Planning a mountain bike ride to the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand?

Posted by paul on January 22nd, 2008 filed in tourist tips, Attractions, Day trips

The majority of the religious temples in Thailand are absolutely impressive. The Doi Suthep temple in Chiang Mai is one of the most renowned religious constructions in Thailand and a must-see attraction while visiting Chiang Mai. The temple is located just a few miles outside the city on a wonderful mountain.

Almost every daytrip includes a visit to the sacred temple.
The mountain is rather high and the road winding up to the temple is spectacular and long. For mountain bikers in Chiang Mai the trip is a real challenge and usually early in the morning you can see several cyclists paddling uphill. I decided to hire a mountain bike and planned to make the trip myself the next morning. The evening before I informed the owner of my favourite pub about my sporty plan and he only loudly laughed!
When I got up the next early morning my previous enthusiasm had decreased and therefore decided it would probably better to rent a light motorcycle. So off I went and after taking several incorrect turns, the winding and sometimes tricky road was leading me up to the steep mountain. Feelings of guilt got a hold of me when I comfortably passed several sport enthusiasts riding their bikes up the mountain. While I putted along the road, I thought this biking trip would have been a good exercise for me as well. Anyway, up I went appreciating the stunning scenery. Luckily there weren’t any turns off the track, which made the entire route very easy to follow.

The distance between downtown Chang Mai and Wat Doi Suthep is about 20 miles. The part of the route that goes up hill is truly a challenge even for the experienced Tour de France cyclist! The folks who I saw biking up the hill were most likely not professional bicyclists. Observing their efforts was more like looking at a decrease of human misery. The higher they achieved to climb, the unhappier they seemed.

When I reached the parking facility situated in front of the temple it was like entering a disaster area. About 20 cyclists were sprawled out on various areas of the parking lot. Each of them seemed to be in a different state of agony. It looked like several bikers had ridden to a comfy location to just fall over at-the-spot. Many of the arrived athletes said things such as: “This never again!”

I spent about two hours on the tranquil temple grounds, which offer jaw-dropping views of the wonderful valley below. Visiting this impressing ancient Buddhist temple is undoubtedly worth a daytrip from the city of Chang Mai.

Unless you are a real athlete, do not try to reach the temple by bicycle. At the temple I could not spot even one of the exhausted cyclists I saw before on the parking lot!