Blessing my motorbike

My new motorbike in Thailand

In Thailand it is normal to have your car or motorbike blessed by a monk. My previous motorbike was not blessed and technically a bit of a disaster so for my new motorbike it was time to go to the temple. Together with my wife I did ride to a jungle temple about 25 km out of Khon Kaen city where we did meet the "blessing monk" of the temple. After some wai's and a donation of 300 Thai baht the monk was ready to bless my motorbike. He did write something on the windscreen and did put some with talc stips on the windscreen & odo-meter. And of course a string of ropes around the ball-head. Let the good times roll! And it did help .... a few months later I had a motorbike accident and I survived it with "only" a broken shoulder.



Popular posts from this blog

Travel Tips : Suggested Motorbike Routes in North Thailand

Image
Latest update : 24 June 2019 (more routes will follow in the coming weeks)
Motorbike riding in Thailand, especially in North Thailand (Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan) and North-East Thailand is becoming popular. Not only for Big Motorbikes but also for scooters and even some people do the same routes by bicycle! So in a serie Suggested Motorbike Routes I will show you some great routes to ride. Some people will ride routes like this in 1 day but you could also do it slow and take 2 or 3 days (you will see much more). I am now I think motorbike riding for more as 10 years in Thailand, to read my reports of motorbike riding click on Motorbike Trip Reports.

You will find already many information about the famous Pai & Mae Hong Son Loop, so I will skip that. I will just add some routes that I have been riding in North Thailand. And for routes in Nan provinces you will have to look at Suggested Motorbike Routes in Nan province. So this will mostly cover the provinces of Phrae, Uttaradit, …
Keep reading

Bicycling between the rice fields of Pua

Image
A few days ago I made a little bicycle ride between the rice fields of Pua. Although the raining season has started it has not yet been raining enough for the rice fields to be all beautiful green. Actually most farmers are just starting with planting small rice on dry parts of land. Later they will move them to bigger plots of land that are full with water. A group of farmers from one village will work all together to do each others rice fields. And while bicycling I passed a sala between the rice fields where a big group of farmers were just have a rest and drink (see following photo).


Keep reading

Planting rice in Pua

Image
All around us the local farmers are working in the rice paddies and I am very happy I am not a farmer. First they plant rice on dry soil and they grow that for about 1 month. Then they pull the small rice plants out the soil and make small bundles of it. In the meanwhile another rice paddy has been prepared and flooded with water. They then trow the bundles of rice plants into the water in a way that they are spread all over the rice paddy. Then they walk into the rice paddy and start planting the rice again in the new rice paddy. Wow so much work for such a low price of rice per kg! And I just realised that 99% of the people who do the planting are women.

Keep reading

Visiting the Wat Si Mongkol in Nan

Image
Yesterday we did visit the Wat Si Mongkol (or Wat Khong) along route 1170 between Tha Wang Pha and Sila Phet in Nan province (North Thailand). Although I have been already many times at this temple we did visit it again with friends from the Netherlands. This temple has become a bit of a commercial tourist destination for Thai tourists because of the great view over the rice fields and mountains. But more there is also a small museum at the temple grounds and the temple has some nice new murals inside. Following are a few more photos.





Keep reading

Gold Shops in Thailand

Image
One of those Things Typically Thai are gold shops. OK it is not typically for only Thailand because you will see Chinese run gold shops all over South-East Asia. But when you have been on holiday in Thailand I am sure you will have noticed the always red coloured gold shops. They are everywhere, even in small towns. And in shopping malls. Yaowarat road in Bangkok is famous for its gold shops. In Thailand gold shops are not really jewellery shops but more a kind of bank as you can not only buy gold but also sell gold. So gold becomes a kind of investment and a way of showing how wealthy you are. On the windows of gold shops you see the daily price of buying & selling gold. Mind you that is the price of just gold, not the price of gold jewellery. For the work that is done is added a certain % of the weight price. Gold is sold in weight. And there is an Thai weight system used as 1 baht of gold = 15.2 gram. An half bath of gold is also called 50 satang. In gold shops they jewellery …
Keep reading

Preparring for the boat race on the Mekong River in That Phanom

Image
At That Phanom, people from all over the area come together for the annual long boat race at the Mekong River. About 45 people in a 80 cm wide and 12 m long boat at high speed over the Mekong River. In the meanwhile there is a market with food, music and morlam girls going on on the riverside boulevard. And in the evening the many restaurants along the banks of the Mekong are filling up with Lao & Thai. This kind of boat races are normally held at the end of the Buddhist Lent and is mostly in October or November.
Keep reading

Travel Tips : Traveling to Vietnam

Image
Thailand is a wonderful and beautiful country to travel but neighbouring Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam are each for their own culture and way of life also great countries to travel. Traveling from Thailand to Vietnam can be done in 2 ways :
Over land, a long way from Thailand to Cambodia and then to Vietnam. Or another route would be from Thailand to Laos and then to Vietnam.By air, much faster, easier and not so expensive. Be aware that you probably need a visa for Vietnam! There are direct flights from Chiang Mai (CNX) to Hanoi, Bangkok to Hanoi (HAN) or Ho Chi Min City (SGN), Phuket (HKT) to Ho Chi Min City (SGN). When flying from Bangkok be aware that there are flights to Vietnam from both Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) as from Don Muang Airport (DMK). Following airlines are offering direct flights : VietJet AirThai Air Asia (from Don Muang Airport to Hanoi Airport & Ho Chi Min Airport. And from Chiang Mai Airport to Hanoi Airport)JetStar Pacific AirlineVietnam Airl…
Keep reading

Travel Tips : Getting a visa for Vietnam

Image
June 2019 : For traveling to Vietnam most people need a visa, although some countries are exempted from a visa. Like people from most asian countries, Thailand included, will get a 30 days visa free entry to Vietnam. There are a few ways to get a visa for Vietnam :
Go to an embassy of Vietnam and apply for an visa, but that might be a bit time consuming. For the embassy in Bangkok see : Vietnam Embassy in Thailand (warning : there are many websites that pretend to be an embassy website)Get an Visa On Arrival on-line. But be aware that you are actually not getting a visa but you are getting a Letter of Approval to get an Visa On Arrival (VOA). So on-line you apply & pay for the Letter of Approval. Then at the border you will get & pay for a Visa on Arrival. Be aware that the websites offering the Visa On Arrival for Vietnam are private business (travel companies) and that not all are real or offering correct & good service.Be aware that the Visa On Arrival are only valid for…
Keep reading

Train stations in Thailand, next station Khlong Pai

Image
I love traveling by train, especially in Thailand where it is like traveling in time. It is like an open-air museum. Not only the trains itself but also the train stations. They look like they have not changed since they build the first railroad lines in Thailand in 1889. This little train station Khlong Pai (near Sikhio in Nakhon Ratchasima province) looks on the outside unchanged, but unfortunately the inside has been changed. This photos have been made in 2015 or 2016 and I am not sure if this little train station is still unchanged as there is a lot of modernisation going on at railways in Thailand. So if you like old train stations hurry up and see them all in Thailand!


Keep reading

A lovely rainy day in Pua

Image
Yesterday was a lovely cool day with a hour of rain and this photo is the last photo my Sony HX90V camera made as I dropped it out of the window 4 meters lower into the garden. And the camera landed on its lens. After the rain we had a beautiful misty sunset with some bright beams coming from the sky reaching out to all people in Pua and Thung Chang. Safe travels Mike, see you somewhere over the rainbow.
Keep reading