Cycle rickshaw temple tour, Chiang Mai

Ok, so when I heard that we were hiring cycle rickshaw drivers to run us around Chiang Mai...I had my obvious concerns.

Concern number 1: The rickshaw drivers tend to be old men, in their late 60's (at least!), working hard in the heat of day.

Concern number 2: Running rickshaws in the middle of Chiang Mai city traffic means dodging trucks, cars, motorbikes...and well everything else that screams in a city.

Concern number 3: MOST IMPORTANT!!! Western tourists (myself included) tend to be a bit heavier than the Thai locals who may ride these rickshaws from time to time. There's no feeling in the world, quite like watching an 80 year old man struggle to pull your fat ass out of a tight turn.



And yet, here we were. I was aiming for the youngest in our crowd, but unfortunately the great grandfather of all drivers winked, smiled toothlessly and lured me into his hitch. How could I say no to that?!



We actually had a really nice time. We took a slower route through Chiang Mai that allowed me to notice shops and stalls for the first time (despite driving past them every other day for the past 3 years.)

We cruised through temples and created informative sightseeing maps for our future tour groups to enjoy.

At the end of the day, I came to peace with it. These guys struggle every day. They live off less than $3-4 US dollars a day, if they're lucky... If we can do our part to hire 35 rickshaw drivers every other week for 2 hours a day, well that's money well spent as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe other tourists in Chiang Mai will be inspired to seek out cycle rickshaws instead of their noisy younger brothers, the motorized tuk-tuk. Are you?