September 24, 2007

Asia | Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar

Let It Ride

By Nicole Cotroneo

Five countries and 16 days to pedal your way through Indochina.

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So you want to experience Southeast Asia up close and personal. Might we suggest a two-week, two-wheeled excursion through Indochina? We know what you’re thinking: how much ground can I cover if I’m pedaling my way through rice paddies? The answer — if you’re on Butterfield & Robinson’s new Indochina Grand Journey — is a whirlwind five countries over 16 days: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Just thank your private Challenger jet as it wings you from Burma’s western plateau — where you’ll ride along the banks of Inle Lake for views of floating gardens — to the UNESCO Heritage streets of Hoi An in central Vietnam.

And in the evenings, as B&R’s crack team tunes your hybrid bike for yet another adventure, you’ll recoup your legs in plush accommodations including the Four Seasons Chiang Mai. Here, in your raised pavilion suite, you’ll want to spend quality time in your soaking tub. Or you can seek out the spa, consistently rated among the world’s best. After all, biking tours no longer mean roughing it among calf-swollen backpackers: now that it’s been dubbed “a beneficiary of the 21st century zeitgeist,” vacation pedal power is the new darling of the eco-intelligentsia.