A New Adventure Begins

January 26, 2014

We are five days into our bike touring and sore all over.  I actually have feet pain from cycling, not to mention how my butt feels.  In hind sight, going from 7 months of lounging on a boat and islands to biking over 300 km in a few days wasn’t the brightest idea ever.  It is however done and we are alive and really experiencing Thailand. ;)

Lunch stop day 1 - dirt floor shacks, one burner kitchens and always lovely, smiling women.  We poured over this map quite a bit trying to figure out which route.

After a good day of climbing and 55 km, we were happy to call it quits and have a quiet night in the mountains at Happy House.  The woman here, Sue, took great care of us and we enjoyed listening to her life story working with Ziuggy Marley and the Wailers.

While there we befriended the local cop, Rambo.  He invited us to his police box for a visit the next morning to teach us some more Muay Thai moves.

He gave us tea and snacks and Buddha statues to keep us safe.  Not to mention we switched numbers and he has already called us once to make sure we were safe!

Day two - lunch stop at the hot springs.

We didn’t spend the night at this hotel, but we certainly stopped for the photo op!

Despite all the condom jokes and fun here, all the proceeds from this place go to HIV prevention and education for the mountain tribes in Northern Thailand.

Our bungalows for the night - day 2: 69 km of riding and over 850 meters of climbing.

The White Temple just outside Chiang Rai.  Incredible!  It’s still under construction - the artist who designed it says it will take 90 years to complete.  This is the only pagoda finished so far.

Not only is the temple white, but mirrors are set into the concrete making it sparkle in the afternoon light.

As beautiful as it is, there are lots of disturbing images too.

The grandiose walkway up.  This is still an active temple and religious site, so proper dress and good behavior was required.

I didn’t take a picture of our hotel in Chiang Rai - it was nothing special, but here is the clock tower in the town designed by the same artist who is now constructing the White Temple.  This was the end of day 3 - 72 km and only 340 meters of climbing. 

Day 4 - rest day!  aaahhh...

We are in Chiang Khong now after 122km of riding yesterday and are just getting ready to cross into Laos.  Don’t expect much with the internet over the next week!!!