7-8 days for 400km in Thailand. That's the plan for Pol and his friend Alex: explore, discover and bikepacking all over Thailand.
BIKEPACKING TO PARADISE
WITH POL TARRES
"Everything started with my mum"
This year she turned 60 and wanted to do a big trip with my brother and me. She did a bit of research and decided on Thailand. Immediately, I thought it would be cool, or at least a good excuse, to do a short bikepacking trip there after the family vacation. That’s when I called Alex. I told him my plan: stay a week and do some riding, somewhere in Thailand. He didn’t hesitate.
The plan was simple: start and end in Bangkok. We wanted to make a loop, explore different parts of Thailand, and spend at least one day resting on an island. With those points and about 7–8 days to play with, the route almost planned itself, there weren’t many options, jajaja. We chose Koh Kood: a small, lesser-known island near the Cambodian border in the Gulf of Thailand, about 400 km and a ferry ride away from Bangkok.
So we decided to head down along the coast and come back to Bangkok through the interior.
After a few days of riding, we can say: bikepacking in Thailand is easy. It’s easy because it’s incredibly safe, no one is going to steal from you, and traffic is respectful. It’s easy because you can find food almost anywhere, almost anytime. You don’t need to over-plan, which makes everything easier.
However that doesn’t remove the adventure part of it, there are still some things you have to figure out to make your trip an unforgettable one, but in a good way.
How our journey looked like?
One thing we learned the hard way was the importance of timing. On our first day, we thought we were starting early at 7:30 am. It was all good until around 2 pm, when the heat became brutal. The last 3 hours of riding were a struggle, we had to stop every 30 minutes at a 7-Eleven or gas station to cool down. We felt dizzy while pedaling, it was rough.
From then on, we started riding between 5–6 am. That way, we were done by midday and could rest. Our routine changed: up at 4–4:30 am, riding from 5–6 until noon or 2 pm, resting, doing laundry (always available near the hotels), having dinner around 5–6 pm, and going to bed by 9–10 pm.
That way, we avoided the worst of the heat, enjoyed all the daylight, and synced with the local rhythm.
Looking at the numbers from our rides, the part of Thailand we covered was mostly flat. You’ll find three types of surfaces:
• Tarmac in great condition, mostly on main roads
• Concrete pavement on secondary roads
• Hard-packed dirt roads when the paved ones endIn rural areas, we found stunning red gravel roads, smooth and fast. The dust was like ground coffee, sticking to our bikes, legs, and shoes, creating the perfect contrast with the vibrant green trees and fields. We also found plenty of secondary roads with yellow lines and arrow signs—very aesthetic.
Before the trip, Alex told me Thailand is called “The Land of Smiles.” He couldn’t have been more right. Almost everyone we crossed paths with smiled at us, maybe because of our loaded bikes, our lycra kits, or the cameras strapped to us. Everyone was polite and super chill. It felt like there were no strict rules, just a general sense of “do whatever you want, as long as you don’t bother anyone.”
On our first day, we even rode a stretch of highway leaving Bangkok, and it was totally fine. No honking, no yelling, just good vibes.After 940 km of riding, I can confidently say Thailand is safe for cyclists. Drivers are respectful and don’t drive fast, so we never felt in danger. The cities might feel chaotic at first with tons of cars, scooters, tuk-tuks, but it’s a kind of organized chaos. Everyone flows around each other. We never saw a single accident.
One of the best parts of traveling is the food, the local food. And when you’re biking for hours every day, you need a lot of it.
At first, it felt strange. You can’t have breakfast like you do at home, no familiar snacks or energy bars. But you adapt. You have to. Thankfully, there are food vendors everywhere, like food trucks but on motorbikes. You can find everything: coconuts, fried rice, grilled duck, chicken, veggies, and of course, mango sticky rice.
And then there’s the holy grail: 7-Eleven. There are 15,413 of them in Thailand. No joke. They became our go-to snack and cooling station, with air conditioning included. After the ride, we always looked for something local. There was plenty of seafood, different meats, and smoothies—so many smoothies. We had them mid-ride too—fresh, natural, and super refreshing
This island was the reason behind our route. We wanted to experience the beach life as part of our bikepacking journey, so we designed the loop to include a day and a half on this little slice of paradise.
We arrived on the third afternoon after a 2-hour ferry ride and spent the next day fully resting and soaking in the quiet, stunning beaches of Koh Kood. Even though it was peak season, the island felt empty, peaceful, untouched.When we arrived, we watched the sunset from a small beachside resort, just lying on the sand after 3 intense days and over 400 km. The next morning, we “slept in” until 7 am (late for us), rented scooters, and explored the island.
We swam, drank smoothies, ate fresh seafood, walked along white sand beaches shaded by palm trees, and visited the second, and only other, town, a fishing village built over the water like a mini Venice. It had a couple of restaurants, all serving fresh seafood, of course.
That night, we had dinner at a family-run seafood spot—grilled scallops, squid, and fish. It was the perfect end to the perfect rest day.
Who is Pol Tarres?
Pol is a spanish guy born in Barcelona and addicted to cycling. Since he was young, he always liked motorbikes, scooter, bike and anything that has wheels. At age of 9 Pol started to take classes in a trial bike school, and a few years later was selected by the Catalan Cycling Federation to start a High performance Program in Ripoll.
In 2011 Pol won his first Junior Spanish Championship.
He is now one of the best trial riders in the world and he is know for his power even he is only 1,70m. He has been in the top 10 of the UCI Trials Ranking since late 2015.
