Scouting China & Laos On The Road to Shangri-La

After leading the Golden Buddha Ride participants from Hanoi to Bangkok this past fall and scouting new routes for us in Laos and China, Tour Leader Andreas Pakenham sat down with us to talk about what people can expect when cycling in China and Southeast Asia on our newest tour – The Road to Shangri-La.

How many times/how many countries have you visited now in Southeast Asia?

For TDA, I’ve traveled to SE Asia 7 times, and visited Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Can you describe the scouting/research you have done as we prepare for the first Road to Shangri-La tour?

Beginning in 2023, I revisited some of the planned routes which were shared with the Golden Buddha Ride, rechecking them by motorcycle and making some small changes in Vietnam and Laos. (In 2027, The Road to Shangri-La is replacing the Golden Buddha Ride on our tour calendar)

In 2025, we made further changes in Vietnam and significant changes in Laos, including an amazing stage which splits the day into two spectacular rides, separated by a boat ride of 7 km through a rugged limestone cave (See video below). I also had a chance to check the section of the tour through Yunnan, China. A lot has changed since the original scout in 2019. (The tour was first announced in August 2019)

What have been the biggest challenges to overcome in terms of route planning?

The biggest challenge in South East Asia is the pace of development. Car ownership is increasing and there are new factories, ports and gated communities. Largely, it’s made scouting a quiet route much more difficult, but at the same time it’s allowed me to discover truly special routes.

What are the roads like – especially in China. Is there a lot of traffic, a lot of scooters? Is it very urban or mostly rural?

The roads in China are fairly quiet for the most part. We’re lucky to be visiting one of the ‘slowest’ parts of the country from an economic perspective, so despite there being a few big factories along the way, we’re mostly able to skirt around businesses and industry.

What are 1 or 2 unexpected highlights riders can look forward to that you discovered during the tour?

The cave boat ride day in Laos I mentioned earlier is a highlight, not just for this tour. It’s a TDA scouting highlight for me (See Andreas’ video highlights from his scouting below). There’s always a special feeling to piece together an amazing ride in place of a monotonous one, but this one feels like putting the riders in a nature documentary half way through the stage.

Another highlight will be Northeastern Vietnam. Inadvertently, on the way to start scouting from the Laos border, we discovered some amazing roads through coffee plantations and dense jungle that ended up being more scenic and interesting than the planned route. After we realized this, we made our way back, and figured out how to roll that into the tour.

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The Road to Shangri-La

Shangri-La, an earthly paradise cut off from the world in a hidden Himalayan valley, a place where there is no war or suffering and where people live...