Going for a walk

[Spitfire]

I must admit that this is one of my regrets/dislikes here, not being easily able to go for a walk around everyday, just to get some light activity in. You can go for a walk but there are so many hazards it makes it an unenjoyable challenge, like no pavements and where there are then the curbs are so high or food stalls take the entire space and you have to then walk out into the road. Shops that see the pavement as an extention to their floor space and again you find yourself in the road. You need to look four ways to cross a one way street. I'm not even going to start on the soi dogs, could start a whole new thread for those freaking things as IMO most don't even qualify as a dog in my book. Don't really have a classification for them other that angry nouns or bloody menace. It is a great shame that something as simply as going for a walk is so problematic, I know it won't change either.

[saf]

No it won't change.

Imagine what it must be like for the blind or wheelchair bound. The tall need to be careful too. While they are watching the ground they may be scarred for life by an awning set at Thai height.

[Loz]

Its all about adapting to your enviornment, Saf!

And shame on you! How far do you live from Rook? You could go for a walk and hit some golf balls while you are at it!

You could take a nice drive down to Lam dakong dam, of if the spirit moves you, all the way to Khao Yai. Both lovely locations for a stroll. Not on your doorstep, granted but not worlds away either. and for you retired types surely you have nothing but time on your hands?

Closer to home you could take a stroll aroun Bung Talawa. That seems to be its reasonne d'etre.

How about SUT Campus, thats not far from you, right? I am sure there are some sights there that will keep your mind occupied. I mean of course the Library and English Learning Centre. Both open to the public. Fabulous resourses.

I have found taking a stroll in the mall to be the most accessible and comfortable daily routine. Lots of things to see and a few you can do too!

Gather ye rose buds while ye may

[saf]

If only this retired person did have more time on my hands! I don't even get time for my after lunch nap at the moment. Loz, you'd be amazed what there is to do when you can please yourself how you spend your time!

I've enjoyed some serious walking in the past and wish that Thailand had some real rocky mountains with cool air. The problem with walking here is the heat. From 10.00am until around 4.00pm it's just too hot. Come dusk, we have thing to do on the land but do occasionally manage to get in a walk around the fields here. Walking for health means going fast enough to push up the heart rate a little. It's just not possible for more than a few moments in the heat here.

I'm not a towny so walking in built up areas has no appeal for me except as a means of getting somewhere.

[Loz]

Walking in the heat gets your heart rate up faster doesn't it?

Being a Yorkshire Lad from Ilkley Moor Bah' tat, I miss the dalesway walks and panoramic scenary too. But coconut trees in my garden are the beginnings of a fair trade off...

I was watching a movie and people were snuggling up in bed. Made me realise I'd forgotten what its like to be REALLY cold.

Short drive to Wang nam kiow should sort you out! take a day off.

[Alfie]

For cool air, the Mall is the place. Why not start an afternoon power walk club? You could walk for an hour and cover about 3 miles. You could even throw in some fartlek for a bit of variety (speeding past shoppers and dawdlers) and speed endurance. You could try going down the escalators to try to improve leg turnover and you could bound up the stairs two at a time (plyometrics) and even try out a few free weights on the second floor to improve your upper body strength. Think outside the box, Saf!!

[saf]

For cool air, the Mall is the place. Why not start an afternoon power walk club? You could walk for an hour and cover about 3 miles. You could even throw in some fartlek for a bit of variety (speeding past shoppers and dawdlers) and speed endurance. You could try going down the escalators to try to improve leg turnover and you could bound up the stairs two at a time (plyometrics) and even try out a few free weights on the second floor to improve your upper body strength. Think outside the box, Saf!!

And Ray could take photos.

We would have to choose a quiet day. Moving quickly through a typical crowd here just isn't possible.

[koratwanderer]

I go for a walk round the village every morning (except when I play golf). I start about 8.00am before it gets too hot and it takes around 50 minutes to walk about 5kms' along the road by the rice fields and back thro' the village via the temple. I get lots of waves from all sorts of people in cars/pick-ups and on motocys, lots of "sawasdee khas" from shopkeepers and foodstall holders and a "guden morgen" from Detlef's mum as she sweeps up the leaves in the temple grounds, then back home for a cool shower and bacon butties for breakfast.

Makes for a real pleasant start to the day, and obviously I don't live in a similar environment to Spitfire! Maybe a round of golf would be the answer Spitfire, there's no soi dogs on Tiger, Suranari or Rooks!

[saf]

I go for a walk round the village every morning (except when I play golf). I start about 8.00am before it gets too hot and it takes around 50 minutes to walk about 5kms' along the road by the rice fields and back thro' the village via the temple. I get lots of waves from all sorts of people in cars/pick-ups and on motocys, lots of "sawasdee khas" from shopkeepers and foodstall holders and a "guden morgen" from Detlef's mum as she sweeps up the leaves in the temple grounds, then back home for a cool shower and bacon butties for breakfast.

Makes for a real pleasant start to the day, and obviously I don't live in a similar environment to Spitfire! Maybe a round of golf would be the answer Spitfire, there's no soi dogs on Tiger, Suranari or Rooks!

It's so nice to be out in the countryside rather than cooped up in the city as Spitfire describes it. There are no pavements or awning to worry about. There's no fast traffic. If you really want to get away from everything there are those unmade roads into the jungle.

KW, how often are you invited into someone's home to eat with them during your walk? Village folk are much more welcoming and open than many city dwellers, I think.

[koratwanderer]

If people are eating outside their house or even in a roadside foodstall, they'll often invite me to sample what they're eating, and at weekends when the guys are not working they'll ask me to join them drinking whisky at 8.00 in the morning outside the local mini-market. I don't like whisky but just to be sociable I'll usually have a sip then go on my way.

As you say Saf, there's a vast difference between living in the city and living in a village. I'm lucky, they make farangs welcome here, but there are more and more farangs coming to live in this village and I sometimes wonder how long it will be before it becomes a problem to the locals like it sometimes does with immigrants in UK, but thats another topic.