than any other military on Earth of the importance of keeping military supply lines open, and so, in February '79 military engineers set about building a supply road tracing their northernmost border - a road that was aptly named 2/79. And like the wonderful Ho Chi Minh Trail road that follows the border with Lao, QL279 is a mountain road, little used by motorised traffic but kept in good condition due to its strategic importance.

A well maintained rural road through stunning mountain scenery, bereft of traffic and leading from one side of a nation to the other - what is there for a cyclist not to like?

Highlights

• Hanoi’s bustling Old Quarter.
• Climbing the 2000 metre Trung Son Pass beneath that summit of Mount Fansi pan.
• A rest day in the colonial hill station town of Sapa.
• Visiting the lovely Ba Be National Park
• Above all else, cycling through Vietnams beautiful rural mountain scenery, the delicious national cuisine, and the friendly people of Vietnam beyond the tourist hordes.

Our Vietnam Route-279 cycling tour travels on frequently deserted back roads and trails through a quiet, beautiful region of Vietnam little visited by western travellers. The tour will be supported by one or two vehicles (dependant on group size), a local guide (Phong), and a Western tour leader (David).

Taiwan, off of the east coast of the People's Republic of China, is perhaps Asia's best-kept cycling secret. Only 400 kilometres in length the island formerly known as Isla Formosa - The Beautiful Isle, packs in a huge amount. The central area is a range of mountains reaching up to four-thousand metres above sea level. The west coast, from Taipei to Kaohsiung is the industrial heartland where most of the nations twenty-four million inhabitants dwell, whilst the rugged east coast where this tour runs offers stunning views and wonderful cycling on dedicated cycleways and deserted byways.

Taiwan, an undiscovered cyclists paradise.

Mountains high and valleys wide, steep climbs and sweeping descents - perfect sealed roads, gravel tracks, red clay rural trails and deserted byways - a modern city, small riverside villages, mountain communities of hill tribe folk and a Chinese hill town.

With all of this set amidst vast expanses of emerald green rice fields, vegetable farms, orange groves, tea plantations and eucalyptus forests our Northern Thailand tour offers a wonderful diversity of culture, scenery, flora, fauna, roads and trails that come together to provide a superb adventure cycling experience.

With a predominantly agricultural population, and an economy still faltering following a tragic recent history, Cambodia’s road infrastructure remains predominantly unsealed and rural. Whilst this may not be an ideal situation for many people, foreign and Khmer alike, for those amongst us who like to explore a country on traffic-free gravel roads, Cambodia offers an increasingly rare opportunity.

Cambodia’s relatively diminutive size also means that, despite being able to explore the land and meet the people far from the tourist hordes, we are never far from a town boasting accommodation usually exceeding the comfort one may expect of a nation lacking in the material luxury of the West.

And as we cycle through the beautiful flatlands of Kampuchea, meeting Khmer people, it is the cheery nature, ever-present smiles, waves, and shouted greetings that will likely leave an even more profound impression that the dramatic Angkorian era architecture. It is, however, this architecture that is, with good reason, Cambodia’s number one tourist draw and is the starting point of our adventure. And as if all of this is not enough, the French colonial legacy of fine dining and drinking, along with the local cuisine, make Cambodia perhaps the best nation in the region for hungry cyclists.

Another in PaintedRoads' growing portfolio of gravel rides, this off the beaten track journey on dusty byways and hard packed lanes is a classic Asian adventure seeing a country from a seldom viewed perspective. In between and beyond Southeast Asia's tourist highlight at Siem Reap, and the nation's capital Phnom Penh, we will be exploring a rural land of oxen-drawn carts where buffalo wallow in the shallow waters of the riverbank. We pass through villages of wooden stilted houses, beneath which shelter white cattle so tall as to look alien, and on through scenes of white egrets fishing in emerald paddies stretching to a distant horizon, and on to the Gulf of Thailand.

Highlights
We begin the tour in one of SE Asia’s most prominent attractions - the temples of Siem Reap, including Angkor Wat. We move on to the nation’s capital, Phnom Penh. From the there we head to the Gulf of Thailand, and end the trip at the characterful town of Kampot.
As with all PaintedRoads cycling tours, the real highlight is cycling through a beautiful land, and getting a real glimpse, beyond the usual tourist trail, by travelling the path less travelled - in this case, gravel.

This is a fascinating ride through the labyrinthine network of waterways and accompanying tracks, trails, and paths that cover an area from Cambodia to the South China Sea, offering fine relaxed cycling and insight into lives not normally seen.

When we set out to explore the Mekong Delta Region we were looking for a cycling tour with a laid back attitude, little climbing, and comfortable accommodation. We had little idea as we left behind the teeming traffic of Saigon that we would find all of these attributes and so much more in a unique maze of inland waterways the size of Belgium. Inaccessible to those not prepared to put a little effort into their exploration this is a region that can only properly be explored by boat, by foot, or upon two wheels. If you are looking for a cycling holiday light of hills and full of the excitement of exploring a region seldom visited this could be just the adventure for you.

Highlights

• The exploration of a fascinating region of Asia that due to the need for a little effort to get around is almost untouched by tourism.
• An insight into the lives of the Mekong boat people, fishermen, and farmers.
• Finish the tour afloat as we take in the view from the river during a half day boat journey on The Mekong.
• Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), a city whose name conjures up images of a cosmopolitan colonial past, the ravages of war, and a bright economic future.
• Enjoy the local food of the Mekong Delta Region.

Extending south of Hanoi is the Annamite Mountain Range, known in Vietnamese as Truong Son. During the Vietnam War, a series of supply routes through the dense jungle of these mountains were used to move troops and supplies to support the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong in their war against South Vietnam and the United States. This series of trails ran not only through Vietnam, but also through neighbouring Laos, and soon became known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Some thirty years after the war came to an end a series of roads following the route of these trails were finally linked together and sealed and, rather appropriately dubbed, The Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Named after the leader who led the nation to liberty from colonial rule, this relatively new and oft times amazingly deserted route provides a wonderful conduit for the adventurous cyclist to explore a beautiful and regularly deserted region of Vietnam seldom visited by Western travellers. A highly recommended tour if you're keen to enjoy a cycling holiday off the beaten track.

Our Central Vietnam cycling tour travels on frequently deserted back roads and trails through a quiet, beautiful region of Vietnam little visited by western travellers. The tour will be supported by one or two vehicles (dependant on group size), a local guide (Phong), and a Western tour leader (David).

Highlights
Hanoi’s bustling Old Quarter. The opportunity to visit Phong Nha’s Paradice Caves. The lovely World Heritage town of Hoi An. Huge swathes of wilderness and quiet roads. And above all experiencing a region of Vietnam away from the mainstream of tourism from the finest vantage point a traveller can have - the saddle of a bicycle.

If you are looking to see the Thailand your friends visit on holiday, if you want the same experience as 99% of Westerners in Thailand, then this cycling holiday is absolutely not for you. If however you are looking to see a Thailand that is still the land of smiles, where Thai people are friendly and interested in why you are travelling through their country, a Thailand of fishermen and farmers and small seaside towns revolving around the laid-back local people, then it is difficult to think of a better way to see the country than cycling south Thailand.

If you wish to truly experience Thailand then this tour could well be for you.

The design brief for this tour was to keep it light and fun. An evening or pre-breakfast swim, relaxing on the beach plugged into an iPod, or simply enjoying the late afternoon sun with an ice-cold beer and good company is as much a part of the character of this tour as the cycling.

Once we leave Bangkok most nights are spent within a stone's throw of a beach, sometimes right on the sand. Those overnight stops that are not beachside are chosen for their stunning location.

The roads we ride are in the main part quiet and generally well surfaced. We worked hard to plot a route that avoids the main highway and as a result, we have some wonderful winding trails, sometimes tarmac, sometimes concrete, and sometimes hard-packed dirt running through banana plantations and coconut groves.

The route is as flat as any two-week cycling tour could be, although there are of course some climbs and on a couple of days, there are rolling undulations.

Accommodation is always air-conditioned with en-suite bathrooms in guest-houses and hotels picked for their location and character.

Gravel bikes, All Road bikes, Adventure bikes - whatever you wish to call them these bikes are fantastic, and, allowing a brisk pace on road whilst still being supremely capable off-road they open up a wonderful array of possibilities for the adventure-seeking to explore the path less travelled.

A little know secret of Thailand is its astonishing network of unsealed roads. Gravel, grit, dust, and dirt trails spread out across the entire nation like vines, but generally, remain unknown and untraveled by all but the local farmer.

Slowly these roads are being sealed, meaning that quiet rural blacktop byways and concrete lanes link these unsealed gems and provide those with time to explore the opportunity to enjoy a unique adventure and see a Thailand a world away from the tourist land that 99% of tourists experience.

Drawing on a long-held passion for exploring the roads, tracks, and trails less travelled, we have woven a route from Chiang Rai in the country’s far north, to Ayuthaya, the ancient capital less that one hundred kilometres north of the nation’s present capital, Bangkok.

If you enjoy adventure cycling, gravel roads, byways light of traffic, and seeing the side of a country seldom experienced by the vast majority of visitors then this really could be just your sort of tour.

For those interested in visiting the Indian Subcontinent, laidback Sri Lanka with its relaxed culture, beautiful scenery, abundance of wildlife, friendly courteous inquisitive people, and magnificent lost in time colonial architecture could well be the ideal destination.

PaintedRoads bicycle adventure takes us from the tranquil fishing communities of Sri Lanka’s west coast, through the ancient architecture of the North Central region, and onwards, via the stunningly beautiful central hill country, to the southern beaches and the wonderful town of Galle.

But for we cyclists, perhaps the greatest attraction is Sri Lanka's abundance of wonderful cycling roads, tracks and trails that make this a riding destination par excellence. Yes, Sri Lanka packs a huge amount into a compact island, and then there’s the food...

As with any tour, for those with the time to spare, arriving a day or two early is a good idea. Not only does this allow time to overcome the ravages of jet lag, but on this tour, it also allows time to roam around the coastal town of Negombo.

Predominantly Roman Catholic, Negombo is a convenient starting point for a tour of Sri Lanka. Wandering from the beachfront resort area towards the lagoon one passes characterful architecture, where lost in time streets lead past the offices of the legal profession to the fish market where one is free to roam and mingle with the local fisherfolk and traders. Beyond here is the beach, where sailing boats with distinctive square sails bring the day’s catch to shore.