Cycle touring on the cheap in Thailand

Most cycle tourists in Thailand tend to stay in hotels and eat in restaurants. This is all good and fine but there is another way. Here’s my way. Normally, I prefer to stay in temples or police stations. Yes, I said police stations.

"Yes, I said police stations"

Firstly, we will discuss the temples

Almost all temples will allow you to stay in some form overnight or even up to a few days if you desire. I stayed at one temple in the heart of Chiang Mai for 4 days. How do you get to stay at temples? Ask the oldest monk you can find. This eliminates part of the chain of responsibility as if you ask a young or even novice monk he will just have to run off and find someone to ask or might even give you a silly answer just for laughs. Many of the young monks are just there for a few days, weeks, or at most months. The older the monk, the better. How should you ask to stay? Some of the monks do speak some English I have discovered in the past. I do, however, speak a bit of Thai and if written phonetically I would ask in the following way. Nawn nee die my clap? Sleep here ok no? Thai with the English literal translation. In the beginning of my cycle travels in Thailand I stayed in many temples and still enjoy the atmosphere and peaceful silence.

Well except for packs of dogs howling at you at nighttime, the festive funerals or monk ordinations you may have to endure the night through. For me though if I cycle hard enough I can sleep like a rock. I travel with a hammock so that was my means of sleeping. A tent would be useful.

Dogs – sometimes there are a lot of dogs in the temples. Especially in the south. Normally they are not aggressive and leave you alone or are even friendly. However, some nights are full of dogs barking at you from an even lessening distance as the nights go on. One night in Kanachaburi I had one dog repeatedly sneaking up to me and barking at me in the middle of the night. Even with repeated rock hurling he continued to return until finally he seemed to lose interest.

Another time south of Prachuap Kiri Khan they had a funeral. The monk warned me of it but I though ok it’s a funeral how bad could it be. I have never been to or even heard of a Thai funeral. It was very loud and later on they watched a kung fu movie on the big screen with incredibly loud sound. I gave up on sleep and watched the movie with a few drunk guys.

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kung fu

Another even more sleepless night was spent in Isaan during a massive party for a boy’s monk ordination. They had a proper stage and bands the entire night. I did my best to sleep and managed enough although if you are up for a party they surely would have invited you.

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But the good times far outweigh the not so good. I enjoy the atmosphere and as one that practices meditation daily, meeting monks is like an amateur cyclist meeting a Tour de France competitor. They have reached truly high levels of contemplation.
One evening in a rural temple in the province of Loei, one of the two monks at the temple invited me to join him for meditation in the evening which I of course accepted. The temples are the gathering point for the people in the small communities in Thailand. I asked one man where he lived and he pointed next door.

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In Kanachanaburi, a senior monk invited me to sleep on the porch in front of his room. I was very comfortable and in the morning he gave me so much food and drink. He told me that he was going on a long journey through the mountains to a forest monastery, sleeping on the forest floor along the way. Monks don’t require many things and the true monks lead a real life of non-materialism. I luckily had something to give him. My friend in Bangkok had given me a few packets of mosquito repellent lemon grass incense. I gave them to the monk he said thanks and was happy because he could actually use that in his journey.

In Chiang Mai, I stayed in a temple for four days and nights. A very large and popular temple. After asking around when I arrived eventually a senior monk came and spoke with me. We spoke in Thai until he said something to me in perfect English. Turns out he is the head of the sister monastery the temple has in England. He was back to conduct the exams for the monks. The education system for the monks is very difficult and they have serious exams. If they fail the exam they have to retake the entire year. One chance. Over the course of my stay the monk and I discussed many topics and he patiently answered my questions from a Buddhist perspective using the phrase “We believe that…” quite often.

In Tak, the temple I stayed at was at the dam named for the former King who has just passed on recently. The beautiful thing about temples is that they are everywhere in Thailand, especially in beautiful places. This temple was perched on a hill overlooking the lake, dam and surrounding mountains in the distance. I hooked up my hammock under the big Buddha and watched the incredible sunset over the lake and mountains from the relaxed comfort of my hammock. No five star hotel could have been better for me at that point.

dam

One temple was being constructed when I arrived. The people were laying tiles so I helped them. They didn’t seem to think anything unusual about it and seemed to appreciate the help. I enjoyed the experience and being able to contribute in some way to the temple.
As I said temples are everywhere in Thailand and you can normally stay. Usually the monks leave you to your business after showing you the shower and where you will sleep. Often times the gates are closed at night so be sure to ask about that before going out. No alcohol is allowed and I would imagine cooking as well as the monks eat only in the morning. In the north of Thailand normally I was given quite a nice room with wifi and adjoining bathroom. But do not be mistaken. Temples are the backbone of Buddhist Thai society and the local people are very proud of the temples. They are generally quite excited for you to stay at the temple.

Moving on to police stations

Truthfully, I’ve always avoided police and had little interaction with them throughout my life. As a former bicycle messenger generally the police are not your friend and can limit your ability to do your job. On my cycling trip in Thailand I was looking for a temple to sleep in. I asked a local guy about the temple across the street and he told me it was full of ghosts and indeed it looked that way. He told me to go sleep at the police station. I asked him if he was sure and he said it was a great place to camp. So sure enough I asked and camped in the grounds. One of the policeman was a cyclist and came out and chatted with me for a while. After that night I slept in many police stations and found that the police are extremely helpful and friendly to cyclists in Thailand.

I don’t buy water in Thailand. I don’t like to waste the plastic bottles. I carry one cycling bottle and refill it at police stations or wherever I can find water to drink. Besides shops where they sell water, people are extremely helpful and happy to give ice as well. Sometimes they give food and bananas. At police stations I’ve slept inside and outside. Normally they have free wifi and always have showers, toilet. The officers are generally friendly and even buy me food and drinks sometimes. I’ve taken naps at substations along the road many times. What they don’t have and could be improved on is tools and pumps. Spare patches and glue.
I’ve seen many different incidents in police stations. Many of the people seem drunk or on amphetamines. But generally they are calm and a bit surprised to see me there.

Hotels and resorts

Sometimes I do stay at hotels and resorts. I find the best places to be slightly out of town along the highways. People build rooms behind their houses as a long term investment. Normally the rooms are 300 baht and have TV and air conditioning. After sleeping in a hammock, these rooms feel like 5 star. One of the reasons why I don’t like to sleep in rooms often is because normally I am there maximum 8 hours. Just time to sleep and be off the next day. Not really getting my moneys worth and I feel isolated sometimes.

Even now I’m looking forward to my next journey in Thailand sleeping in temples and police stations. It’s a sense of adventure and as well a way to see two very different yet important segments of Thai society.

Thanks for reading my post

Hope you enjoyed and try cycle touring Thailand or another place. Feel free to ask any questions or leave comments.

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