• An experienced local English-speaking cycling guide
• Support vehicle and driver
• All accommodation as described
• Meals as per the Meal Plan
• All activities as described

• Travel insurance
• Visa (if applicable)
• Bangkok and Phuket airport transfers
• Tips for local crew and drivers
• Some meals as per the Meal Plan
• Miscellaneous expenses - drinks and souvenirs etc
• Bike Carriage on the flights - please check with your carrier for charges

The group will meet at the hotel in Bangkok. Airport transfers on arrival and departure are not provided, because there are reliable taxi services both in Bangkok and in Phuket which provide the most cost-effective way of getting from the airport to the group hotel and vice versa.

Clients booking a Land Only Package MUST provide the KE office with full details of their flights.

Hotel contact details and an emergency number will be provided with your booking confirmation.

All meals are included in the trip cost, with the exception of lunches and dinners on the days of arrival and departure and lunch and dinner on the free day in Ban Krut.

It is not recommended to drink untreated water from the taps. You should take purification tablets or a filter bottle (such as a Water-To-Go bottle) to treat your water. We do not encourage the purchasing of single use plastic bottles.

In Thailand eating is an essential part of the experience. Fragrant and spicy, Thai food is justifiably famous and some would say the best cuisine in the world. Though some dishes are very spicy (such as the fiery and quintessentially Thai, Tom Yam soup) it is a mistake to think that all Thai food is hot, and there is a tremendous subtlety of flavours. Your guide will give you hints and tips on how to discover what suits you best from a typical Thai menu. As we travel south from Bangkok to Phuket we will try lots of restaurants and cafes and some of them will serve international dishes as well as typically Thai meals. Of course, we are never far from the sea on this trip and we will have the chance to sample some of the best seafood in the world.

During this holiday the group will spend the first night at a tourist class hotel in Bangkok. There are many more expensive hotels in Bangkok and we try to strike the right balance of reasonable comfort and convenient location, whilst maintaining a really good value holiday. Throughout the remainder of the trip, there are a further 9 nights in various hotels and resorts of a very good standard. All accommodation is allocated on a twin-sharing basis. If you are travelling by yourself you will be paired up with another single client of the same sex. Single room occupancy can be arranged at additional cost.

The group will be accompanied throughout by a professional English-speaking local biking leader. Groups of 9 persons or more will have a second biking leader.

A total of about $250 (or equivalent in sterling or euros) should be allowed for miscellaneous expenses which should also cover non-included meals. This amount should also cover the $45 - 50 you can be expected to pay for tips to local staff. If you are intending to buy expensive souvenirs, you should budget accordingly (credit cards can be useful in this respect). Also, if you expect to buy considerable quantities of soft drinks or beer, you should make an allowance for this. The Thai unit of currency is the Baht. It is not necessary to obtain Thai Baht prior to departure, as changing money is easy. Sterling, US dollars and euros can readily be changed in Thailand. We recommend that you carry your travel money in the form of cash rather than travellers cheques, since you will exchange the majority of this on the day of your arrival in Bangkok. There will be opportunities to withdraw cash from ATM's using credit or debit cards at Bangkok Airport, in Bangkok and at one or two of the larger towns that we visit on the journey south.

Tipping is not commonly practiced in Thailand, except perhaps to leave loose change from a restaurant bill or round up a taxi fare. In some restaurants a 10% service charge will be added to your bill, and in this case a tip is not necessary. We do recommend you tip your driver(s) and local guides, depending on the service they provide. One way to do this is to co-ordinate this tip as a group, with each member contributing around $45 - $50 (in Thai Baht) to a group pool.

Your bike should be fitted with a compact or triple chainset and we suggest that 25mm tyres will provide a bit more comfort on the variable road surfaces typically found on our Road Cycling holidays.

Since you are depending on your bike to transport you throughout your holiday, it’s important to ensure it is in good working order. If you are not mechanically minded, get your local bicycle dealer to service it for you.

Please contact us if you are unsure about the suitability of your bike.

Bike hire is available locally on this holiday. Our local agent has Trek Domane 2.0 road bikes for hire in a range of sizes from 47cm to 62cm. They are good quality and well maintained bikes with Shimano 105 compact (50/34) cranksets, 10-speed cassettes (11/28), alloy frames and carbon forks and seatposts. Also available is the Trek 300 Edmonda Carbon in a range of sizes from 50cm to 60cm. these bikes have carbon frames, Shimano 105 compact (50/34) cranksets, 10-speed cassettes (11/28). Hire costs are US$300 for the Trek Domane 2.0 (or similar) or $400 for the Trek Carbon Edmonda S5 (or similar). Prices subject to change. Spare parts (tubes, tyre, chains etc.) are included in the price of the bike rental and will be available in the support vehicle along with a tool kit and track pump. Each bike comes with a single bottle cage and a Spice Roads water bottle that is yours to keep. If you want to bring a second bottle cage, we can fit it. The bikes are equipped with flat pedals and strap-style toe cages can be supplied if requested. If you prefer to use spd or clip-in pedals, you will need to bring these with you, along with your regular cycling shoes and cleats. Another item which you might choose to take with you on the holiday is your saddle. The hire bikes have standard saddles and anyone requiring more comfort, or a women-specific saddle, should consider taking their own. You should take your own EN1078 compliant cycling helmet, as the locally available helmets do not necessarily meet this standard - which we require. If you want to hire a bike, please contact the KE office and we will pass on your request to the local agent. Payment must be made before travel and should be made directly with the local agent via the following payment link www.spiceroads.com/pay. You must first notify KE of your preferred bike option along with your height and we will make the reservation on your behalf. Once the reservation is confirmed, we will email to you a unique reference code which you need to use when making your payment. Your payment for bike hire does not cover you if you lose the bike or damage it beyond 'fair wear and tear'. We must stress that your hire contract will be with the local hire company and that KE cannot be held responsible for any issues arising from bike hire.

E-bikes. If you would like to ride an e-bike, this can be arranged at a hire cost of US$500.

Airlines require that you pack your bike properly for travel and for this holiday we recommend that you use a purpose-made soft bike bag. These can be relatively inexpensive. They are also light in weight, easy to handle and, most importantly, can be packed into a small space to allow easy transportation in the support vehicle. You will need to partially dismantle your bike to pack it in your bag.

PLEASE DO NOT USE a purpose-made rigid bike box for this holiday. We do not have the space in the support vehicle to transport these bulky items.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding travelling with your bike.

Throughout this trip we have the back up of one or more support vehicles. Each morning our main baggage will be loaded onto the support vehicle which will follow the group on the day's ride. The local biking leader and the support vehicle driver will watch over the group and will carry mobile phones, allowing you to contact them in the case of a breakdown or other incident. We want everyone to enjoy their cycling experience on this trip and we recognise the importance of group members being allowed to cycle at their own pace. On most of our road biking trips it is usual that there can be a fair distance between the front and rear cyclists in the group and there may be times when other group members, vehicle support and biking leader are out of sight. However, our regular stops mean that it's never long before we regroup. The support vehicle will pick up any group members who wish to take a break from cycling at any time.

Apart from your bike in its bag (if you are taking your own bike), you should travel with one main item of luggage, such as a KE Trek Bag or similar holdall, and a small day pack. The day pack can be used to carry valuable items such as cameras and GPS devices whilst travelling, but will also be useful to separate out items you might want to pick up from the support vehicle during the rides, like additional clothing.

Your baggage allowance on the flights will depend on your airline. When choosing your flights, whether booking them directly or through KE, you will need to consider the cost of carrying your bike. These costs are your responsibility.

For each holiday there is a minimum number of participants required to enable it to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to run'. You can check the trip status for each departure in the ‘Dates and Prices’ table. Other than in exceptional circumstances, we will not cancel a trip once it has achieved this guaranteed to run status so you are free to proceed with your international flight booking and other travel arrangements.