Chiang Mai is Thailand's second biggest city and is located in the northern part of Thailand. The first impression of the city I got was the feel of an ancient city. The Old City is in the center and is surrounded by a moat. Remnants of brick walls are scattered along the moat and give it it's historical feel.
I found a guesthouse in the northeastern corner of the Old City - single bed with bathroom inside (as opposed to a shared bathroom) and hot water for the shower. Cable TV is also included, but for some reason, ESNP is not included, so I get screwed on any chance for NFL action. All this for only 150 baht a day ($3.75)!
Around the area are many cheap food spots. Most of the places I've been eating at usually cost about 60-cents a plate. Mainly noodles and fried rice. (There will be a bigger food write-up soon.)
The northern region of Thailand is supposed to be a mecca for mountain biking. My first trip was a ride up the Doi Poi mountain. The information that I was going with told me that there was a Buddhist temple 5km up, then the national park entrance with bike paths another 4km. What I didn't realize was that it was a steep, constant uphill climb.
When I got to the park, I found that the one bike trail was not really feasible for bikes after the rainy season. Every 20 meters, I had to get off the bike because of fallen trees and braches on the path. After 1km of this, I turned around and continued up the road/mountain to get to the top. Had I realized that the top was another 8km up, I probably would have turned around.
As I climbed upwards, I kept thinking that the end would be near or I would just keep climbing until the road started going down. That didn't happen until the 17th kilometer. What kept me going were the street signs notating that Phuping Palace (pronounced pooping palace) was coming up. Using my Beavis voice, I repeatly said "pooping" until reaching the summit. The payoff was a nice 24 minute descent down the winding roads.
The next time I went to this mountain, I hired a taxi to take me to the top (120 baht ~ $3). From there I found what I have been reading about - single-track trails alongside the mountain with rolling hills, surrounded by lush green trees and plants and flowers. The terrain was varied, too. I found a trail that led downhill and was as wide as a fire road. Due to my unfamiliarity with the trails, I took it slow and mellow. ( I didn't want to drift off the side during a turn, of course).
That turned out to be wise, because the surface degraded into a rocky terrain. For a solid two hours, I was going downhill, but not pedaling. It was a complete upperbody workout because all I was doing was using the breaks and steering between rocks. Eventually I made it to the bottom of the mountain, but on the opposite side and had to go another 25 km on the road to get back to Chiang Mai. No complaints - I figured something like that would happen.
Chiang Mai also has one of the highest concentration of temples in the country. On one block in particular, there are four alongside and across from each other. It's a good thing that they are buddhist, otherwise I can see how turf wars could break out. I spent a couple of days wandering around, but it got to a point of sensory overload and they started to all look the same.
