Thailand marks a totally new culture for our travel. All aspects of life here are vastly different from the West or from the Chinese culture.
We arrived in Chiang Mai, which has become a touristic city with an immense amount of attractions all concentrated within half and hour ride by car. Once we landed with our bikes at the airport, we slept until it was early morning and started riding towards our hostel, Cumpun Guest House. On our way, even though we were very tired, we encountered so many beautiful temples that we had to stop and visit them. Every 5 minutes of cycling in Chiang Mai would bring you to a tourist attraction. They literally perfected the city for tourists.
Everywhere you go, even when you get into the countryside of Thailand, if you can speak and read English, you can survive. Most people here speak English at least so much as to be able to carry out their respective trades. Even the street signs were mostly in English as well as Thai.
We were extremely hungry and curious about traditional Thai food. That's why we went to the Chiang Mai Night Bazzar to get some local food.
We had Pad Thai, spring rolls, salad and some more dishes totalling about 20 Euro for both of us. It was a feast and we were stuffed with great food. So far we both love Thailand food and Japanese food the most in all of Asia.
The bazzar was accompanied by beautiful dancers performing traditional Thai dances representing their main cultural minorities. The dances were so different from what I saw before. The movements were very slow and calculated.
Finally, we had some ice fried yoghurt. Basically, they put yoghurt onto a flat surface that is extremely cold. This makes the yogurt freeze and then they would roll it into tiny rolls of ice. It was delicious.
Later that night we enjoyed some live Jazz music in a local bar. The beer and music were just amazing and really relaxed us.
The next day, we started our city tour on bike. We stopped at several temples.
These are meditation huts where people on a retreat would go inside to meditate for a long period of time, often hours or days.
At some temples, you can see people selling caught pigeons for you to free them. What a Unique Selling Point!
A typical temple has a stupa and a hall inside and next to each other. There are always monks either working or residing inside the temples. They usually wear orange ropes although the color can change from temple to temple and does not give any significance to it's wearer.
I went for a full day of meditation retreat at this temple.
It was so worth it. They asked for donation only and it was the best meditation experience in my life. We mediated with introduction and ongoing guidance. We had lunch, afternoon tea and cookies and the teaching monk was great in English and very wise and had a good sense of humour. We ended the day by listening to binaural sound generated by two gongs while we were sleeping on the floor. I fell asleep instantly and woke up 40 minutes later. Two gong masters volunteered to rang the gong for 40 minutes just so some Western people and tourists can enjoy this time. Their way of giving is beyond belief. It makes them happy.
Stay tuned for the next stop which is Chiang Rai. I shall also update on our currently modified travel plan in another post.
@mrprofessor now i keep seeing cycling posts everywhere ...
Looks like a fun day ... that fried ice cream looks crazy and I could do with a day in a meditation hut...
Meditation is amazing. I cannot do it alone though. Only motivated if there is a group.
Btw amazing journey guys! I'm trying as hard as I can to follow your content. Go bicycle go!
Thank you! So much to see in this world.
hahaha you see, it's just a matter of time till you buy a bicycle!
Heya, just swinging by to let you know you're being featured in our Daily Travel Digest!
Many thanks for the mention!
Wow the architecture is gorgeous and so different to what I’m used to seeing. Wonderful post!
Many thanks. I love the way Thai people build things. Wat Rong Khun is a living example of how they can still build their cultural heritage in modern times.
It's beautiful!
Have you been to Thailand or south East Asia?
No, I haven’t. I will as soon as I get a chance, it would be amazing! The whole lack of funds has my travel abroad limited for now 😆
You need about 500 USD per month in Thailand. The flight ticket might be the biggest expense.
Thank you 🙏🏼 I have a better understanding of how much I have to save ☺️
I love that you did a meditation retreat in one of the temples. Not a lot of tourist will follow you there I guess. Great you enjoyed it. You do that often?
I just wrote a post myself about elephant parks near Chiang Mai. Give it a read if you're interested.
It's my first meditation retreat because usually I go for a short meditation session when I was in London or anywhere in the West. Otherwise I listen to YouTube videos from Ajahn Brahms and Ajahn Chah whenever I get sad over things. Now I get to meet the real monks of the same tradition as Ajahn Chah. I want to do a longer retreat with an accomplished monk to get more training in being happy. It's so hard to come by in the modern world and I am glad that a few spots on the Earth still value traditional Buddhism.
Thanks for sharing and bringing back some great memories. It's a fun way to get around Chang Mai.. so long as you don't have to go up the mountain to Doi Suthep on the bike - which we saw a lot of people doing!
The night markets are great!
Yes we loved the night market there too! Unfortunately we did not have the time to see Doi Sutheb but we return to Chiang Mai in about two months time to visit the Grand Canyon and the Doi Sutheb. What other stuff would you recommend to do there?
That's awesome especially how you're doing it by bike! Enjoy your travels through Thailand!
Many thanks buddy! We just landed in Laos!
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Great post and best wishes to you but please please take care on the roads here. Its so dangerous, Iknow of at least 3 longdistance cyclists killed on the roads here including the wife of a very good friend. The standard of driving here is terrible, especially at night.
I look forward to reading about your safe and continued adventures :-)
Oh dear, I am sorry to hear about the tragedy of the person you knew. We will be extra cautious and cycle slowly in Asia.
I'm wondering if my wife will let me build a meditation hut in my garden...
Is she Buddhist? Tell her it makes good Karma
I'm afraid she's not Buddhist. I'll have to think of something else.
Tell her that when you meditate more then you will be more calm and treat her even better. Go for her self-interest.
Ha ha! That's evil, I love it! 😁😍😈
Tell me the result
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