Rider On The Wheel

After several wonderful days of procrastination in Chiang Mai, I finally steeled myself and cycled on from the city that had served as a temporary home. 🏠  It would have been easy to stay longer but at the risk of inertia creeping in and, well, you can have too much of a good thing.  Next stop was Chiang Rai (don’t pretend you misread the sign and head back to Chiang Mai, Dan!). I wasn’t feeling too adventurous/energetic so I elected to take the most direct route, on Highway 118, and do it in three easy days riding. There were a few ups and downs but, all in all, a gentle journey. 🚲  As ever, the Thai roads have great surfaces and generous shoulders meaning easy and safe riding. On this first day, I rode up and through Khun Chae National Park. Nice forests and, for once…. …I stayed in a designated camp ground rather than ‘wild camping’. With the elevation being over 900m/3000ft I pitched with my flysheet for the first time on this trip, for extra insulation. And, with m...

A quick Christmas update of the blog, Merry Christmas all! 🎄   The Mae Hong Son loop takes you through the mountainous, forested province of, yes, Mae Hong Son, connecting small towns along the way. It is fairly popular with tourists but mostly on motorbikes and scooters, I didn’t see any other cycle tourists on the route.  Leaving Pai I said goodbye to this cute creature that lived at the hostel. Don’t be completely deceived by the innocent puppy eyes, this little terror had a habit of stealing shoes and having a good chew on them! 👟  The valley in which Pai is nestled. 🖼️  Riding out from Pai, I felt on top of the world and soon made it to the first pass of the day. Quite an elevation gain but I just put Bertha in bottom gear and thought happy thoughts. 💭  The scenery, day after day, kept delivering. I got quite a bit of respect for being on a bike, even receiving a round of applause when I crested one pass and pulled into the parking lot of a viewpoint. ?...

Arriving in Chiang Mai I was initially sceptical about the city’s well celebrated charms. To see so many tourists, shops, restaurants, travel agencies etc etc all supporting a huge tourist industry, felt quite arresting. I thought this might not quite be what I was looking for. Within hours, the city’s magic was working on me! ✨  First up, let’s enjoy a rarity for this blog, a live butterfly! Lots of them flutter around the temple grounds of Chiang Mai. With British butterflies in crisis, indeed, Butterfly Conservation have declared a butterfly emergency, I’m making sure I appreciate and enjoy every lepidopterous encounter. 🆘  So, what is the key to accessing the magic of Chiang Mai? First of all, check in to a cosy hostel in the Old City. Mine had two dorms and a single room. I bagged the single room (by booking well ahead). Day by day, as I heard the complaints about noisy roommates, I felt the extra £2.50 or so for my own space was vindicated! 🏨  Once nice settled in...