We were going cycling! We love city bike tour. It saves us the time to find the main sightseeing points, we get a guide who explains the history and we get from point to point faster by bike. We found Trailhead from Klook. They do city bike tour and also mountain biking trail ride. I probably wouldn’t survive the latter; I will not be capable to ride up trail and too scared to ride down.
I skipped the morning workout. We had bfast and used the 1st floor toilet. I didn’t choke the toilet like Daddy Lim did, but had my fair share of toilet bowl nightmare that is too much information to share. Let’s just say that we both had been traumatised by the toilet and agreed that all big businesses were to be settled in the hotel toilet instead. Lol.
The Trailhead shop was about 17 mins walk away, which is probably why I booked with them.
We arrived at about 8.30am and were told that the ride starts at 9am and there would be another couple with us.
We waited in the comfort of the cozily decorated cafe. The tour came with a free drink.
Finally starting our tour. These were our bikes - single gear market bikes, which were surprisingly easy to handle.
Our 1st stop (and many other stops) was a temple. There were some kind of festival taking place and almost all the temples that we visited were crowded. In this particular temple, the school kids were doing their prayers, when it was usually done in schools. On normal days, the monks would go around the schools to conduct their prayers.
The kids lined that shoes orderly outside the temple. It was cute to see that their black shoes come with little cute cartoon trinkets, bringing brightness to ordinary black school schools. I wonder how they would be able to find their shoes after the prayer; there were rows and rows of shoes of similar sizes and patterns for the hall full of primary 1 and 2 school kids.
Next, another temple. Haha. This one has a lot of gold. I couldn’t go into the temple hall bcos I wasn’t appropriately dressed. It is ok, the temples all looked the same to me after a while.
The 3rd temple was interesting - the Sliver Temple. The temple grounds had massage classes and silver work classes.
The guide told us that the males in Thailand could become a monk to get free university education or vocational training, like this monk here. I supposed they had to “pay back” in some form or serving thereafter.
The actual temple was covered in silver - not sure what kind of metal though. I don’t think it is real silver but very magnificent. Women are not allowed to enter the temple hall in this temple.
We cycled somemore to yet another temple.
Lastly, we went to a temple with a white pagoda. I know, I lost count too
At both sides of the stairs are these snake and fish creatures called the Naga.
It was almost the end of the tour. We cycled along some recently renovated canal. There were bars on both side and I can imagine how vibrant the nights would be, provided that the canals don’t overflow, which sometimes do during heavy storms and sometimes stink bcos of pollution.
We stopped at one of the shops for a needed cold drink.
The final stop was the Wararot Market. We visited the same market on our 1st day. We finally saw a Chinese temple, which we were then told that we were in Chinatown. No wonder.
The shops come with all sorts of “branded” stuff.
Lunch was provided. We were brought to a food center and could choose our lunch. I had the traditional curry noodles while Daddy Lim opted for the beef noodles. Yums.
W walked back to collect our bikes and walked past the flower market.
Also, vendors selling live stocks to be set free.
On the way back to Trailhead, we came to the city gate. Most of it had been rebuilt, except for the door.
We barely made it back to the shop before it started pouring. I would have walked back if not for the rain. We got some pretty drink to end the 3 hour tour.
Our next activity would start at 8.20pm. Daddy Lim took a nap while I finally got the chance to use the gym. The treadmill was not calibrated properly and gave me nonsense speed. At least I felt like I did something to burn some fats.
But then, I dragged Daddy Lim out for cake. He then ordered a pasta. What!!??! It was a vegan place but I didnt feel very healthy with the sugar and carbs.
We had some time to burn and went for a massage. Shiok!
It was my turn to take a nap while Daddy Lim spent time on his phone. Then, we took a grab back to One Nimman for the pub crawl tour. I found it on Klook. Hoho.
We found some snacks option in the same One Market place. One Nimman is super busy on Friday night.
We saw a cat cafe and there were so many cats! The Thais seem to favor cats over dogs. We have the same vibes.
We were to meet in front of some pub at 8.20pm. We were on time but didn’t see anybody. Fortunately, there was a number on the booking form to contact the tour organiser, who then got the host to contact us. The host, S, told us that the meeting point had been changed to the 1st pub place, which was 8 mins walk away. Klook didn’t update the details. Zzzzz.
S met us at the 1st pub. There was another lady, Lee, on the tour. Lee is from China and in her final Uni year. Ya, young girl. Hoho. She came to Chiang Mai with a friend, who wasn’t interested but she wanted to try the clubbing scene, having just visited Bali and tried clubbing in Bali and had fun. She was too scared to do it alone and thought that this tour was a good avenue. I bet she didn’t expect to meet an uncle and auntie couple. Lol.
There was a band singing Thai songs. I realised that all the bands that we had seen so far were very young. Their vocalists, usually young ladies, were tiny but had really strong vocal.
We had a beer. The 1st beer came free with the tour. We stayed for 30 mins and left for the 2nd venue that felt like Blackbird. The DJ was spinning pop songs and then the band came on. My Long Island tea that cost less than SGD10. Very strong and I of course didn’t finish it.
Free shooters from the host - rainbow shots. I didn’t drink any. If Daddy Lim gets drunk, I should at least still be sober to try to drag him back.
The band started playing for a while before we had to leave. We at least hear them play 2 English songs.
The 3rd stop was more of a drinking place. They had a cocktail buffet. For THB300, one can have unlimited cocktails. Daddy Lim opted for a single beer. I only wanted a coke. Haha. Lee, who said that she hadn’t really club before and doesn’t often drink had 4 cocktails to make her $$ worth. As the drinks went on, she became chattier and chattier, telling me about her personal life. I got to know that she is studying Uni in Scotland and is going to do her Masters in London. She is facing the dilemma of job search, considering her options of seeking employment outside of China, which would require a work pass and would be difficult or to return to China, which her parents would want but that meant very little opportunity to work overseas thereafter. While Lee grew up in China, the overseas education had opened up her eyes and she now felt how restrictive working in China would be. The prospect of working in China, which meant working very hard, long hours and for little money with very limited annual leave, doesn’t at all interest her. #youngpeoplwproblem
At midnight, we left for the final club, which was supposed to be a dance club. Both S and Lee were tipsy. Hahahahaha. S said that he hosts these tours about 5 to 6 times a month. While he had to pay for his drinks, he got paid well enough to do so. He drank so much that I fear for his liver. S is probably quite young too. He said that he dropped school when he was 16 and had been doing something of this nature for the last 10 years and now considering what’s next in life.
We didnt actually see many people dancing. The DJ was spinning. There were many young people. Funnily, after about 15 mins, S declared that it was the end of his shift and he simply bid us goodbye and left. After another 10 mins, Lee decided to leave and we all left. This kind of pubs are not for Daddy Lim; I am too old for this too. Lee’s hotel was about 10 mins walk away and she said that she was capable of finding her way back.
