Chiang Rai lies on the Kok river in the far north of Thailand, a calm, tidy provincial city that has the foothills of the Shan Plateau on one side and the broad plain on the other. It was founded in 1262 by King Mengrai, who went on to found Chiang Mai too, and the old Lanna kingdom left a distinct culture, with its own script, its own cooking and its own temple style. The clock tower in the centre, a gold and white confection, lights up in changing colours every evening, and the night bazaar is a pleasant spot for a bowl of khao soi, curried noodles topped with crispy noodles, the dish of the north.
The city's most famous sight is Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, a dazzling creation of the artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, begun in 1997, with white plaster and mirror glass and gates guarded by hands reaching up from hell. It is flamboyant, sometimes odd, and always crowded, so go early. The Blue Temple, Wat Rong Suea Ten, offers a quieter, colourful alternative.
The rides from here are glorious. North, the road runs to the Golden Triangle at Sop Ruak, where the Mekong forms the border of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, a historic crossroads of the opium trade. West, a steep road climbs to Doi Mae Salong, a mountain village founded by Chinese Nationalist soldiers who fled after 1949, where terraced tea gardens produce oolong, and the cool air feels like another country. The road has many tight hairpins and steep gradients, but the surface is generally good. Fog and rain can come at any time, and the heat in the lowlands in March and April is intense, with smoke from burning fields.
Fuel is plentiful in Chiang Rai and on the main roads, but mountain villages have fewer pumps, so fill the tank beforehand. The best time to ride is from November to February, when the air is cool and the skies are clear.