So, our borrowed-during-covid-till-we-can-afford-a-new-one truck died. Without warning, on the highway, miles from home. After several hours of waiting to get it towed and catching a Grab (think Uber) home, I cheered myself up. "We CHOSE this house cos it's easy to walk if we have to."
That was on Friday afternoon. Here we are on Monday as I write this post, still waiting for the garage to locate the relevant part and confirm their quote. Sigh. Which left me in a bit of a bind on Saturday. Customer order needed shipping. Don't really have the spare cash to splurge on x3 Grab rides, which would total about the equivalent of a Thai's average daily wage. I thought it through. 35 mins walk to our office-production building. Another maybe 40 mins to the courier place from there. And maybe 25 mins home. Easy Peasy right?
As I was getting ready, I looked out the front door. OK. First issue. It was freakin' hot out (about 38C or 95F) and it's rainy season. Humid as. A regular sauna really.
Now I'm Dutch. I LOVE walking in the rain on a wild, windy beach or along a rugged mountain crest. A busy urban road trying to keep things dry? Meh. Still, decided it was a needs-must and put things in plastic, in my basket.
I was so hell bent on getting to the office, I forgot to take pictures for the first leg of the triangular walk. 🤣 But walking is WONDERFUL thinking time and I decided en route that this adventure should probably be an #actifit post. And so when I got to the office I downloaded the actifit app (more about that at the end of this post) and patted myself on the back - heck, only 27 mins door to door, it DIDN'T rain and all was going fairly smoothly. Damn - I think I enjoyed myself, apart from the dripping sweat thing. Thai culture deems sleeveless to not be very OK out in public, and so I had put a longish, sleeved tshirt on over my yoga pants (to cover my butt, which is culturally a no-no too) and I was literally both steaming and dripping.🤣
Our office is in a very sanitized, westernized, gated community in what is probably one of the oldest Thai working class areas in Chiang Mai. The security man raised an eyebrow when I WALKED in. 😆 and out again.
We don't like it at all. But it's REALLY USEFUL in terms of location, it's affordable and the government officials we need to APPROVE our production facility are impressed by it. And make assumptions about us based on that (which are mostly all wrong 🤣) but we let them believe what they like in order to facilitate our licenses and permits. 😊
So. The first leg of the triangle, completed, I set off back out of our gated village, back into the real world along Highway 106 - the original Lamphun road between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, back in the day when there was no Super-Highway.
The ancient Yang Noeng Trees carry the ritual orange ribbons to signify that these are Spirit Beings. People make offerings to them, they can NEVER be cut down and the avenue runs for miles and miles. It's one of the things that keeps our area controlled in terms of no yucky development, and we prefer that. Office choices aside.
Here and there you still see roadside carts which hold the traditional hospitality terracotta water pots that are common in the north - the old style Thai version of a public drinking fountain.
It's a bit of a tricky walk along the 106 - no real footpath - but the cars are mindful of the huge number of roadside vendors and old Thai grandmas on bicycles, and drive accordingly.
Motor scooters (locally called moto-cii) are still the main transport game in our part of town.
As you can see, the rain held off. 😊😍
LOTS of roadside vendors. Selling fruit, Thai food, and all sorts of things...
I bought 3 big ripe avocados for 28 baht (about USD $0.80) and a BIG bag of limes for 10 baht (about USD $0.30). Guacomole on the horizon.
It's sometimes not altogether clear if something is actually a shop or, indeed, what they are selling. They're the MOST important people to TRY and buy something from, cos they're too poor to be able to buy in stock of any kind, and usually sell just a bunch of something from their garden. In this case, a few long eggplants and a bit of tamarind fruit. And some Thai food-colouring-sugary cheap drinks. Sorry, but I couldn't do it and we also have tamarind fruit raining down on our roof, as do most people in the area.
You got to ask yourself WHY anyone would go to a western supermarket when they are surrounded by SO MUCH, literally within walking distance from home.
This last one, close to the corner of Highway 121, we call it The Everything Shop. Cos it sells, well, everything. I stopped in to pick up the regulation garbage bags required to have our rubbish removed. But I might just have easily bought a BBBQ, a broom, cleaning products, knitting wool or a myriad of other household things.
Finally, the end mission - Kerry Express - was in sight.
The last 200 meters along the Highway 121 were not fun, with big-fast traffic flying past.
But the rain held off. And finally, my customer's order was sent. Phew!! Online sales and tight delivery turn-arounds don't allow for engine troubles and staff taking the long Mother's Day weekend off.
My passport?? LOL - yes, EVERY postal or courier item sent within and out of Thailand is logged against your passport or Thai ID card number - in an attempt to slow down the very substantial drug trade which begins in this part of the world.
Back to Highway 106 and a quick detour through the Saturday afternoon market at Wat Kong Sai - as if all that shopping wasn't already enough.
Yes, I did the whole schlep with a facemask covering at least my mouth, and fully up over my nose when close to other people. MASSIVE fines here and the police pay a kick-back commission to people for reporting transgressions. 😆 I think the pay extra for reporting blondes. 😆
The basket was HEAVY and I was glad to see our front gate finally come into view, down there on the right.
How heavy was it? 11.2 kgs on return home. 😯
When I checked the actifit app (after I had slugged 3 glasses of water and opened a beer) it showed only 2113 steps.
Even taking into account that it only measured 2/3 of the "triangle" walk, it seemed not quite right. So I used google maps to show my retraced steps.
And then a step calculator to turn the distance into steps, based on my height and walking speed:
Even if I DOUBLED the number of steps, it still wouldn't come out anywhere near the mileage the googlemaps retrace shows. Hmmmm.... 🤔
It all leaves me wondering about the accuracy of the various apps - and whether it really matters. ??
I STILL don't have a car and so am going to be doing another accuracy test today or tomorrow to have another go.. Cos clearly I'm a total actifit newbie with lots to learn.
But the things I learned MOST from this lemons-lemonade experience?
- Going for a leisurely walk is very different than the pedestrian option cos you have to;
- I live in an AMAZING neighbourhood which I plan to explore on foot a whole lot more!
- If you tell yourself it won't rain often enough, it doesn't;
- There are sooooo many cool Thai people in my traditional Thai neighbourhood whom I've never met cos I simply rush too much and drive too much.
Planning to walk more & meet more neighbours.
Planning to get better at the actifit app. Pro tips appreciated.
Planning to get my bicycle tires fixed when we get the truck back.
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Thanks for this great insight into your neighbourhood. I did love walking a lot in Asia because you got to see so much of ordinary life - and yes, why would you go to a western supermarket? Avos are .69 cents at the moment at the cheap groceries in Geelong, and limes are dripping off my tree, so hey, my guacamole is ALMOST as cheap as yours at the moment - almost!
I hope your truck gets fixed soon, but I also hope you keep up that vow to walk more!
I just got the quote from the mechanic that knocked me sideways - have stumbled over to Hive to allow the shock to settle. 🤣 Luckily one can live on local guacamole. 🤣 If only there were enough punters left in Asia to make selling one's body on street corner's a viable option. Sigh.
It's hard to imagine limes in Victoria - so much change in all countries in the last 2 decades since I left. Sad I will most likely never be able to see my mother again.. breathing through that.
More walking. If it actually doesn't fix things and result in guacamole, then at least it calms me, keeps me fit and allows the ideas to flow.
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.You need a tricycle with a big basket! LoL
I HAVE a Thai ladies bike with a great shopping basket.... and 2 flat tires. 😭 The narrow sois aren't great for biking with blind corners & fast cars. But yes, I AM motivated to get the tires fixed suddenly. 4 days laterstill no truck & waiting on another part.
!ENGAGE 25
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Oh! Hope your truck has recovered from the illness soon! Luckily it wasn’t COVID!! Otherwise, 14 days quarantine for the truck!!😂
STILL in the garage with a bill of around 15,000 thb. ☹️ We are entering our second weekend as pedestrians. Feeling fit. Hoping it will be finished Saturday evening, cos I NEED to do a nice big Makro shop. 😆
Ask the mechanic to get good second-hand spare parts instead of buying brand new! I did this to save some money on the repair bill!
ENGAGEtokens.Thanks for the tip!
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