Would you follow me today walking and cycling in Ban A Hi, a small village of north-east Thailand, located at 55 kilometers of Loei and just on the Lao border because you might see places that you have never seen before?
Ban A Hi is the native village of my wife and this is the map. If you want to get there, you might want to read my previous post: Bangkok to Loei Trip with Air Asia!
This is where my wife and I had our traditional Thai wedding on 13 May 2008, nearly ten years ago, and we visit about twice a year.
All photos are mine and taken with my Samsung phone.
Walking and Cycling in Ban A Hi!
We usually wake up early in Ban A Hi like all the villagers who either go to their rice fields and orchards, or enjoy the festivities of the moment.
Every time we go there is some kind of festivities and the music can be turned on very loud early in the morning and all day long, even late at night. I invite you to watch the video at the end of this post to have a feel of the village ambience.
Walking in Ban A Hi
Going far away in an isolated village is not going to stop me from walking and exercising. Walking is easy as it can be done anywhere even if it's walking in circles like I did in Koh Chang: A Day at the Mercure Koh Chang Hideaway Hotel
This is where I started at about 6:30 a.m. from the house.
There are many dogs on the road, so it's best to be careful when passing them.
I like to walk on this road because you are alone very quickly, with just a few cows or passing motorcycles.
Isn't that a great photo where I look refreshed with the cool breeze of the morning?
That's the direction back to the village.
I didn't notice this beautiful house last time I came, it must belong to the new richest man in the village!
That is the main road and here too, you have to be careful of dogs and drunk drivers.
The street at the right is where our parents' house is located.
That's the one with the newer yellow wooden wall at the right.
Cycling in Ban A Hi
As there is no fitness equipment available, I thought that cycling would be a good substitute. I cycled a little more than 5 kilometers, stopping on the way to take the photos I am sharing with you now.
This is the entrance gate of the temple Wat Mueang Tum Thammaram (วัดเมืองตูมธรรมาราม).
Here is the map of where it is located at the end of Ban A Hi.
Address: Highway 2195, Tha Li, Amphoe Tha Li, Chang Wat Loei 42140
You are first greeted by these statues.
A Buddha.
This is the main hall where celebrations usually take place.
A monk cleaning the area with 3 elephants.
A beautiful temple.
I know people who won't like to go there at night!
That's a road in the forest on the temple's ground going to the river.
The other side of the river is Laos.
I believe you can walk there.
This is another building in the temple.
Thai Buddhist funeral urns are all around the wall of the temple.
It's time to ride to another place now.
This is now an area at the other end of the village where you can find another temple and the school.
This is the map.
First, the temple Wat Siri Mongkol (วัดศิริมงคล).
This is where all festivities are organized and often, it looks more like an amusement park than a temple.
Let's continue the ride!
This is the village's school Chumchon Ban A HI School (โรงเรียนชุมชนบ้านนาฮี)
Address: Highway 2195, Tha Li, Amphoe Tha Li, Chang Wat Loei 42140.
This is the school where my wife spent her primary education.
The play ground that looks very tired…
A huge football field.
The trash containers recycled from tires.
A bit further there is a Kindergarten school, which looks pretty new.
Next to it I found outdoor fitness equipment, but that's better not to use them as they seem to be in poor conditions.
A couple of cows.
Heading back to the house where I pass the village's market. I have hardly seen anything sold here, I might go the wrong times.
A nice welcome message that says, "A Hi is a pleasant village, people are lovely!"
I am back home now after the ride, and it is time for breakfast.
You can see my parents-in-law and my wife with Isaan food that we eat on the floor.
I am having a hard time eating this very specific regional food.
I like the sticky rice with fried sun-dried meat and I try to eat more fruits. My wife also prepares other things that I can eat, thank you!
A few sweets, banana and a kind of caramel custard with sweet sticky rice.
That's it and as promised at the beginning of this post, this is a 10-minute static video just to give you some sound ambience of the place.
If you want to go straight to the music, go to 3:10.
I hope that you liked the post and all the photos, as well as the music in the video.
All photos are mine and taken with my Samsung phone.
Would you upvote this post and follow me for more because this will encourage me to write more travel posts like this one?
Would you please help @jerrybanfield become a top 10 Witness because you can help funding projects to build Steem as explained here? Vote for jerrybanfield as a witness or set jerrybanfield as a proxy to handle all witness votes at https://steemit.com/~witnesses. Read the 5 reasons why I'm voting for Jerry Banfield as a witness and how to vote in my post. You may be interested to read: What is a Steem Witness, How to Vote and Why?
Michel Gerard