Looking for something a bit different to occupy your mind and keep you active this July? If being environmentally conscious is your mantra this month, Citylife has come up with a list of activities for staying green and having fun. From cycling to bird watching, and organic farming to a village homestay in Mae Kampong, with this list you haven’t got any excuse to be sitting on your rear, bored and watching rubbish on the box.
Farming at The Land Foundation
Learn about the joys of art or discover the pastoral pleasures of farming, providing it’s not too backbreaking and the sun isn’t beating down too heavily, at The Land Foundation, located twenty minutes away from the city centre. The foundation boasts a range of facilities, including an art exhibit featuring both local and international art, a meditation room, rice farms, and a fishing pond. Other main activities include rice-planting and rice-sowing. The Land also offers educational opportunities on agricultural development and alternative energy.
Baan Muang Fu, T. Nam Bo Luang,
Sanpatong
083 941 9033
www.thelandfoundation.org
Environmentally Educational Courses at Pun Pun Centre for Self Reliance in Mae Tang
Pun Pun is a certified organic farm, seed saving centre, and sustainable living and learning centre. The centre is focused on the self-reliant lifestyle by growing organic food, building from natural and local materials and using low tech appropriate technologies. Pun Pun hosts courses, workshops and internships in Thai and English which can be made part of a holiday. Subjects covered include self reliant living, organic gardening, community living, natural building, and natural health. The farm, live-in community, and programmes are based on an experimental and experiential learning approach.
www.punpunthailand.org
081 470 1461
Cycling with the Sunday Cycle Club Chiang Mai
Whether you’re Thai or a foreigner, you can join the Sunday Cycle Club at Tha Pae Gate every Sunday at bleary-eyed 7 a.m. for a cycle through the city. Signing up is completely free. This is a good way to meet new people, get to know the city (especially its lesser known corners) and stay in shape. Children under the age of ten can cycle under the supervision of their parents or guardians.
The club’s temporary office can be found
on 161 Ratanakosin, Chang Moi Road
053 234 094 or contact Dr. Niran Potigan
on 087 302 9358 www.cmcycling.org
Homestay at Mae Kampong
Experience the routines and rhythms of real village life with a homestay at Mae Kampong, located 50 kilometres away from Chiang Mai. This popular homestay emphasises complete immersion, and of course, plenty of interaction with the village residents. You can observe the village’s traditional tea farming, bamboo- and basket-making, or hike up Doi Monlan and take in the panorama offering views of Lampang and Lamphun. After an eventful day, settle down with a traditional Thai massage, then savour a home-cooked Thai meal that you can also help prepare.
Mae Kampong village can be accessed through the Chiang Mai-Sankamphaeng route, via Super Highway 1317.
Birdwatching with the Lanna Bird and Nature Preservation Club
Are you a twitcher? No we don’t mean the curtain variety, we mean a bird spotter, and we ain’t talking about the human variety either! Try bird watching with the Lanna Bird and Nature Preservation Club. Here you can learn about birds and their many colours and species while exercising your concentration and mental endurance. The club organises a bird watching event on the first Sunday of every month.
www.lannabird.org
lannabird@gmail.com
Kayaking on the Ping River
The Kayaking and Canoe centre, located near Faham Temple, offers kayaks at a rental rate of 50 baht for Thais, and 100 baht for foreigners…we know, we know, but that’s the way it is. It is possible to get kayaking lessons or kayak in a group.
Contact Khun Berm 081 883 1279
SpiceRoad Cycling Tours
SpiceRoads Cycling Tours offers adventurous bicycle tours for cyclists to experience Chiang Mai – and beyond. SpiceRoads Cycling provides both day and overnight tours for solo and group cyclers. It offers 17 different routes in the north including trips to Sankampaeng, tribal trails, and cross province routes to Chiang Rai, the Golden Triangle, Lumphun, and Luang Prabang. For a taste of something local, SpiceRoad also runs night-rides through central Chiang Mai that lead you through temples, the flower market, and along the Rodfi road onto the metal bridge. Watching the sunset above the Ping River is a great way to finish your day. All lodging, medicine, meals, and bicycle repairs are provided within the cost.
34 Nimmanhaemin Road Soi 7
053 215 837
081 952 7699
info@spiceroads.com
www.spiceroads.com