THE START AND END OF THE ADVENTURE The adventure starts with our team meeting you at The Chiang Mai Gate Hotel in Chiang Mai city at 09:00. The hotel is well known and easy to find (or you can stay the night before!) and a very simple meeting place to get the adventure started. At the end of the trip on Day 7 we take you to Mae Sot. Mae Sot is a major ‘town’ on the border with Myanmar and well placed for either adventures heading into Myanmar, exploring further mountain regions such as UmPhang (jumping off point for Thailand’s highest waterfalls, Thi Lo Su, or for travelling back to Bangkok and points South. There are up to 6 flights a day from Mae Sot to Bangkok taking just over an hour. We strongly recommend that you book a late afternoon / early evening flight and will make sure you are at Mae Sot’s lovely small airport in good time. Alternatively, if you’re staying overnight in Mae Sot we will drop you off at the hotel of your choice CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND EXPECATION SETTING On this adventure we spend time alongside many traditional and remote communities from a range of different ethnic origins. We work closely with these communities to ensure that they are happy for us to visit and we promise them that our travellers will behave with respect and courtesy towards them and their culture. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn a little about different culture and history and sometimes even take away different and interesting ways of doing things. Our expert team and local community guides have in-depth knowledge of all the communities we spend time in, their history and the positive (and potentially negative) impacts that tourism can have on these communities. They are happy to spend as much time (or as little) as you wish talking about different culture and ways of life and we simply ask that every traveller is respectful of cultural differences. You may find the remote mountain village on Days 5 and 6 at the edge of your comfort zone in terms of facilities (it’s clean but it is very simple) but please be aware that the villagers have made huge efforts to do their very best to create a comfortable space for visitors, to make you feel at home, to cook healthy and delicious local food but their background and life is very different from what most people are used to. The opportunity to spend time with such people is becoming very rare in Thailand and we ask that we leave positive impressions as visitors and, as the villagers act as a positive advert for their culture and community that we do the same

TRANSPORT – AND WHY ON EARTH TRAVEL BY TUK TUK? Tuk Tuks This adventure uses a range of transport but the highlight is very definitely the specially built Tuk Tuks that take you through the mountains from Day 1 to Day 4. Whilst they are the classic Bangkok style Tuk Tuk of your imagination, they are slightly longer, giving you great leg room and slightly higher meaning that you can take in all the views without crouching down. The rear seats are very comfortable and benefit of course from nature’s air-conditioning – the breeze as we cruise along these stunning roads. They also have a sunroof should you wish to take in some rays, walkie talkies – so you can chat to your fellow travellers – Bluetooth speakers in case you want to put together your ultimate road trip playlist and a cool box for your water and any other drinks you may want. The reason we use Tuk Tuks is not only that they are Thailand’s most iconic vehicle – and a lot of fun – but that they put you in the heart of the action. No more nodding off in an air-conditioned minivan as you whizz anonymously through the region, travelling by Tuk Tuk means you take in the full senses of the area. The smells, sites, sounds and people giving a very real travel experience. And the added bonus is that Tuk Tuks are a novelty even for Thai people in the areas we head to ensuring that people are as interested in you and you are in them, breaking down so many barriers that otherwise exist in more traditional tours. Our drivers are all highly experience Tuk Tuk drivers who know these roads inside out. We never travel at over 50kmh (often slower) meaning that you miss nothing and the journey is as much part of the adventure as the end points. Long tail boat On day 5 we head downriver for around 3 hours by simply long-tail boat. These are long, thin vessels usually with a truck engine at the back and a lengthy pole with the propeller on. Whilst not the height of luxury for this one journey it’s an incredible way to experience the river running right along the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Four Wheel Drives (4WD) To get up to the mountain community on Day 5 we need powerful 4WD vehicles. Whilst the route is concrete all the way the road is very steep and winding and this is one of those occasions where 4WD is not for show. Our vehicles are driven by expert drivers who know the road inside out – they even do the trip in the dark, not that we’ll be doing so!