Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Mai Sai to Chiang Rai to the resort

 

Over the last two days we have travelled only 88 miles.  Day one was as planned at 44 miles from Mai Sai to Chiang Rai.  In Chiang Rai we stopped in to see a fellow trike rider James Bolf. He has several trikes here in Thailand and rides the one that suits the terrain he plans to ride on.  We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant that had good food and later some classical Thai and Burmese dancers.  I tried for video, but between the customers making noise and the wait staff constantly walking into the shot I don’t have anything I want to post.  This is the first 44 miles of our travel from Mai Sai to Chiang Rai.image

 

After dinner we went back to our guest house called Ben Guesthouse.  This is a unique place in that most of the wood is recycled teak from a time when even common villagers used teak before it was mostly cut down in Thailand.  Teak is highly water resistant and will last a long time as boat decking or house posts to keep you house above the yearly floods.  It is my understanding that most teak now comes from Laos.  The rooms are very small with limited outlets for charging electronics.  Worst part was the door had openings around it large enough to almost let a cat walk in.  With the Dengue issue in Thailand we decided to setup our mosquito tents for the first time in Thailand.  It is nicer than sleeping in mosquito repellent.   http://aff.bstatic.com/images/hotel/max300/184/18457627.jpg

We got up later than desired, had a good breakfast and when it was time to ride, I could not find my cyclometer.  I looked through both pannier twice, the side bag twice and was just about to go check the room, when I decided to check my dirty clothes.  It was in one of the pockets of my dirty riding pants.  Good thing I found it as I would have most likely thrown my clothing in a wash tub to rinse them out and destroyed it.  Not the end of the world if I can not see my cadence or mileage, but it does let us know how far to go so there is some sort of advantage to having it.  This of course is subject to the terrain one is riding on.  Flat and level goes by fast, hour after hour.  Long up hill slogs are another thing. If you have been slogging up a long steep hill for two hours getting sunburned and soaking wet from sweat and then look down and see you have only travelled 4 miles it is a huge disadvantage to realize just how little distance you have covered and how far you have to go.

We stopped to see Wat Rong Khun.  (taken from the internet)

About 13km south of Chiang Rai is the unusual and popular Wat Rong Khun . Whereas most temples have centuries of history, this one's construction began in 1997 by noted Thai painter-turned-architect Chalermchai Kositpipat.

Seen from a distance, the temple appears to be made of glittering porcelain; a closer look reveals that the look is due to a combination of whitewash and clear-mirrored chips. Walk over a bridge and sculpture of reaching arms (symbolising desire) to enter the sanctity of the wát where instead of the traditional Buddha life scenarios, the artist has painted contemporary scenes representing samsara (the realm of rebirth and delusion). Images such as a plane smashing into the Twin Towers and, oddly enough, Keanu Reeves as Neo from The Matrix, dominate the one finished wall of this work in progress. If you like what you see, an adjacent gallery sells reproductions of Chalermchai Kositpipat's rather New Age–looking works.

 

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http://canvas-of-light.smugmug.com/Travel/Thailand-Photos/IMG8652/1115358107_sEL3S-X2.jpgAfter taking some pictures and having ours taken by a hundred or more people we pushed off towards Chiang Mai. 

This is the three day planned ride from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai.

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End of first day on leg from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai.day 1 chiang rai to chiang maiAlong the way we spotted a Chinese grave yard so we turn of the highway and went to take a look. IMG_0138

Sorry about the toe in the picture.IMG_0139We pulled into a resort which is a real resort.  The word resort is over used in Thailand.  Many places claiming to be a resort are too noisy or cluttered to be what I consider a resort.   After two days of listening to dogs bark and roosters crow at 4 AM this place is a jewel.  The loudest thing I have heard so far is big leaves falling out of the trees.  The whole resort is surrounded by some sort of orchard.  There are trees as far as you can see of various types and it it QUIET! We are so tired that we have not gone down to the pool or even out to the restaurant for dinner.  I am thinking I will walk down to the restaurant and get a bite, but Myron is not going.  I think the heat got to him today as I know it got to me.

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