Riding Day 5. Golden Triangle – Nan (240 Miles)

---

So I realize that I am a bit behind on blogging my daily rides, but the ride schedule has been a little more demanding than I thought it was going to be. Plus, it certainly doesn't help that every time we stop for the evening, our tour guide Noah rings the "Beer-thirty" bell. Anyway, stay tuned for more entries and thanks for reading.

สวัสดี S̄wạs̄dī - Hello from Nan, Thailand! Today we left the Golden Triangle and rode along the scenic farming areas to Chiang Rai city. In Chiang Rai, we visited the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) one of the top 10 wonder temples in the world. Along with the main temple, there were several smaller temples. All of the temples in this area are colored white except for one, smaller golden temple. Any ideas what the golden temple is used for? See the photo below to find out. After visiting the White Temple, our riding group split into two smaller groups and we said good-bye to the two couples from Australia, as well as two individual riders from the U.K. They were headed back to Chiang Mai, as their 5 day riding tour ended this evening. The

rest of us continued on and and rode the exhilarating, mountainous highway No. 1148 to Nan, ranked in the Top 10 as one of the most fun biking roads to be found anywhere in the world. 120 kilometers of up and down curves along with some pretty impressive views. We finished our riding day with a visit to Wat Phra That Khao Noi (Nan hilltop scenic temple). Later in the evening, we visited Nan's night market and sampled some interesting snacks. See photo below.

---

Photos

Hwy 1148
Scenic view off of Hwy 1148

The Guardian Statue
Guarding the entry of the White Temple

Golden Temple
This is the only temple in this area that is not white in color and it's used as the public toilet.

Group Photo - Hwy 1148
Group Photo off of Hwy 1148

Hwy 1148
Scenic view off of Hwy 1148

Hwy 1148
Scenic view off of Hwy 1148

Evening Snacks
Evening snacks of "grub" local insects that we sampled at Nan's night market.

Comments

[Mike Wamboldt]

Temples
Dang! They sure have some great landscapers at those temples!!