httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3LNzX3fB94
My eyes slowly peel open as I stretch and yawn. It’s 10:30AM and I’m just waking up and looking forward to getting my day started. It seems that most of my days living in Chiang Mai start out the same way due to my late night working habits.
This morning is a little different than the norm as I’m feeling a little more energized than normal. All of a sudden an incredibly adventurous idea pops into my head…
I’m going to ride my bike up to Doi Suthep! Well maybe I won’t ride the whole way up but if I can at least get to the base and see how I feel then I’ll go from there…
Next thing you know I’m on the elevator headed down to the ground floor where my mountain bike is locked up and waiting for me. If the bike could talk, I imagine it would be crying hysterically and calling me all sorts of names. Why? Well, I was about to head out on an 18 mile R/T ride to a temple called Doi Suthep and approximately 7.5 of those miles would be straight uphill!
This trusty bike of mine was actually something that I borrowed from a fellow Chiang Mai CouchSurfer believe it or not. It wasn’t the best bike in the world (LA Bicycle), but it got me around town.Being a bicycle lover, what better way is there to see the city that you’re living in than on a bicycle? Then again, cruising the city and conquering Doi Suthep are two totally different animals.
Table of Contents
Hitting the Road
Once I got on the road and headed towards Doi Suthep I was cruising at a really good pace. I knew I had a ton of riding ahead of me so I wasn’t about to burn all of my energy just yet.
After about two miles I was at the base of the mountain and I made a quick pitstop at the Visitor Booth where I grabbed a map and attempted to explain to the woman behind the desk that I was planning on riding up to the temple of Doi Suthep.
In her best broken English she says “You go Doi Suthep… on bicycle?” She then giggles and says “Nooo… too fahhhh foh bicycle!”
At this point I’m even more determined to conquer this ride, especially because I’m never one to back down from a challenge. Especially if it’s fitness related. I laugh and I tell her to watch out for me as I pass by the visitor center on the way down.
I jump back on my bike and start the ascent to Doi Suthep. As I’m pedaling one slow revolution at a time Thai’s on motorbikes are passing me with one of two reactions…
1. They stare as they pass by and the passenger actually turns all the way around to look back and laugh at me
2. They pass by honking the horn while the passenger throws up the incredibly motivating double thumbs up sign. (this is exactly what I needed)
Eventually I started getting more thumbs up than laughs, and that’s when I knew attempting to climb Doi Suthep on a heavy framed hybrid mountain bike was something that most people just couldn’t get their minds around.
Climbing Blindly
As I’m climbing Doi Suthep I literally have no idea when I’ll arrive at the top. The only way I know how many miles I have left is when I see a sign every now and then telling me how many kilometers are left until I arrive at the temple. If I can remember correctly the first 3 or 4 miles of the climb are signless. Plus, when you’re riding uphill you’re certainly not going anywhere fast and that made it even tougher to gauge how many miles I had actually ridden so far.
Suddenly I see a large sign up ahead which says that Doi Suthep is only 3km (1.86 mi) away!
Almost there!
The next sign says 1km, and before I know it I have arrived at the temple. I’m sweating profusely and many people are giving me strange looks. As a matter of fact I happened to see a few people leaving the temple that had actually driven by me on the way up and they were looking at me like… Wait a second… you made it all the way up here!?
309 More Stairs!?
A few more double thumbs up later and I’m on my way up the first few steps to the temple. Next thing I know I turn the corner only to see that I’m going to have to climb another 309 stairs before I reach the top! My legs are burning, stiff, and I feel as if people are looking at me wondering why I’m struggling to hobble up these stairs one by one at my young age.
Foreigner Buy The Ticket!
Once at the top I proceed to follow the signs that are literally everywhere reminding me that I’m a foreigner and that I should pay 30thb. After paying the 30 baht and entering the temple I was instantly amazed by the surroundings. It was as if the temple was covered in every color of the rainbow. There was tranquil music and dancing being performed by local children and more.
The views over the city were breathtaking. Here’s an idea of how high I had just climbed!
I have to say once I arrived at the temple the trip was that much more rewarding. Sitting down taking in the views and people watching was certainly interesting to say the least. I was hoping to find someone who was as sweaty as I was because I’d know that they most likely had just climbed Doi Suthep themselves. I had absolutely zero sympathy for anyone who looked like they just jumped out of an air conditioned car at this point.
After exploring Doi Suthep I headed back down to my bike and decided to get a move on. This is where the fun begins because it’s all downhill from here! Looking back on it now I wonder how I wasn’t killed on the way down. There were points that I was traveling at high rates of speed. Put it this way, I was passing people on motorbikes . No, seriously!
By the time I reached my apartment I was completely exhausted and ecstatic at the same time. I had just completed an 18 mile bike ride to Doi Suthep and back on a borrowed half way decent bicycle. Boy, do I feel accomplished.
I give you major props for this! How freaking awesome it must have felt to have reached the top. I know that even a small 10 mile ride was a big deal for me.
Erica, first off I feel terrible replying to this comment right now because I’m more than a year and a half late. I have no idea how I missed it.
If you decide to forgive me, I would like to say thanks for the comment and thanks for the feedback. It felt so great to arrive at the top, especially that it was my first visit to Doi Suthep!
I’m guessing that if I had driven up there previously, I would have hesitated to attempt riding my bike up there to visit for the second time.
I take my hat off to you. I have been to this temple many times, always by car or songthaew (red taxi) and it always seems to take for ever as you wind your way up those steep climbs.
Haha! Thanks Simon. Yeah, it was quite the ride to say the least. Thanks for following along. Check us out on Facebook when you get the chance: http://www.facebook.com/pausethemoment
Hi,Ryan!We shall plan to climb Doi Sutheb on January. Milan 65, Pepa 69. Some days later we want to reach the summit of Doi Inthanon.
We are finding the altitude profiles of these two peaks.
Best!
Milan
Excellent Milan. Good for you guys! Will you be hiking or cycling to the top?
Excuse me. Cycling, of course!
Good luck!
Ryan,have you the altitude profiles of these two peaks?
Thank you!
Milan
Hi Milan, I don’t have an elevation profile but I did find this little bit of information after a quick google search: “Doi Suthep mountain itself reaches an altitude of 1,676 meters (5,498 feet) and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep stands on the flank of the mountain at an elevation of 1,056 meters (3464 feet).”
Enjoy!
I did the same ride yesterday on my MTB. Since it took only about 70 min from the Zoo to Wat Doi Suthep, I decided to pedal on to the Doi Pui peak. Unfortunately, the road gets even steeper behind Doi Suthep, but one is rewarded by the option of being able to go down the mountain on the other side to Huay Tung Tao, where there are a number of really cool dirt trails. Mountain biking paradise!
Hey Thomas, that’s awesome! Glad to hear it. I never actually rode past Doi Suthep. I stopped there, explored a little bit and then rode down. What a ride! I hope to do some mountain biking there next year. Thanks for the comment.
I’m planning to do this ride in January. Just wondering how safe it feels – is there a lot of traffic on the road?
Great Jan! You’ll have a good time. It’s not easy though, so take your time and bring lots of water. I felt pretty safe. The traffic was pretty light. You’ll see a lot of songthaews and motorbikes. I don’t remember seeing many buses or anything. Enjoy!
The attached pictures in Ryan’s story are very accurate for this location. He’s really done this!
I cycle up every couple of days now, but I took two attempts before I was successful in getting to Wat Phrathat. It is a long grind to the top. The earlier comment from the guy who cycled to the BhuPing Palace is also correct. Unless you are super fit, it is not a good idea to try the second section as well on a bicycle. It would need to be a mountain bike as road bikes are too highly geared.
I have disc brakes fitted to my mountain bike for the descent from the Wat and I achieve very high speeds on some straight sections.
I cycle early in the morning as Chiang Mai is now very popular with tourists and the traffic is heavy to and from the two major scenic locations on Doi Suthep.
How early?
I start from the bottom at 4:30AM as the café near the Wat opens at 6:00AM.
There are two lanes going up and one lane going down. I am very careful with my brake maintenance and checking due to the 11 km downhill at 8% grade.
Be aware that Chiang Mai is now a hot-spot for motor vehicle and motor cycle accidents.
Don’t ride when its hot, as the humidity tends to be high and it is hard to control your hydration.
A good trip for the adventurous but not super-fit, is to ride up to a lookout about 5.5 kms up the mountain. During the day they sell food and drink at this location. Good views and close to the point where the air is cooler.
It is common to see at least twenty cyclists going up the mountain around 7AM.
There are now bike tours that will hire you a mountain bike, guide and take you up to the top for the roll down the mountain. I think that they use a dirt track.