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Active LIfestyle Travel Podcast Ep 002 Bike Around Chiang Mai, Thailand
Season 1 Episode 002 Bike Around Chiang Mai, Thailand
In episode 002 Bike Around Chiang Mai, Thailand Scott and I discuss our experience as we rode thirty miles around Chiang Mai on a guided bike tour.
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Our day started with meeting Ohm, from Click and Travel Online . He met us outside of town at our Bed & Breakfast, Dreamcatchers. There were just the four of us in our tour; our friends Rick and Jennifer who we often travel with, and my husband Scott and I. Ohm set us up with mountain bikes, helmets, and water. Everything was in top condition and relatively new. We had signed up for a 50k cycling tour around Chiang Mai and didn’t want to be worried about ill-fitting bikes in need of repair.
Our Tour
About half an hour into our trip, we came upon rice fields. We were all excited, as some of us had never seen a rice field close up before. We stopped to take pictures and Ohm told us not to worry because we would see many more rice fields during our bike tour.
The morning was nice, cool and so peaceful as we took the road along the rice fields. Ohm stopped by a grove of Mango trees and showed us the very fine nets which were put up around the trees. They were used to keep bats from eating the mangoes. They definitely worked because we saw a bunch of dead bats in different stages of decomposition hanging in the nets.
As we rode along, Ohm told us different stories of the history of Chiang Mai. We stopped at the ruins of Wiang Kum Kam, which was the old city. It had flooded and was abandoned 700 years ago. Chiang Mai, meaning “New City” was founded in 1296.
We mainly rode on narrow, paved roads, which were quiet and free of traffic.
Learning About Temples
Our next stop was to see the area outside of a temple (Wat) which was under construction and had many people hard at work. It takes a lot of money and work to maintain and improve temples. Adjacent to the temple was an outside shop where people were hard at work making decorative funeral towers. These may be used in Buddhist funerals and cremation ceremonies. The funeral towers can be very large and take up to a month to create. We watched two women work and were impressed by how quickly they specialized the fine details.
The City
Next, Ohm led through some very busy city streets. It wasn’t very far, but it was crazy for us! In Thailand, the traffic drives on the opposite side of the road going the opposite direction than we are used to in the U.S. We really had to pay attention while we cycled on the opposite side of the road, especially while making right turns!
Entrance to the tunnel through the dragon's mouth
Tunnel with the murals of Buddha's life
Our next stop was a beautiful Chinese Temple. We entered a huge, open dragon mouth and walked through a winding tunnel. Covering the walls of the entire tunnel were murals depicting Buddha’s life. Our guide did a wonderful job explaining everything to us, considering we had a limited knowledge of Buddhism.
Beautiful grounds of the Leprosy Center
Leprosy Center
Winding our way next on dirt paths, we came upon the beautiful grounds of the McKean Rehabilitation Institute for Leprosy patients. It was established in 1907 and was a refuge for patients suffering the sometimes debilitating and disfiguring effects of Leprosy. To this day, they are still housing patients with Leprosy, and there are ten families currently living on the property. We were able to read some of the statistics about the disease which is caused by a combination of two bacteria. The World Health Organization provides a free three-drug combination which kills the disease and cures the patient. As of 2013, there are still over 180,000 Leprosy cases in the world.
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By Scott & Jaynie Wall Backpacking Detours Travel BlogSeason 1 Episode 002 Bike Around Chiang Mai, Thailand
In episode 002 Bike Around Chiang Mai, Thailand Scott and I discuss our experience as we rode thirty miles around Chiang Mai on a guided bike tour.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
Our day started with meeting Ohm, from Click and Travel Online . He met us outside of town at our Bed & Breakfast, Dreamcatchers. There were just the four of us in our tour; our friends Rick and Jennifer who we often travel with, and my husband Scott and I. Ohm set us up with mountain bikes, helmets, and water. Everything was in top condition and relatively new. We had signed up for a 50k cycling tour around Chiang Mai and didn’t want to be worried about ill-fitting bikes in need of repair.
Our Tour
About half an hour into our trip, we came upon rice fields. We were all excited, as some of us had never seen a rice field close up before. We stopped to take pictures and Ohm told us not to worry because we would see many more rice fields during our bike tour.
The morning was nice, cool and so peaceful as we took the road along the rice fields. Ohm stopped by a grove of Mango trees and showed us the very fine nets which were put up around the trees. They were used to keep bats from eating the mangoes. They definitely worked because we saw a bunch of dead bats in different stages of decomposition hanging in the nets.
As we rode along, Ohm told us different stories of the history of Chiang Mai. We stopped at the ruins of Wiang Kum Kam, which was the old city. It had flooded and was abandoned 700 years ago. Chiang Mai, meaning “New City” was founded in 1296.
We mainly rode on narrow, paved roads, which were quiet and free of traffic.
Learning About Temples
Our next stop was to see the area outside of a temple (Wat) which was under construction and had many people hard at work. It takes a lot of money and work to maintain and improve temples. Adjacent to the temple was an outside shop where people were hard at work making decorative funeral towers. These may be used in Buddhist funerals and cremation ceremonies. The funeral towers can be very large and take up to a month to create. We watched two women work and were impressed by how quickly they specialized the fine details.
The City
Next, Ohm led through some very busy city streets. It wasn’t very far, but it was crazy for us! In Thailand, the traffic drives on the opposite side of the road going the opposite direction than we are used to in the U.S. We really had to pay attention while we cycled on the opposite side of the road, especially while making right turns!
Entrance to the tunnel through the dragon's mouth
Tunnel with the murals of Buddha's life
Our next stop was a beautiful Chinese Temple. We entered a huge, open dragon mouth and walked through a winding tunnel. Covering the walls of the entire tunnel were murals depicting Buddha’s life. Our guide did a wonderful job explaining everything to us, considering we had a limited knowledge of Buddhism.
Beautiful grounds of the Leprosy Center
Leprosy Center
Winding our way next on dirt paths, we came upon the beautiful grounds of the McKean Rehabilitation Institute for Leprosy patients. It was established in 1907 and was a refuge for patients suffering the sometimes debilitating and disfiguring effects of Leprosy. To this day, they are still housing patients with Leprosy, and there are ten families currently living on the property. We were able to read some of the statistics about the disease which is caused by a combination of two bacteria. The World Health Organization provides a free three-drug combination which kills the disease and cures the patient. As of 2013, there are still over 180,000 Leprosy cases in the world.