Chiang Mai Hiking Group Running Free Weekly Hikes -- Any Ideas Of How To Reach Out To Thais

[jamiesensei]

Hi,

Thought I would point you all in the direction of the new Chiang Mai Hiking web site and address http://cmhike.com/. The old web address still works fine and will automatically redirect you but we have set up a new web site at the new address.

The group is unchanged and still runs our free Sunday hikes. We have found some great hikes lately.

We moved the web site essentially to be able to translate the site into Thai as well as having the English side of the site. It may be that for most Thais the idea of spending hours walking in the forest is not their idea of relaxation but we are hoping that we can get more Thai people involved in the group. Any one have any ideas of how to advertise the group to reach Thais who might be interested ie. people who are into outdoor activities, fitness and / or looking for a chance to practice their English? Ideas we are working on :

• trying to find suitable Thai publications. Any contact nos anyone?
• putting up posters, we have a Thai and English poster. Posters are attached if anyone wants to put some up :-)

I am enthusiastic about the idea of reaching out to Thais as the hiking group could be one more activity where our Thai and farang communities can share a common activity without a financial motive.

We are going to try to publish trip reports regularly with pics and gps tracks for those interested. Here is the first of these for a great but rather long hike : http://cmhike.com/2010/08/trip-report-sunday-15th-of-august-hike-to-'buddha's-foot-print'/

Jamie

Chiang Mai Hiking.pdf

Chiang Mai Hiking A3.pdf

[sarahsbloke]

I came along on one of these walks, it was good BUT

Directions to the meeing places were so iffy and always at places I didn't know so I just gave up on ever going again.

Maybe I will give it another go.

[jamiesensei]

I came along on one of these walks, it was good BUT

Directions to the meeing places were so iffy and always at places I didn't know so I just gave up on ever going again.

Maybe I will give it another go.

Hope you do come again. Good point about making the directions to the meeting place as clear as possible. Mostly we meet in the parking lot at the arboretum or exercise park which is out on the Huay Kaeow Rd between the front entrance of Chiang Mai University and the entrance of Chiang Mai zoo.

[cm das]

Thanks for posting this. The new website looks good. I used to hike all the time when I lived in Colorado, Washington & Arizona. Not so much since I moved to Chiang Mai, but looking at the trip reports is inspiring me to dust of my boots. Hope to make out on one of your trips soon.

[Drew Aitch]

I often walk up the Doi Suthep (alone!). Sometimes i have a walking buddy (usually the over 60's if you can believe that!), but most of the time i walk alone. I can't drag folks up that there hill most of the time, especially the under 30's, so it's refreshing to learn that there's an active club in Chiang Mai

I have a bad leg, so road walking is easier on my knee. I've walked a million times all the way to the top of the Doi, and on shorter walks i walk up the road for 30 minutes, and back down through the jungle.

So anyway, whenever you guys have a walk that's not scampering up a dirt track, but more of a gentle incline for a few hours, then i may get to meet some of you I'll keep an eye on you website for details. The August trek seems a little too hard going, so maybe next time Thanks anyway for bringing this club to the attention of TV.

Aitch

[alfieconn]

Went on my first hike today with the Chiang Mai Hiking Club and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Nice scenery, nice people and a pleasant brisk walk through the Chiang Mai countryside, what more could you want on a Sunday morning / afternoon.

[MESmith]

Maybe in addition to meeting at the arboretum, you could post co-ordinates for the parking for start of hike.  This would be of benefit of out of towners who perhaps live halfway to your starting points , but don't really want to head all the way into town, only to do a 180 & head out past their house......

Any hikes in the lake district east of San Kamphaeng planned?

[noise]

You might send a representative to the Lanna Photo Club and suggest members join you for hikes. This would be a great way for them to go on photo trips off the beaten track (so to speak) and get shots in different areas. A weekly hike up Doi Sutep might not excite them, but I got the impression you go many different places so ..... that should appeal to many photographers as we all know you frequently have to walk in to get the great shots (unless you want 73 tourists standing in front of your camera).

If you really got desperate for someone to go with you, you could post an upcoming hike on the Chiangmai Photography Group's web site and maybe get another Farang (tho we do have a few Thais as members).

[Sojourner]

Get the word out that there's single farang men on these hikes. Have beer and water available after the hike. Have one meeting place in Chiang Mai and hire a songtao to take everyone to your starting point and bring them back. Oh wait, that's what the Hash House Harriers do.

Seriously, good luck with your effort. We have found over the years that the Thais, in general, aren't really keen on getting out in the forest unless there's some other reason for going. A lot of Thais still believe that there are ghosts living in the forests and are afraid of getting lost. I've seen the fear in their eyes when we had to go back along trail and find them.

Please do us a favor. Don't complain if you see occassional blobs of shreaded paper along the trails you travel. We don't use plastic or paint or streamers of any kind. Most of the time we use rice flour. The shreaded paper is usually eaten by the ants or washed away by the rain over time. We also don't discard plastic water bottles, cans, plastic bags, candy wrappers, Red Bull bottles or soi milk cartons.

Hiking is a great way to get away and enjoy nature's wonders. On On

[jackr]

I have a bad leg, so road walking is easier on my knee.

I bet that has the local somchais in hysterics seeing Mr farang hopping up da hill on his knee.