4. Warm showers and jungle climbs

After a couple of nights in the tent I really felt the trip had been injected with a sense of adventure. And next up was a Warm Showers stay, Warm Showers being the network of cyclists that open their homes to people on bike tours. 🏡 Honestly, after a two year break from using the network, I felt a little hesitant to re-engage with it. Thank goodness I didn’t pass up the opportunity to stay with Francois and Mieke - it was a brilliant, life-affirming two days!

Just before I write about my Warm Showers stay, here is the latest butterfly roadkill shot. 🦋 (I’m sorry that, it looks alive, but it was a goner). 

And here they are, Mieke and Francois, two of the best people in Lampang, Thailand, the world!🌍 

They left the West (Netherlands) behind, about 8 years ago I think, to find a place better suited to the rhythm and pace at which they want to live their lives. Hearing their story of how they’ve achieved this, not always straightforward, was simply fascinating. 🧐 

It’s fair to say that they have made a great success of their lives in Thailand, creating a home, transforming grassland to garden, engaging with their local community and being open to adapting to Thai ways. 

They have painstakingly converted a plot of grassy fields into a home. The home consists of their self-built earth house, a beautiful wooden guesthouse, a garden full of fruit trees and plants, an aviary and, as you can see in this picture, what I call, the summer house. ☀️

It used to be the horse paddock. 

Not bad for a guest room! My jaw dropped when Francois showed me ‘my quarters’. And this photo doesn’t even fully do it justice; the decoration and care put into the room is phenomenal. 🛏️

A room with a view. (Excuse my feet 🦶). 

Birdlife - lots of bee-eaters, lapwings, martins (or swallows), drongos - including a semi-adopted one which has been nursed back to health after suffering a damaged wing. 

Bertha loved the break too. 🚳

New friends - so cute! There were a few scuffles as the dogs vied for my attention but all ended harmoniously. 🥊 

My family and other animals. 🐢 

Bearded dragon. 🐉 

Scenes from the Garden of Eden. 🪴 

Without Francois and Mieke’s input and vision, this land would most likely still be grassland or a rice paddy. The best way I can describe the atmosphere of the place is that, intrinsically, they are part of the land, and the land is part of them. 

Just before I left the UK for Thailand, I read a book, Seed To Dust by Marc Hamer - I felt echoes of this book’s gentle meditations and journey when staying with Francois and Mieke.

Every nook and cranny had a feature of interest. 🌺

As I explored, my Forest School instincts were awakened. As discussed with Mieke, if we can re-connect with our innate child-like sense of awe and wonder at nature, our lives are enriched. 🐝

Saying goodbye is always a little difficult but I had a renewed sense of confidence and purpose as I rode on. I had confessed to Francois and Mieke that, unlike in the past, when I’d rock up to Warm Showers stays with lots of adventurous stories of epic rides and triumphs over adversity, I’m less sure of what ‘my story’ is now. Two months ago, I was still in the classroom, enduring existential crises on a daily basis! Suddenly, having abruptly resigned, I’ve ‘escaped’ and find myself cycle touring again. 

Through sensitive and empathetic conversations, they helped me to realise that taking this time to make peace with some of the personal losses of the last two years, to better embrace changes, especially in the work sphere, and give myself some headspace is reason enough to travel, and a valid ‘story’. 📙

Last minute helmet adjustment. ⛑️ 

And we’re off! 

I guarantee you that, if other guests hadn’t been arriving that day, I’d most likely still be staying there! 🏩

Riding on, there was plenty to keep me occupied and stimulated as I approached Doi Kun Than National Park. I found some cool dirt tracks while still in the lowlands. 🛣️

I stopped at Hang Chat station to look at the antiquated yet still perfectly functional machinery. 🎰

Train headed for Chiang Mai. 🛤️

The plan had been to ride deep into the National Park and tackle the notoriously steep inclines. However, the flat sandy banks of the river lured me into camping mid-afternoon, saving the climbs for following day . ⛺️ 

So I pitched next to the river and enjoyed new birdsong, indeed, jungle birdsong and had a few glimpses of woodpeckers and a stunning flyover hawk. It looks idyllic, it was idyllic but my sleep was, let’s say, broken. My sleeping mat just won’t hold air for any length of time, leaving me with that sinking feeling. How deflating. 😉

Then, at 5:30am, I sensed that I was sharing my tent. Head lamp on, oh look, a friendly incursion of ants! 🐜 🐜 🐜 

The couple of tiny holes in my groundsheet were encouragement enough for the ants to join me. I’ll get them taped up before I camp again. Ants were also curious about my panniers so they needed a bit of a shake out too. 

I will rethink some of my jungle camping strategies!

On the ride up to the pass at Khun Tan. I don’t recall ever doing steeper slopes. 

For those of you that enjoy photos of sweaty men - you are very welcome! 

It was a tough ride but enjoyable too. The saving grace of the ant invasion was that I got started early before the heat of the day. Not that it stopped me sweating buckets. 🪣 

I twice capitulated to the unreasonable gradients and got off and pushed. Cruising down the Chiang Mai side of the pass, I met a Swedish couple who’d resorted to pushing their bikes too. Made me feel better! 🇸🇪

There were quite a few Thai tourists in the park. 🏞️

They were really friendly and gave me kudos for being on the bike. My ego was grateful. 

Funny place to put a tree. Or road? 🛣️ 

Why did the chicken cross the track? 🐓

To see Thailand’s longest tunnel and highest train station - Khun Tan. 

No more photos from this day, it was head down and get into Chiang Mai safely as the traffic thickened. 

What a magical few days. I am so grateful to Francois and Mieke for their kindness and hospitality. The biggest compliment I can pay them is that, riding on, I left somehow changed, my perspective had subtly shifted as I took on new learning about how we might live our lives. This alone is a great reason to go cycle touring! 🚲