In the morning Bee waits for us in front of the hotel. He's not an insect though, it only sounds the same.
We
take along a young man from Germany and drive to the bicycles. Bee explains the
bicycles as if he thought that we see something like this for the first time.
Out of the village and into the bush. Some ups, some downs. Lone trees and heat reflect on wet rice fields. Past butterflies and dogs who sleep on the road. Every now and then we stop. In addition to Bee there are two students cycling with us. They are supposed to practise English but they don't do it. The paraphernalia contains also a cookie and banana man who turns constantly up in the car and offers snacks and cold drinks. Snack breaks are in deserted restaurants.
The programme includes a visit to the White Temple. Already from far it is obvious that there's a crowd. Taking pictures of course. A lot of plastic bags are handed out and thrown away after a while. What a waste. The attraction itself is quite new, from last century. Atypically for a temple this one has an architect, Thai visual artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. On wall paintings one can find the twin towers, spiderman and Osama bin Laden. The main temple is surrounded by many white buildings where the ornaments and pieces of mirror haven't been attached yet. Beautiful of course but this is not a religious place but a curiosity for tourist photos. The toilet is out of gold.
After lunch by the temple an ascent towards Khun Kon waterfall begins. Broad smooth asphalt between banana trees. When this ends then we still have to walk one and a half kilometers along slippery mud. Both sides from the mud is nice forest, bamboo and stuff. The waterfall is also nice.
http://www.chiangraibicycletour.com organized the cycling tour.
For dinner there is a choice between exhaust fumes and screeching Thai music.
Out of the village and into the bush. Some ups, some downs. Lone trees and heat reflect on wet rice fields. Past butterflies and dogs who sleep on the road. Every now and then we stop. In addition to Bee there are two students cycling with us. They are supposed to practise English but they don't do it. The paraphernalia contains also a cookie and banana man who turns constantly up in the car and offers snacks and cold drinks. Snack breaks are in deserted restaurants.
The programme includes a visit to the White Temple. Already from far it is obvious that there's a crowd. Taking pictures of course. A lot of plastic bags are handed out and thrown away after a while. What a waste. The attraction itself is quite new, from last century. Atypically for a temple this one has an architect, Thai visual artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. On wall paintings one can find the twin towers, spiderman and Osama bin Laden. The main temple is surrounded by many white buildings where the ornaments and pieces of mirror haven't been attached yet. Beautiful of course but this is not a religious place but a curiosity for tourist photos. The toilet is out of gold.
After lunch by the temple an ascent towards Khun Kon waterfall begins. Broad smooth asphalt between banana trees. When this ends then we still have to walk one and a half kilometers along slippery mud. Both sides from the mud is nice forest, bamboo and stuff. The waterfall is also nice.
http://www.chiangraibicycletour.com organized the cycling tour.
For dinner there is a choice between exhaust fumes and screeching Thai music.
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